Kingston, Jamaica, 29 August – Despite threats from Hurricane Dorian, participants for the National Climate Reporting Workshop arrived in their numbers for the beginning of the workshop on Tuesday, August 27 and subsequent opening ceremony on Wednesday, August 28th at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica.

Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for Land, Environment, Climate Change and Investment, the Hon Daryl Vaz acknowledged in his remarks that the workshop was important as “we are all in the same fight against the impacts of climate change.  We, therefore, need to share our knowledge and best practices, and as much as is possible, help each other to become climate-resilient.”

Minister Vaz continued to highlight various events occurring around the world including the forest fires in the Amazon and Siberia that he said if left unchecked would make the planet less hospitable for humanity. The minister also pointed out that grassroot approaches such as community-based disaster preparedness and response plans that catered to physical, psychological and social, economic and vulnerabilities of persons would help to reduce how they were impacted by climate change. 

Minister Vaz pointing to Jamaica’s Third National Communication report said that it contained several assessments of vulnerability and options for coping with climate change by addressing sectors such as water resources, agriculture, human health, coastal resources, human settlement and tourism.

Alexandra Karekaho, Programme Officer at the UN Environment  Programme Caribbean Sub-Regional Office highlighted that the National Communications and Biennial Update Reports which would be generated by the countries would help the Caribbean make informed decisions and contribute to “reliable, transparent and comprehensive information on our green-house gas emissions, climate action and support”.      

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