Salutations 
 

• Ainsley Henry, Chief Executive Officer & Conservator of Forests, The Forestry Department 
  Nicole Brown, Director of Panos Caribbean 
  Mark Bynoe, Environmental Economist, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre
  Indi McLymont Lafayette, Consultant to Panos Caribbean 
  Aaron Silk, Artiste Coordinator, Voices for Climate Change Education Programme
  Grub Cooper, Producer 
  Other distinguished artistes
  Members of the media 
  Other distinguished guests
   

Welcome to the UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica and Happy World Environment Day! In the words of some of our distinguished colleagues here today, “It's getting hotter every day. Climate Change is on the rise & it don't play.”

Can you feel the heat? Temperatures are up, drought is unrelenting, coastlines are under threat. It is therefore only fitting that on this special day, we shine a spotlight on the 2015 Paris Agreement’s hard-won provision to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Some of the key negotiators from the Caribbean who pressed this case are here today and online. You insisted on a survivable benchmark for Small Island Developing States on the frontlines of Climate Change. Thank you!

Your negotiations received significant support from local and regional performing artistes. Some of these artistes who championed the cause are also here today. 

Artistes, you popularized the slogan ‘1.5 to stay alive’ in Paris where negotiators reportedly danced to your tunes and recited them everywhere. You helped convince skeptical segments of our local populations that climate change is real.   

Thank you for producing the message music that reinforced and edutained on this critical position. 

Eight years after, we must call on you once again. Reports suggest that the earth is on track to surpass that important benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The World Meteorological Office says there is a 66% chance that temperatures will rise 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year between 2023 and 2027 with a 98% chance that the next five years will be the warmest on record. Average temperatures in the Caribbean have risen by 0.1° to 0.2°C per decade over the past three decades, according to the IPCC; and in Jamaica, average annual temperature rose 0.6 °C pre 1994 to pre-2021.  

We must intercept this worrying trend to slow the rate of coastline loss, drought, temperature rise, and resulting risks to our tourism and agriculture-dependent economies.  

We call on artistes to once again produce the message music the world needs to hear – that Industrialized nations must reduce carbon emissions and we on the frontlines must step up adaptation and mitigation actions to protect ourselves. 

We can start with a call to strategically tackle plastic pollution, the theme of this year’s World Environment Day.
Nearly 100 % of the plastics we use today originate from fossil fuels like oil, gas or coal which are the main sources of global-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The plastics industry is the fastest-growing source of industrial greenhouse gases in the world.  (UNEP/UNDP)
It’s therefore imperative that we hear message music and poetry about personal and practical adaptation and mitigation actions like:

• Recycling plastics and facilitating a circular economy that reduces plastic pollution through business activities that generate wealth. Bermuda offers a fantastic model to study, and UNDP would be willing to facilitate a south-south exchange to this end.
But there are actions that that can help lower temperatures in the short term. I urge you to produce messages about:
• Planting shade trees to reduce the heat of cities, towns, homes and offices, and reducing the use of palms which do not offer significant heat reducing benefits.
• Increasing our use of renewable energy and LED bulbs to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. 
• Urging our governments to accelerate action on unrealized commitments in their Nationally Determined

Contributions to shore up coastlines, foster renewable industries for greater affordability and to incorporate more shade trees and green spaces into urban planning.

I think we can agree that the strategic application of climate change adaptation and mitigation actions offers a win-win for environment, economy and national productivity which are key pathways to poverty reduction. 

Through our country programme 2022 – 2026, UNDP will support nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation under our climate resilience portfolio and provide policy support for national and international climate change commitments, nationally determined contributions and climate change adaptation financing to strengthen resilience to climate change and shocks.

Later today, UNDP will join the National Tree Planting Initiative by planting trees donated by the Forestry department to increase canopy coverage on this property. We are committed to modelling the change we talk about while cooling our space and reducing our carbon footprint.  

I pause to commend the Forestry Department for their leadership of the tree planting initiative which has inspired many Jamaicans to make a difference. 

As one of the lead actors on climate change in the UN system, UNDP is always on standby to support countries and communities advance their climate action priorities. This means supporting your global advocacy position on 1.5 as an unassailable benchmark. 

Time has come for us to get the songs back into airplay and to create new ones that can rouse right action from those with the power to make a difference. 1.5 to stay alive! May today’s forum create the edutainment pieces we need for such a time as this. Best wishes for a productive day.