Samuda sounds alarm on climate financing shortfall

AS small island developing states, including Jamaica, bear the financial and environmental brunt of worsening weather conditions, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda has called for greater international financing for climate adaptation.

Speaking Tuesday at the United Nations’ Solutions Dialogue on Financing Adaptation in the Era of Overshoot, hosted in New York, Samuda argued that current global funds do not meet the scale of the threat faced by vulnerable countries.

He pointed out that the World Bank’s assessment is that Jamaica needs about US$5-billion to strengthen its water sector alone, against climate and development challenges.