United Nations Development Programme Jamaica

February 16, 2012 marked a milestone in the Climate Change battle: The 7th anniversary of the Entry into Force of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In Jamaica February 16 was marked by a Post Durban Press and Stakeholder Debriefing event, the sixth in a series of Roundtable Dialogue Sessions on Climate Change supported by UNDP. The Climate Change debriefing event was held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, to report on the 17^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) held in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to December 09, 2011.

UNDP is a committed partner to Jamaica in its implementation, monitoring and reporting as one of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and facilitates financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. UNDP believes Climate change is a multi-faceted threat, affecting every aspect of human activity. Actions to address climate change must therefore be intimately linked to sustainable development and economic growth, and fall across a variety of sectors. Effective solutions require coordinated national policies that are developed with the engagement of a variety of government stakeholders, as well as other relevant stakeholders, such as the private sector, NGOs and civil society.

Over 60 persons attended the Post Durban Climate Change press briefing session on February 16. Participants included the Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill and the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Jamaica, Dr. Arun Kashyap as presenters; the Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Ms. Genefa Hibbert also attended.   Other presenters included the members of the Jamaican Delegation to the COP.  Participants at the Roundtable sessions represented a wide cross-section of stakeholders, and included representatives from UN Agencies, other International Donor Partners, academia, media, civil society and various Government of Jamaica (GOJ) agencies.

The event hosted two sessions: The first one was focused on the press briefing while the second session was dedicated to the stakeholder briefing with greater details presented on the UNFCCC COP in Durban as well as the outcomes of the meeting and Jamaica's negotiating position.

Speaking at the first session of the day, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Dr. Arun Kashyap underlined that "Climate change is a development issue - in fact an issue of equitable development. The adverse impacts of climate change affect the poorest and the disadvantaged population the most in terms of the quality of their lives and livelihoods. It therefore does not span just one sector or discipline; it calls for an integrated approach to development to ensure that every citizen has access to potable water and robust sanitation services, sustainable energy services, health services, food security, durable shelter, etc."

The series of discussions on Climate Change started in 2009 as an initiative of UNDP in association with our key partners Meteorological Service and the Environmental Management Division to bring together scientists, negotiators, decision-makers and sector stakeholders around the table to share opinions, identify new and emerging issues, discuss lessons learned and the way forward for adequate climate change adaptation and mitigation. The sessions are targeted as preparation for upcoming Conference of Parties (COP) or de-briefing after the COPs.  Sessions were held in prior to or after the COPs in Copenhagen in 2009, Cancun in 2010 and now Durban in 2011.

UNDP's work in Jamaica supports the national efforts to achieve climate change resilience and ensure that Jamaica meets its obligations under the UNFCCC, through the project Enabling Activities for the Preparation of Jamaica's Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  This project was implemented by the Meteorological Service as the Focal Point for the UNFCC in Jamaica, and included the identification of five sectors most vulnerable to climate change, reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and the preparation of a mitigation plan.  Jamaica's Second National Communication was submitted to Cabinet in November 2011 before onward submission to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties 17, in Durban in December 2011.  

Useful Links:

The the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website

The Kyoto Protocol

The Meteorological Service Jamaica

More information on:

Jamaica Information Service Media Coverage

Observer Jamaica Media Coverage

Jamaica Online Star Media Coverage

UNDP RR/UN RC Dr. Arun Kashyap Speech

Enabling Activities for the Preparation of Jamaica's Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Project