Youth Groups In St. James Invited To Apply For Climate Funding

Youth groups across St. James are being invited to submit innovative climate-action projects to access funding under the latest round of the Youth Climate Action Fund.

Applications will remain open until midnight on September 10 and may be submitted via email to bloombergmobay26@gmail.com.

The St. James Municipal Corporation has secured US$50,000 for the current application period to support youth-led projects aimed at addressing climate change and strengthening community resilience.

The Corporation is a three-time recipient of funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, receiving a total of US$200,000 or approximately J$32 million, to finance youth-led climate initiatives.

In an interview with JIS News, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, said previous funding facilitated the implementation of approximately 30 projects, several of which provided critical support to communities, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Previous projects varied from rainwater harvesting systems, solar-powered systems, greenhouses and aquaponics.

Mayor Vernon said that this year, young people have the opportunity to develop diverse and strategic initiatives.

“We hope to see very innovative projects ranging from different areas of climate action, not just ones that deal with tree planting or recycling,” he said, suggesting projects to address extreme heat, coral bleaching and high tides.

“There are so many different things associated with climate change and global warming, and we need our young people to think outside of the box about how we can put some of these projects to use and reduce the risks associated with climate change and the extreme weather systems that we are now experiencing,” he pointed out.

Noting that the youth play a pivotal role in building climate resilience, Mayor Vernon said they have the ability to access information to propel innovation and creativity at a faster pace.

“They have new ideas, they have up-to-date information, and they even interact more with artificial intelligence (AI), which gives them a little edge in terms of thinking faster, thinking a little bit more creatively,” he pointed out.

Mayor Vernon argued that climate action initiatives are essential to a sustainable future.

“They (youth) make up 60 per cent of our population so, protecting the future is important to them and for them, because they’re protecting their own future by taking action today,” he said.