Comprehensive Policy Framework to Result from Climate Change Workshop

Minister  of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, says the workshop being convened in Kingston from July 26 to 27, should result in the development  of a comprehensive Climate Change policy framework and road map by year end.

The Minister said it should also identify existing gaps that need to be addressed immediately.

The workshop, which is being held in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will focus on the development of an overarching policy framework geared at assisting Jamaica to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Mr. Pickersgill, who was making his contribution to the 2012/13 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, informed that representatives from several international donor agencies, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), are attending the conference.

“It is hoped that we will attract additional financial and technical support from these donor agencies to fill the gaps identified at the workshop,” the Minister said.

He emphasised that there is a need for more consistency among various sector policies to attack the impacts of the phenomena. The Minister reiterated his call for the country to protect and prepare itself against the increasing impacts of climate change, by building a climate resilient society. “We must defend the gains that we have made as well as protect our prospects for future development,” he stated.

He informed that in this vein, the government in April established a Climate Change Advisory Board, comprising a multi-sectoral group of experts charged with a number of responsibilities, including: to establish a Climate Change Department; to prepare a climate change policy; to educate and build public awareness on climate change; and to seek additional bilateral and multi-lateral support for climate change projects.