Prime Minister welcomes new facility enabling island states to build climate resilience | New

JIS:
Prime Minister Andrew Holness welcomed the launch of the Resilient Island States Infrastructure Facility, which will provide essential support to small island developing states to build their capacity to recover quickly from climate crises.

The facility will help small island states develop infrastructure that can withstand climate shocks, thereby protecting lives and livelihoods.

“As we all know, a single disaster can derail a small island’s entire budget and set back its economy by years, reducing fiscal space to fund climate adaptation and resilience efforts. “, said Holness.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to launch the initiative on Tuesday.

This happened during the second day of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland.

The World Climate Change Conference takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.

Holness, who was invited by Prime Minister Modi to speak at the launch, noted Jamaica’s commitment to strengthening its resilience-building efforts.

The Indian government will soon bolster Jamaica’s efforts with a US$1 million grant to support the construction of facilities for sustainable agriculture.

Further, he noted that in collaboration with development partners and the private sector, Jamaica would become the first country to develop a predictive climate risk assessment planning tool for major infrastructure investments.

Holness said Jamaica has conceptualized a pumped hydroelectric storage project, for which the country is seeking support.

The project aims to use the island’s mountainous topography and abundant sunlight to solve the perennial problem of drought, while generating hydroelectric power.

“This would allow clean and sustainable use of Jamaica’s high concentration of freshwater resources in the north, to serve major population centers and agricultural lands in the south,” the prime minister said.

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