Climate change presents Jamaica with an unprecedented, vast and multi-dimensional challenge, which creates additional barriers to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and Jamaica’s own National Development Plan – Vision 2030 Jamaica, if the scale and nature of the risks to be faced from climate change are not adequately addressed.  Jamaica is poised to face these risks as articulated in Vision 2030 Goal 4 “Jamaica Has a Healthy Natural Environment” and the supporting National Outcome #14 “Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change”. The need for an overarching, comprehensive, and systematic national institutional response to climate change was identified at the highest level as an urgent requirement in 2012.  A process to develop such an institutional response strategy and the consequent policy frameworks was instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Water, Land Environment and Climate Change and with advice from the Climate Change Advisory Committee.  This decision gives a clear indication of the Government of Jamaica’s political will to effectively deal with climate change in a timely manner, according to the urgency of the matter for Jamaica, with contributions from key experts and stakeholders, and on the basis of globally learnt best practices.