Judith Slater | Responding to climate crisis requires multi-layered approach

As Prime Minister Holness has been quick to highlight, July 22 was a red letter day. He wasn’t referring to the fact that it was his birthday, but rather to it being the hottest day our planet has experienced since records began. Climate change is real and a threat to the whole planet, but Caribbean islands are increasingly on the frontline and facing more extreme weather events.

We have seen this firsthand with Hurricane Beryl - the earliest category-5 storm on record. People, infrastructure, agriculture, and housing were significantly damaged. I know conditions remain challenging in many places with residents in some of the worst-hit parishes still facing prolonged power outages and damaged homes. I want to express my sympathy to all those who are having to rebuild their lives post-Beryl.

The UK has been raising awareness globally about the vulnerability of small island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica, to climate-change. With much of the economic activity and infrastructure in Jamaica (and other SIDS) near the coast and reliant on the sea, small island nations are at the mercy of rising sea levels, coral bleaching and increasing frequency of more severe natural disasters. These occurrences not only displace people but have profound impacts on the livelihoods of many – not least, farmers, fishers and those in the hospitality sector.

On his first day in office, David Lammy, the UK’s new foreign secretary, explicitly said climate change is among his top priorities. Our belief is that we cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without coordinated global action, and the foreign secretary has said that the UK will renew action at home and abroad to tackle this emergency.

BOOST IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

In Jamaica, we are working with the World Food Programme to help boost Jamaica’s immediate response to Hurricane Beryl. We are pleased to be among the international partners offering support in the form of cash transfers to some of those most affected. While relief is important in the immediate aftermath of any disaster, we will also continue to prioritise structural and financial initiatives to build resilience sustainably and enhance adaptation in the long term. I am heartened to see that some of the work we have done in recent years to reduce the vulnerability of Caribbean states to climate-change has started to bear fruit.

We have collaborated with the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) to retrofit health centres across the region to become ‘SMART’ and more resilient to climate disasters. The Strengthening Healthcare Facilities in the Caribbean (SMART Hospitals Programme Phase 2) undertook upgrades to buildings and roofs, installed shutters and implemented green technology systems, such as solar systems, rainwater harvesting and LED lighting. This US$12m project in Jamaica, funded by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and implemented by PAHO in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, involved comprehensive upgrades to four health centres and significant enhancements to eight other facilities.

Hurricane Beryl proved a defining moment for the Manchester and Santa Cruz health centres, two of the four upgraded to ‘gold standard’. I was happy, but not surprised, to learn that the Mandeville and Santa Cruz ‘SMART’ Health Centres, located in the area most affected, withstood Beryl’s worst to emerge with minimal damage. And, that these centres have been able to serve their surrounding communities, as normal, since the storm.

In the wake of this unprecedented storm, now more than ever, we must continue to push for the international community to come together to support small island leaders’ priorities. There are funds available to support countries in adapting to climate-change. However, many SIDS struggle to access these funds as the standard processes tend not to be geared towards unique challenges that SIDS face.

REDUCE THE HURDLES

The UK wants to reduce the hurdles that make it difficult for SIDS to access and absorb the funding they need urgently, and at a scale, to increase their resilience. I am proud that we are already acting to deliver this. One recent example of this work is our collaboration with several international partners, under the leadership of Jamaican Minister of Finance, Dr Nigel Clarke, to establish a Blue Green Financing Facility that could provide up to US$500 million to enhance Jamaica’s ability to combat and adapt to the effects of climate change over the next five years. Support will be provided directly or through local financial institutions for climate projects promoting energy efficiency, water resource management, sustainable transport, and climate-smart agriculture - all crucial for Jamaica’s climate resilience and its local economy. The UK Government provided funding support to Oxford University to develop the Jamaica Systemic Risk Assessment Tool, which identifies climate vulnerabilities in national infrastructure and project ideas to address them.

In 2023, the UK also committed to providing US$8.9m as part of the taskforce on access to climate finance programme, which will deliver on a promise made at COP26. The taskforce programme, aims to create a programmatic, systematic approach to accessing climate finance from public and private sources, ensuring alignment with Jamaican national priorities for climate resilience. This will enable Jamaica quicker access to climate finance to fund climate resilient projects. We are proud to be consistent supporter of disaster risk finance mechanisms in the Caribbean, helping to protect countries and communities against climate shocks and extreme weather. We were a founder donor to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, which enables countries to take out cheaper insurance against disasters as a group (a ‘risk pool’). Hurricane Beryl demonstrated the value of this scheme and it’s been interesting to see nations across the Caribbean tap into the insurance mechanisms to which they themselves have contributed, giving them access to much-needed resources for immediate post-disaster relief and recovery efforts.

As we rebuild and navigate the remainder of the 2024 hurricane season and beyond, I am confident our two countries will continue to work together to combat the effects of climate-change. We are in this for the long haul and will continue to work with our friends in the Caribbean to ensure that the islands are as resilient as possible for the challenges ahead.

Judith Slater is the British High Commissioner to Jamaica. Send feedback to ppa.kingston@fcdo.gov.uk