Climate Change Policy and Action Plan to be Tabled this Month

The Climate Change Policy Framework and Action Plan will be tabled in the House of Representatives this month.

This was disclosed by Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill today (January 20), at the media launch of Research Days 2015, at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

The Policy and Action Plan, which has been in development since 2012, outlines strategies to be implemented to effectively respond to the impacts and challenges associated with climate change.

It is intended, primarily, to support the goals of the country’s National Development Plan, Vision 2030 Jamaica, by reducing the risks posed to sectors such as: water, energy, agriculture, fisheries, coastal and marine resources, health, mining, tourism, planning, and disaster risk reduction and response management.

Mr. Pickersgill further informed that the Ministry continues to create and modify relevant policies and programmes to effectively respond to climate change.

He noted that among the Ministry’s plans is a new public education and awareness campaign to complement previous campaigns including those successfully completed under the risk reduction project in 2012.

Additionally, a Climate Change Focal Point Network has been launched with representation from all government ministries, selected departments and agencies.

Five officers within the network have been trained in the use of the Climate Change Risk Management Tool (CCORAL) with the support of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.

These include officers from the Ministries of Finance and Planning and Transport, Works and Housing, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), National Environment Planning Agency (NEPA), and the principal director of the Climate Change Division.

In the meantime, the Minister lauded UWI for its contribution to climate change research.

The UWI, through its Climate Studies Group Mona, has conducted research into and developed several tools to assist the countries of the region to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Mr. Pickersgill said the institution’s innovations including the AquaCrop model and the Simple Model for the Advection of Storms and Hurricanes (SMASH) will contribute significantly to food security and disaster mitigation in the region.

The UWI Mona Research Days 2015 will be held from February 9 to 11, under the theme: ‘Innovating for Development through Science, Creativity, Productivity and Governance’.

The three-day exhibition will allow investors, policy-makers and stakeholders in the public and private sectors to explore practical solutions to their everyday challenges, developed through Mona research.

Researchers will also address major development issues that affect Jamaica and the region, by engaging participants in interactive displays of the ways that research is improving products and mechanisms in a range of fields and industries.

These include applications in food security, health and medicine, science and technology, alternative energy, climate change, ICT, sports, education and entrepreneurship.