Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., Minister of Housing, Urban Development, Environment and Climate Change, met on Thursday, October 21, 2021, with the United States Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry and his colleague Ministers from the Caribbean as he prepares to represent Jamaica at the critical COP 26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.

The meeting focused on the climate change priorities for the Caribbean region, and ways to partner on raising climate ambition in advance of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The meeting also served to seek the endorsement of the countries of the region, for the Global Methane Pledge, which will be launched at COP 26.  In addition to Carbon Dioxide, Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas which has accounted for roughly 30 per cent of global warming since pre-industrial times.

At the meeting, Minister Charles reiterated the need for clearly defined actions on financing, if the region’s commitments on climate action are to be successfully implemented and lead to meaningful outcomes.

On the heels of the meeting with former Senator Kerry, Minister Charles went straight into a Foreign Policy Virtual Dialogue on Climate Action in Developing Countries, held in partnership with the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).

At that meeting, Minister Charles highlighted Jamaica’s efforts to minimize risk from Natural Disasters including the development of a National Natural Disaster Risk Financing Policy, which will provide comprehensive, co-ordinated, cost effective and timely disaster risk financing through such instruments as catastrophe bonds or catastrophe-linked insurance, which will be triggered by major disaster events.

Recently, Jamaica with the technical assistance of the World Bank and a range of partners including the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, successfully placed a Catastrophe Bond of up to US$185 million, to cover three (3) years up to 2023.

Minister Charles also repeated his calls for adequate financing to pursue projects that will build the country’s climate resilience. The Minister noted that the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) has been instrumental to this process, adding that Jamaica has been benefitting from the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which is one of four CIF programmes.

 “Together we have strengthened community assets, expanded exposure to climate smart agriculture techniques, and improved access to water, while contributing to sustainable livelihoods, particularly in the climate sensitive sectors of agriculture and tourism.  All the activities have been country-driven, and responsive to the targets of Vision 2030 Jamaica, and the accompanying Medium Term Policy Frameworks which reflect highly participatory planning”, the Minister stated.

Minister Charles and Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, will lead Jamaica’s delegation to COP 26 which is being held from November 1-12, and is widely considered as the biggest and most critical climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015.

Approximately 200 participating countries are being asked to outline their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, by 2030. Reducing global warming is essential to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change.