Jamaica Assigns Funding to Help Island be More Climate Resilient
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica is budgeting J$60 million (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) for activities under the Adaptation Program and Financing Mechanism (AP&FM) project, designed to help the island adjust more easily to climate change.
Jamaican coffee farmers are working to adapt to the impacts of climate change. ©Anne-Teresa BirthwrightThe funds are part of the J$912 billion the Andrew Holiness government has outlined in its 2022-23 Estimates of Expenditure tabled in the House of Representatives by Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke.
The Estimates will be reviewed by the Standing Finance Committee of the House from March 1-4, followed by the opening of the budget debate by Clarke, who will outline how the government intends to finance the planned expenditure.
Debate on the budget is schedule to begin on March 8 ad end on March 22, following presentations by the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and the Opposition Spokesperson on Finance.
The climate project, which began in February 2015 and is scheduled to end in June 2022, is part of the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience II (PPCR II).
It supports the integration of climate-change issues into development planning by government agencies, and provides funds for climate change adaptation work in small and medium-sized businesses as well as communities island-wide.
The funds allocated for 2022/23 will go towards conducting the final evaluation, post-impact assessment and economic analysis, the final audit, and executing the project management close-out activities.
In addition, 290 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) benefited from the Climate Change Adaptation Line of Credit to support climate-smart business initiatives.
A total of 127 non-governmental organizations (NGOs)/community-based organizations (CBOs) benefited from grant funding through the Special Climate Change Adaptation Fund to implement climate-smart activities, and the PPCR Jamaica webpage (http://www.ppcrja.org.jm) was developed.
The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Jamaica government.
