Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Pearnel Charles Jr, has said youth empowerment and engagement is critical in reducing the impact of climate change and raising awareness about the issue.

Speaking at University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Guild Climate Action Conference 2019 Project Plan, at the campus, on November 29, the minister said this will equip young people with the requisite skills and knowledge to take climate action and to guide them in becoming the future leaders of a safe and sustainable world.

“If we don’t, then the difficulty is that we will very soon see more than 80 per cent of our residential and commercial activities that are on the coast moving further inland. The impact for us as a small island developing state is even more exacerbating,” he said.

Senator Charles, who is also an executive member of the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO and serves as the Chairman of the UNESCO Youth Advisory Committee, said several youth across the country are engaged on a number of initiatives to boost youth engagement and participation in addressing climate change.

He said the initiatives include coastal clean-up day and a national tree-planting project.

UNESCO is one of the main responders to the call for climate action to reverse and limit the impacts of what seems to be an impending climate crisis.

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