The internationally implemented Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), a funding window of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) for climate adaptation and resilience building, has recently activated a website – www.ppcrja.org.jm – which highlights the work of its five projects active in Jamaica.
“The Jamaica PPCR website creates a space for all 5 projects being implemented nationally to raise their visibility locally and to highlight its success stories and lessons learned regionally and globally,” said Dr. Winsome Townsend, Project Manager for the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism (AP&FM) of the PPCR.
The AP&FM is one of the five PPCR projects in Jamaica and it is responsible for the development and maintenance of the website.
“The website is also a tool for communication between the PPCR stakeholders for the sharing of expertise, knowledge, and resources. Importantly the website will be a critical platform for providing information to the general public on the work of the PPCR in Jamaica,” Townsend explained.
The website introduces users to the 5 projects and provides updates on the latest developments on each project. The five projects being implemented in Jamaica are:
1. The Improving Climate Data and Information Management being implemented by the Planning Institute of Jamaica
2. The Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation
3. Promoting Community based Resilience in the Fisheries sector being implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
4. Financing Water Adaptation in Jamaica’s new housing sector being implemented by the JN Group
5. Investment Plan for the Caribbean Regional Track by the University of the West Indies.
“The PPCR tackles climate change adaptation from several perspectives so being able to find information in one place on the website is helpful to those persons interested in finding out how Jamaica is adapting and what is being done on the ground,’ said Claire Bernard, PPCR focal point at the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
The highlights of the website include:
– A Special Feature: Voice over Reading of articles. This will allow blind persons to navigate the site and access the information more easily.
– Lessons Learnt: stories from PPCR projects nationally. This will document valuable experiences and capture the impacts and climate adaptation lessons for beneficiaries and particularly vulnerable groups including women, children, and persons with disabilities.
– Knowledge Resources: A range of materials are available to help varying stakeholders build their knowledge on climate adaptation and resilience. The general public can access studies, field reports, articles about adaptation, crop resilience, flooding and so on.
– Community Voice: A Special section to encourage community input and sharing of information on the ground.
“Awareness is one of the key factors that can serve to strengthen Jamaica’s climate resilience,” said Anaitee Mills, Project Manager, Climate Change Division, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector, Inter-American Development Bank. “The IDB, therefore, welcomes the new website which will be a hub for the exchange of current information among climate change stakeholders as well as a portal where students and the general public can gain knowledge about the efforts being made to adapt and mitigate climate change in Jamaica.”
The Government of Jamaica (GOJ), the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank developed Jamaica’s Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) to help the country to strengthen its climate resilience through enhancing adaptive capacity across priority sectors. To date, $777 million (65% of PPCR funding) is being utilised to implement 44 projects in a range of countries, including Jamaica, which gets funds as a part of the PPCR for the Caribbean region.
“The PPCR is global and so the website will allow us to share our lessons learnt with other areas like the Pacific islands and so on,” said Bernard.
