Gov’t Working to Reduce Jamaica’s Climatic Vulnerability  

• Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the Government is working to reduce Jamaica’s climatic vulnerability by instituting a “suite of financial instruments that can pay out in the event of a natural disaster”.
• He noted that Jamaica became the first small country globally to independently sponsor a catastrophe bond that provides fiscal resources to respond to catastrophic events.
• This bond is complemented by other products, namely the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Credit Contingent Claim, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), and a Natural Disaster Fund for which work is still in progress. The suite will provide the country with some degree of resilience building to the possibility of climate shocks.
• It is also important that the country work towards increasing its resilience to energy commodities, as about US$2 billion worth of energy commodities is imported per year (about 11% of GDP)
• He noted that the dependence on imports can potentially undermine Jamaica’s economy in the event of a price spike and that the Government is working on a transition to renewable energy to reduce structural vulnerability. The government’s objective is to produce about 33% of electricity from renewables by 2033 up from about 11% currently.

(Source: JIS)