Jamaica And The EU On Project To Build Resilience To Climate Change

The Government and the European Union (EU) are to cooperate on a project aimed at building the country’s resilience to climate change.

Through this collaboration, the EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance will provide grant financing of €4.9 million for the project, dubbed, ‘A Jamaican Path from Hills to Ocean’. Cabinet has given approval for this arrangement.

This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, while providing details on recent decisions of the Cabinet, during a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing, on Wednesday (March 10).

“Cabinet also approved counterpart financing in cash and kind from the Government of Jamaica of €1.1 million,” Mrs. Williams informed.

She noted that the overall objective of the project is to increase resilience to climate change and reduce poverty through the implementation of an integrated landscape technology, which she explained is “a process that provides a basic framework for balancing competing demands and integrating policies for multiple land uses within a given area”.

“Integrated landscape management has emerged as an innovative approach to land management, which reduces land-use conflicts, empowers communities and achieves development objectives,” Mrs. Williams said.

She further noted that integrated land management is built on the principles of participation, negotiation and cooperation. As such, it requires long-term collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

“Such an approach will reduce the vulnerability of the Jamaican ecosystems from the hills to the ocean, in accordance with the guiding principles of integrated and sustainable landscape management. It will also strengthen the resilience of communities within the targeted watersheds against the adverse effects of climate change,” Minister Williams said.