Climate Change Division gets green light for GCF capacity support
Published:Wednesday | September 7, 2016 | 12:00 AM
Jamaica has received from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for capacity-building support to the tune of US$300,000 for the Climate Change Division, acting as national designed authority (NDA) with the fund.
The new boss at the division, Una May Gordon, made the revelation in an interview with The Gleaner earlier this week.
"We are going to get some support to ready ourselves so we can assist the many and varied stakeholders to make the right decisions for finance," she said.
"We should be hearing from them (GCF) very soon in terms of the grant agreement and so on," she added.
More than a year ago, Jamaica was named NDA with the fund, which is tasked to "limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and to help vulnerable societies adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change", according to information from its website.
Jamaica, as other small-island developing states of the Caribbean, is counted among those most vulnerable to climate change. Climate realities facing Jamaica are:
- sea-level rise and the associated loss of or otherwise undermined coastal livelihoods;
- extreme weather events, including droughts and more frequent and/or severe hurricanes; and
- increasing temperatures which hold significant negative health implications, including a rise in diseases, such as dengue, and perhaps even the chikungunya and Zika viruses, which are caused by the same mosquito.
As NDA, the division serves as the first point of contact for the country and provides information to local actors on the GCF.
In addition, all applications from any individual or entity on behalf of Jamaica for financing from the fund requires a letter of no objection from the NDA.
Further, "the NDA can recommend local institutions to serve as national implementing entities to implement projects with resources from the fund", Gordon noted.
The resources to be received will help to, among other things, enhance the division's capacity to undertake its responsibilities associated with the fund, including engagement with national stakeholders; create a monitoring and evaluation framework; as well a develop a pipeline of projects to benefit from the fund.