Jamaica: Multi-agency climate change adaptation project meeting targets

With less than a year before its scheduled completion, activities are on track for the 30-month Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Project which got underway in October 2010, reports the Jamaica Observer. Public awareness and community-based disaster risk management have been a particular focus.

According to the report, the $515-million project aims to increase resilience and reduce natural hazard related threats in vulnerable areas due to climate change threats, including sea level rise, warming temperatures, and more severe weather events such as hurricanes and droughts.

Regarding the government's emphasis on raising public awareness, the Minister of Environment, Land, Water and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill told the Jamaica Observer, "even after the project ends next year, we can expect to see the public awareness [continue] as people now know how they can be impacted by climate change -- storm surges, hurricanes, droughts and floods."

Among the 81% of completed projects reported to date, there have been successful reforestation, local forest management, and sustainable livelihood activities. The governments hopes to replicate these successes "as a precursor to signing of the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol), of which several Caribbean countries are already signatories. Jamaica is currently close to completing the ratification process for accession to the protocol," Chris Corbin of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) told the Observer.