Earth Today | Jamaica, Canada partner to build resilience in urban centres

JAMAICA HAS taken a major step toward climate resilience and sustainable urban development with the official launch of the Jamaica Urban Solutions for the Environment (J-USE) Project.

The J-USE project is a groundbreaking initiative implemented by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) and funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada. The project was launched at The Pegasus hotel in Kingston on Thursday, October 25, 2025.

The five-year initiative aims to transform Jamaica’s urban spaces through the integration of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) strategies that harness the power of nature to address challenges such as flooding, heat, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while empowering vulnerable communities.

The project, aligned with Canada’s G7 climate finance commitment, represents a bold partnership among government, civil society, academia, communities and the private sector to reimagine how cities can adapt to climate change and foster inclusive development.

Matthew Samuda, minister of water, environment and climate change, who was keynote speaker at the launch event, emphasised the project’s relevance at a time when Jamaica continues to experience the impacts of a changing climate.

“This project is particularly important, and it should weigh on all of our minds that the climate has indeed changed. It’s not changing, it has already changed. And that puts greater pressure on governments right across all nations, but certainly in countries like Jamaica, to facilitate and to ensure that they unlock investment for greater adaptation, because the reality is, weather patterns have changed and we’re all at risk,” he said.

NATURE-BASED SOLUTION

“In a country where over 50 per cent of our population live within our urban centres, this sort of nature-based solution that functions or serves the function of adaptation is incredibly important. It is important for social stability, it is important for economic stability. So I want to congratulate the EFJ, I want to congratulate their financiers, certainly congratulate your partners in the Canadian High Commission, because this is absolutely important,” Samuda added.

Mark Berman, high commissioner of Canada to Jamaica, described the J-USE project as a significant milestone in Canada’s commitment to climate action and local empowerment.

“This J-USE investment reflects Canada’s recognition that the climate crisis requires urgent, innovative responses, especially for countries like Jamaica, which is on the forefront of climate impact,” he said.

Professor Dale Webber, chairman of the EFJ, noted the project’s alignment with EFJ’s mission and Jamaica’s broader environmental goals.

“The EFJ strategic plan looks at equitable quality education, building resilience, especially for the poor and those in vulnerable situations, improving water quality by removing pollution, eliminating dumping, and looking at untreated sewage treatment systems and supporting and strengthening the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation,” he said.

“It matches perfectly and aligns with J-USE, where climate resilience by implementing urban green projects is number one, strengthening nature-based solutions, clearly an advantage, biodiversity enhancement, and improving public spacing, and fostering community development and interaction in those spaces becomes great,” Webber noted.

Opposition Spokesman on Environment and Climate Resilience, Omar Newell, commended the initiative and pledged bipartisan support for climate resilience.

“This project represents the kind of forward-looking partnership Jamaica needs at this critical moment. It places people at the centre of climate resilience. I love the fact that it is gender-responsive, socially inclusive, and rooted in nature-based solutions that protect our environment while creating opportunities for social and economic progress,” he said.

Contributed by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.