News stories by Zadie Neufville, page 3

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jul 06 (IPS) - Threats from climate change, declining reefs, overfishing and possible loss of several commercial species are driving the rollout of new policy measures to keep Caribbean fisheries sustainable.

KINGSTON, Jun 04 (IPS) - For Jamaica, planting more trees as a way to build resilience is one of the highest priorities of the government's climate change action plan. So when Cockpit Country residents woke up to bulldozers in the protected area, they rallied to get answers from the authorities.

KINGSTON, Jun 02 (IPS) - For Jamaicans like Roxan Brown, the Caribbean nation's International Monetary Fund (IMF) successes don't mean a thing. Seven consecutive tests have been passed but still, the mother of two can't find work and relies instead on the kindness of friends and family.

KINGSTON, Mar 17 (IPS) - Caribbean nations have begun work on a plan to ‘climate smart' the region's fisheries as part of overall efforts to secure food supplies.

KINGSTON, Feb 02 (IPS) - A plan that government says will slow the rate of erosion on Jamaica's world-famous Negril beach is being opposed by the people whose livelihoods it is meant to protect.

Experts here fear that that the impact of climate change on Jamaica's fragile ecosystems will worsen the ravages of human activity and destroy the country's tourism industry.

Jamaican authorities are going all out to achieve environmental sustainability as one way of minimising the expected impacts of climate change on the local biodiversity.

For more than a week this past February, the city choked on the acrid smoke that forced schools and business to close. It racked up millions of dollars in lost production and an estimated 60 million dollars in firefighting costs as the city tried to combat yet another fire at Kingston's Riverton city dump.

Jamaican authorities are aiming to transform an island that experts say faces one of the worst climate risks in the world into a nation 'equipped to prepare for and respond to the negative impacts of climate change'.

Like its Caribbean neighbours, Jamaica is looking for outcomes that will address its food security challenges when world leaders meet in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Jun. 20 to 22.