Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says Jamaica stands ready to access funds to adapt and build climate resilience. He made the disclosure today (June 1) at the Stockholm + 50 International Meeting, which was organized by the World Resources Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Minister, who has responsibility for climate change and the blue and green economies, spoke under the theme “Fast-tracking resilience and adaptation” and said, “Small Island developing states, such as Jamaica, are indeed readying themselves to accept financing; the key is how readily it will be available to us”.

Minister Samuda outlined that Jamaica has been a “champion” for climate finance by actively engaging with international finance initiatives, networks, and coalitions.
He noted that “Setting an ambitious climate agenda is the first critical step and Jamaica demonstrated its leadership by being the first nation in the Caribbean (and 11th in the world) to present a more ambitious NDC in 2020”.

“The updated NDC doubled its energy emissions reduction target as compared to the first NDC. It addresses land-use change and forestry for the first time, and fosters adaptation co-benefits that will reduce pollution, improve health, and address vulnerabilities related to water shortage and food security,” Minister Samuda added.

The Stockholm Declaration was adopted on 16 June 1972 by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. It was the first document to recognize the interconnections between development, poverty, and the environment.

Minister Samuda presented to the international partners the other strategies that were implemented to drive Jamaica’s climate agenda:
“Through the GCF (Green Climate Fund), Jamaica launched a Green Bond Project something we view as particularly important. With the help of the World Bank, we have launched our first catastrophe bond because in our case and in the case of SIDS, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when these events will visit us”.

The Minister also pointed out that Jamaica is actively “engaged as a pilot country in the UK-Fiji Climate Finance Task Force”.

“We stand ready to prepare ourselves to ensure that governance and transparency are in place for when we receive the funds, as it is an urgent priority for Jamaica, all members of CARICOM and SIDS,” Minister Samuda ended.

The international meeting entitled “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”, is being held pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/326 of 10 September 2021. The meeting is being hosted by the Government of Sweden with the support of the Government of Kenya, to reflect on the urgent need for actions to address global climatic changes.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation in Jamaica, Senator the Honourable Matthew Samuda is among two newly appointed Ministerial Ambassadors of the high-level Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
The UNCDF is headquartered in New York and is the United Nations’ capital investment agency for 48 developing countries across the globe.
Minister Samuda’s Ambassadorial appointment was announced in a statement this week by the UNCDF.
The appointment was confirmed recently when Minister Samuda joined a host of colleagues from across the globe at a Ministerial Meeting in Brussels which was intended to forge alliances across LoCAL-implementing countries to raise action and forge alliances on issues related to adaptation to climate change.
Jamaica is the first Caribbean or Latin American country to join the LoCAL community.
Ghana’s Minister for the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon. Dr. Kwaku Afriyie has also been appointed along with Minister Samuda as a Ministerial Ambassador.
In welcoming the appointment, Minister Samuda noted that LoCAL offers an opportunity to implement systems for adaptation financing that ensure funds reach the people that need it in various local communities across the globe.
The two new Ministerial Ambassadors committed to advocacy for increasing the finance available for local adaptation to climate change.

This year’s LoCAL ministerial meeting in Belgium was attended by sixteen ministers, three deputy ministers and the Ambassadors of Bhutan and Cambodia to Belgium, who stepped in for their ministerial colleagues.

The LoCAL Ministerial Meeting followed the 9th Annual Local Board meeting, which took place on the 11th May bringing together some 100 representatives from LoCAL countries to agree priorities and budget for the coming year.
The LoCAL Facility is a community of some 32 countries using or designing their use of the LoCAL mechanism to channel finance to communities battling with the impacts of climate change. LoCAL countries span Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Caribbean.
All members are highly impacted by the effects of climate change though their low emissions base mean they have contributed little to global warming and its catastrophic impacts on the planet.
The Brussels meeting provided an opportunity for LoCAL countries to share experience and plan cooperation as they prepare for crucial meetings in the climate change calendar, including the Climate Change sessions slated for Bonn in Germany next month and COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022.
The LoCAL Facility was designed and is hosted by the UN Capital Development Fund and has grown from initial pilots in Bhutan and Cambodia in 2011, to a global climate financing mechanism that has to date mobilised over US $125 million for locally led adaptation.

Saharan Dust, originating over northern Africa and sometimes impacting weather conditions over diverse locations of the world, currently extends from the tropical Atlantic into the Caribbean region.  This is especially common during the period of May to August annually.

Over the past 72 hours a fairly large plume of dust has been observed via satellite to be moving over the Eastern Caribbean and into the central parts of the Basin.  It is projected that the impact on the Caribbean is likely to remain for another few days until about Tuesday of next week.

Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Honourable Matthew Samuda, is urging all Jamaicans to exercise heightened vigilance and care during the passage of the Sahara Dust plume.

 Minister Samuda added, “The Ministry and the MET Service are aware of the increased number of Jamaicans who are now afflicted with respiratory difficulties as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We are therefore urging the continued wearing of masks to mitigate the effects of the dust plume as well as offering the best defence to the resurgent Covid-19 disease and also staying indoors where possible”.

Jamaicans are also being urged to cover outdoor water supplies, particularly those who engage in rainwater harvesting, as the dust may impact the quality of the water.”
Its impact on Jamaica is expected to gradually increase into the weekend, being mostly concentrated on Saturday and Sunday, and then decrease during the start of next week as it drifts towards the northwest. 

 The Saharan Dust is characterized by hazy conditions and usually results in stable air with reduced rainfall activity.  This spike in airborne micro-particles is known to aggravate health issue, particularly respiratory illnesses including asthma. 

Conditions associated with this episode of Saharan Dust are not expected to be severe; however, the Meteorological Service will continue to monitor its development and progress.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has become the first country to complete the development of the Systematic Risk Assessment Tool, known as a “geospatial analysis platform for infrastructure risk assessment and resilient investment prioritisation”…

Get ready for drastic changes in consumption patterns worldwide, says Senator Samuda.

MANUFACTURERS and other stakeholders in the goods producing industry are being urged to gear up to meet drastic changes that are expected to the global regime governing the consumption of plastics within another eight years…

Members of the NDC Partnership Steering Committee, which had its Spring 2022 meeting in Montego Bay from April 4 to 7, planted 15 fruit trees at the Hyatt Zilara in Rose Hall on Wednesday April 6.

The trees, apple, soursop, ackee, custard apple, pomegranate and naseberry, which were planted in the hotel’s organic vegetable garden, will feed into the Government of Jamaica’s Three Million Trees Initiative.

Jamaica hosted the meeting in its capacity as a co-chair of the NDC Partnership.
The NDC Partnership is a coalition of over 200 countries, institutions and non-state actors that leverage their resources and expertise to provide countries with the tools they need to implement their plans to combat climate change, in order to build a better future.
The other NDC Partnership co-chair is the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica together with NDC Partnership leadership announces the launch of its Finance Strategy to mobilize finance for NDC action

MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA – 4 April 2022 – The Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness will launch the NDC Partnership’s Finance Strategy on Wednesday, 6 April, together with NDC Partnership Co-Chairs, Senator the Honorable Matthew Samuda of Jamaica, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and The Right Honorable Alok Sharma of the United Kingdom, Member of Parliament and COP President. The announcement signals that the leadership of the NDC Partnership, member countries and international partners stand committed to mobilize finance at scale for climate and development action as never before.

Jamaica, along with the United Kingdom, is a Co-Chair of the NDC Partnership, a country-driven and member-led global coalition that brings together more than 200 members, including more than 115 countries, developed and developing, and more than 80 institutions, to create and deliver ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that help achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In five years, the Partnership has mobilized around USD1 billion to support developing countries with climate action, but much more is needed to finance the economy-wide transitions that countries are working towards. The Finance Strategy demonstrates how the NDC Partnership will accelerate access to urgently needed climate finance for developing countries to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement by:

• Supporting the development of regulatory frameworks to attract domestic and international investment, including through central banks,
• Integrating climate plans into national budgets and post COVID-19 economic recovery plans, and,
• Identifying and developing bankable projects with member and private sector investment.

During the first enhancement cycle of the Paris Agreement, most developing countries brought forward more ambitious climate commitments. Following COP26 in Glasgow, countries are now turning their attention towards implementation. Yet, implementing climate commitments requires the mobilization of finance at a scale yet unseen. In its World Energy Transition Outlook, NDC Partnership Member, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that USD51 trillion will be needed in cumulative energy investments between 2021 and 2030 alone to achieve the 1.5°C scenario.

“Developing countries have shown that we are ready to take ambitious action to limit emissions and protect our people from climate impacts. But delivering on that commitment will mean unlocking finance faster and at greater scale than ever before,” said Prime Minister Holness. “Working with the NDC Partnership, Jamaica has developed a framework for action that will bring benefits both to our people and to the global fight against climate change. This is the time to bring international finance to bear.”

Added Senator Samuda: “Jamaica has elaborated a well-defined NDC Partnership Plan with bold and ambitious actions and we invite our partners to meaningfully coalesce their support and financing around this plan so that we can march forward together towards 2050”.

About the NDC Partnership

The NDC Partnership brings together more than 200 members, including more than 115 countries, developed and developing, and more than 80 institutions to create and deliver on ambitious climate action that help achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Governments identify their NDC implementation priorities and the type of support that is needed to translate them into actionable policies and programs. Based on these requests, the membership offers a tailored package of expertise, technical assistance, and funding. This collaborative response provides developing countries with efficient access to a wide range of resources to adapt to and mitigate climate change and foster more equitable and sustainable development. 

Jamaica is set to benefit from investments of US$30 million from the United States (US). The development follows a meeting between US Vice President, Kamala Harris, and Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, at the White House on Wednesday (March 30)…

Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, has stated that the prosperity paradox which has faced Jamaica for the better part of 50 years can only truly be solved by ensuring the appropriate use, management and protection of the island’s Natural Assets.

Making his contribution to the Debate on the Appropriations Act in the Senate recently, Minister Samuda highlighted some of the work being done in the Environment Portfolio and shared plans for the upcoming fiscal year, among them Jamaica’s membership in the thirty by thirty (30×30) Coalition.

“This means that Jamaica is actively pursuing both the protection of 30% of its landmass and 30% of its fresh and sea water (within its EEZ) by 2030. This work is being undertaken by the teams at NEPA, and the Forestry Department while being coordinated by the Environment team at MEGJC. These targets reflect Jamaica’s articulated ambition to double the targets currently agreed on by UNEP of 15%”, Minister Samuda shared.

Minister Samuda added that the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which Jamaica is a party, defines a protected area as ‘a clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.’ 

In furtherance of this, the Minister noted, two major achievements of the Government over the last fiscal year were the Black River Protected Area in St. Elizabeth, which he noted will preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the area including swamp forest, mangroves, beaches and coral reefs, which support wildlife and sustainable livelihoods.

The second area he mentioned, was the completion of the work to declare the Cockpit country a protected area.

“78,024 hectares are now protected. This represents the second largest protected area in Jamaica, and is approximately 3292 hectares larger than the announced 74,726 hectares which was announced in 2017.  Now that it has been declared, the CCPA is the island’s largest terrestrial protected area and overall, the second largest protected area after the Portland Bight Protected Area which is located in the south-central part of the island spanning 187,615 hectares of both terrestrial and marine areas.   We did not stop there. We have further included an additional 841 hectares of the “clawed back” area of mining lease within the boundary of the CCPA. That is how we have arrived at the final protected area of 78,024 hectares”, the Minister noted.

Minister Samuda also disclosed that with the assistance of the Global Environment Fund, work is advanced to invest US$49 million over the course of the next 5 years into the sustainable management of the protected area.

As the Government moves to actualize Jamaica’s 30 x 30 ambition over the next financial year, the Minister advised that one of the major areas of focus in the next financial year will be protection of the Pedro Cays and the surrounding waters, adding that work in this area is far advanced, and will result in the protection of some 88,200 hectares of land and sea.  He also disclosed that the Government will move to create a Designation under the NRCA act for “Ecologically Sensitive Areas”.

“This will provide a greater level of protection for areas with particular environmental sensitivities. The Government has already identified 16 such areas, 9 of which will be in the coastal zone. I think it useful to advise the Senate, and indeed the country that the first such area will be the Great Bay Area in South-West St Elizabeth. The Dry Harbour area will be another such area. This will mean that Activities such as mining will not be permissible”, he said.

Turning to plastic pollution, Minister Samuda noted that a resolution was passed recently in Nairobi, Kenya, by the UN Environment Assembly with 175 Nations supporting the establishment of an International Negotiating Committee to help develop a globally binding treaty on the issue.

“Mr. President, this treaty could have major implications to our manufacturing sector as it seeks to re-order our consumption patterns and change our management of plastic waste. As such, I’ve been directed to formally engage the Private Sector to ensure that they are properly advised and prepared for the changes to come” the Minister stated.

Minister Samuda added that in the interim, the Ministry of Economic Growth & Job Creation along with NEPA will take steps to maintain Jamaica’s leadership in this area.  This he said, includes a full review of the measures already in place; a recommittal to enforcement of these measures; a full review of the current recycling capacity in partnership with the NSWMA with the aim of moving plastic recycling targets to 50% of monthly consumption, up from the current 12% being achieved.

The government, the Minister said, would also move apace to tighten loopholes in the current phased ban with a view to adding other items to the prohibition list this year, including the banning of personal care products which contain micro-plastics. He noted that government would also work with the Bureau of Standards to ensure completion of the standards for Biodegradability.

Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation,  today officially launched Jamaica’s Bush Fire Warning Index.

The launch of the Index, was the primary focus of World Meteorological Day activities undertaken by the Meteorological Services Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

In his address, Minister Samuda noted that the Bush Fire Warning Index, which was developed by the Meteorological Service in association with the Jamaica Fire Brigade, will act as a predictive tool in the effort to better monitor high temperatures and the outbreak of bush fires across the island.

Minister Samuda stated that the Index is critical to the effort to prevent bush fires from destroying forests, farms and the livelihoods of families across the country, noting that there is a stark and unquestionable correlation between dry weather conditions, high temperatures and the breakout of bush fires islandwide. 

“In 2014, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority reported that over 1,600 hectares of land, valued US$8.33 million, were lost or damaged due to drought and fires, with more than 16,000 farmers affected”, the Minister said.

He added that these fires currently account for 63 percent of the total number of emergency calls to the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade, has already benefitted from desktop computers that are assisting in the management of data regarding incidences of fires, handheld GPS units for proper geo-locating of wildfires, backpack sprayers and a vehicle mounted 200-gallon skid unit for extinguishing small bush fires.

The project, also includes the use of a Common Alerting Protocol, as well as a public awareness campaign that has been named Jamaicans Against Bushfires (JAB),

“These interventions are instrumental to our efforts to become climate resilient and to convert scientific knowledge into practical guidance for our climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, health and disaster mitigation”, the Minister said.

Minister Samuda commended the Met Service and its various partners, in particular the  Caribbean Development Bank, which was instrumental in providing the grant funding from the African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union-CDB Natural Disaster Risk Management Resources, and many others, for rising to the challenge, and urged them to continue their efforts to build capacity and implement additional climate services that translate into practical actions that will benefit all Jamaicans.

World Meteorological Day is  celebrated annually on March 23 each year, which is the anniversary of the coming into force of the Convention that established the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1950.  Jamaica became a member of the WMO in 1963 and joins with 193 other members to commemorate World Meteorological Day annually.

This year’s theme, “Early Warning and Early Action”, highlights the vital importance of hydrometeorological and climate information for disaster risk reduction, and the essential work being done by the WMO and the Meteorological Service in making this information available.