Jamaica

I. Introduction

1. Jamaica, a Caribbean nation with a population of 3 million, is deeply vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. As a small island State, Jamaica faces threats to its marine resources, including biodiversity loss from ocean acidification, and loss of territory due to rising sea levels. Additionally, extreme weather events and rising temperatures threaten Jamaica’s habitability. These threats raise significant human rights issues, including with respect to the right of self-determination, the right to development, and permanent sovereignty over natural resources. Loss of culture from climate change impacts has implications on Jamaica’s cultural self-determination and cultural heritage as well.

2. The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law, enshrined in Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which state: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.”

3. Jamaica has contributed minimally to climate change. Indeed, the country is a small emitter, contributing less than 0.03% of greenhouse gas emissions.[1] Therefore, Jamaica’s losses and damages—including territory and resources loss, loss of culture, and economic losses—are caused by the actions of high-emitter States.

4. Jamaica has taken proactive steps to address these issues. For example, in 2020, Jamaica became the first Caribbean country to submit a tougher climate action plan to the UN, recognizing its risks from rising sea levels, droughts and more intense hurricanes.[2] However, there is more work to do to ensure the human rights of Jamaicans are protected. This submission discusses more fully the intersection of climate change impacts and human rights.

II. Temperature

5. Jamaica is poised to become much warmer. In Jamaica, under a high emissions scenario, mean annual temperature is projected to rise by about 3.6°C on average from 1990 to 2100. Even if global emissions decrease rapidly, the temperature rise may still be about 1.1°C.[3] Increases in temperatures are most likely to happen in the interior region and could reach 0.82°C to 3.09°C by 2100.

6. In an already-warm climate, this increase in temperature could be devastating. Along with direct health affects like heat strokes and dehydration, increasing temperatures could make entire regions of the country uninhabitable. These rising temperatures will impact the right to life, the right to health, the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and a variety of economic, cultural, and social rights of Jamaicans. The government should prioritize a human rights-based approach in addressing such impacts, particularly in managing internal displacement and protecting vulnerable communities, such as children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

III. Climate-Induced Disasters

7. The global rise in temperature and other actors leave Jamaica vulnerable to more climate-induced disasters. Hydrometeorological events (e.g., floods, tropical storms, hurricanes) are considered the most prominent hazards in Jamaica. In fact, two hurricanes in Jamaica in the 2000s caused losses equivalent to 8 and 3 percent of GDP.[4]

8. Jamaica ranks among the top three most exposed countries in the world to multiple natural hazards.According to UNEP, Jamaica “has the second highest economic risk exposure to two or more hazards (96.3% of GDP) with 96.3% of the national population and 94.9% of the national territory at risk.”[5] As described by the IMF, “over the coming decades, Jamaica is expected to experience more heatwaves, more irregular rainfalls that bring heightened hazards of droughts or flooding, stronger tropical cyclones, and raising sea levels.” The impacts of these hazards will be described in upcoming sections.

9. The areas most exposed to and least equipped to deal with hazards such as floods and hurricanes are along the coast, where most of Jamaica’s major towns are located. As UNEP states, “unplanned settlements in environmentally sensitive lands (flood plains and unstable slopes) add to the risk of natural hazards becoming disasters and the levels of damage possible. Earthquakes are also a risk, as the island lies on five major fault lines. Major infrastructure along these coastlines equally increase vulnerability to hazard impacts, particularly as most infrastructure was not built to withstand disasters.[6]”

10. Jamaica must prioritize human rights when responding to such natural hazards and disasters. According to the UN International Law Commission, human rights must play a central role in responding to disasters[7]. In fact, States have a duty to seek outside assistance if a disaster “manifestly exceeds its national response capacity.[8]” Therefore, Jamaica must consider its ability and capacity to respond to such disasters and consider regional and international partnerships in its responses in order to best protect Jamaicans’ human rights.

IV. Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Erosion

11. Global sea level rise is predicted to cause significant coastal erosion in Jamaica.[9] Estimated future sea level rise by 2100 ranges from a low of 0.18m to highs of 0.59m and even 1.4m.[10] As a result, cities without shoreline defenses – like the capital of Kingston – could permanently lose 5% or more of their land to sea level rise by the end of the century.[11]

12. Sea-level rise and coastal erosion threaten the ways of life of Jamaicans. The significant coastal erosion predicted in Jamaica will destroy coastal communities, especially since more than half of Jamaica’s population lives within a mile of the shoreline.[12] Along with population displacement, this coastal erosion will lead to the loss of cultural heritage, as the impacts of climate on “ocean and cultural ecosystem services” will disrupt “people’s place-based emotional attachments and cultural activities,” like the key role of beaches in Jamaican culture and heritage.[13]

13. Sea-level rise also presents substantial economic risks. Jamaica’s coastal zone, the transitional area between the land and the sea, is where 90% of the country’s GDP is earned from tourism, industry, fisheries, and agriculture.[14]Tourism alone provides more than $2 billion in revenue and is mostly concentrated along the coast.[15] Sea-level rise and other climate events threaten to bring considerable damage to Jamaican infrastructure (e.g., roads, bridges, electricity generation and transmission systems, seaports, airports, pipelines, dams, hotels, attractions). The livelihood of nearly all Jamaicans involved in these industries is therefore at risk from climate change.

V. Resource Loss

14. Along with coastal erosion, sea-level rise and other changes threaten Jamaica’s coastal and marine resources. For example, an increase in sea surface temperatures will lead to lower fish production as well as coral bleaching. Ocean acidification threatens to reduce biodiversity, such as by reducing the percentage of healthy reef cover and calcareous species. Lastly, hurricanes and tropical storms, which are expected to become more frequent and intense, may destroy entire coastal ecosystems, marine habitats, and spawning grounds.[16] The loss of marine biodiversity is not only a harm unto itself, but threatens the human right to food and health, and the right to protect one’s culture and way of life. Loss of marine resources also threatens Jamaica’s permanent sovereignty over its natural resources.

15. Severe weather events will also affect water resources and the right to health and safety. Climate change, particularly extreme weather events like droughts and tropical hurricanes, is expected to harm the safe and stable supply of water resources for Jamaicans. For example, sea-level rise has led to the intrusion of sea water into coastal aquifers, contaminating the water supply for Jamaicans. Hurricanes—which are expected to become less frequent but more intense—may lead to sedimentation in reservoirs and dams, or even the destruction of aquifers and watersheds.[17] This affects Jamaica’s ability to use its natural resources to provide for its people, and may lead to increased reliance on other States and a reduction in economic self-determination.

16. At the same time, Jamaica is experiencing more frequent and intense droughts. Jamaica is facing a decline in waterfall, leading to shortage of water for both agricultural and consumption purposes.[18] As a result, droughts are predicted to become more extensive and intense by the 2030s.[19] This inability to access water threatens not only development and economic self-determination, but also the right to life and health for all Jamaicans.

VI. Agriculture

17. Agriculture is a major industry in Jamaica. 19% of the country’s population works in agriculture, which contributes to 7.3% of the country’s GDP.[20] Land in Jamaica is mainly used for agricultural purposes.

18. Agriculture is particularly susceptible to the risks of climate change. According to a report by Caribank, the “increase in the intensity and frequency of climate-related natural hazards, escalating rainfall variability, droughts and floods combined with fragile ecosystems and coastal zones, and agriculture-dependent livelihoods all contribute to Jamaica’s overall vulnerability to climate change.”[21] These climate-induced events also have second-order impacts. For example, the increased degradation and destruction of watersheds caused by hurricanes or floods also threatens the water supply for farming. As a result, the combination of climate factors has already resulted in a “devastating loss of agricultural produce and degraded farmlands.[22]”

19. The threat to agriculture directly harms numerous basic human rights. While Jamaican agriculture includes multiple prominent export crops—sugarcane, banana, coffee, and citrus fruits—domestic agriculture is still a key source for food.[23] Therefore, damages to Jamaica’s agriculture industry directly threatens the right to life and food, as a change in supply will adversely affect food security and prices. It also threatens the broader right to development and economic self-determination for Jamaican farmers and others involved in the agriculture industry.

20. Jamaica should build on its existing efforts to protect the agriculture industry. Jamaica has already made significant strides in responding to this crisis. For example, its Vision 2030 highlights these vulnerabilities to agriculture as a threat to sustainable development, “and provides the framework within which corrective and preventive actions should be undertaken.[24]” However, the government should integrate human rights and incorporate a human-rights based approach in addressing such challenges.

VII. Health Impacts

21. Climate-induced events present direct health risks to Jamaicans. Extreme climate events like cyclones, floods, and hurricanes can lead to drowning, injuries, and other “health problems associated with the disruption of safe water supplies and sanitation services.[25]” Furthermore, temperature rise can also lead to increased likelihood of heat stroke, as discussed earlier. These are direct risk to the human rights to life and health.

22. Climate change also contributes to broader and indirect health risks. For example, climate change is also “expected to increase the risk of vector-borne diseases in Jamaica including an increase in the potential for dengue fever transmission.[26]” Furthermore, “long-term consequences of extreme weather events can also include an increase in mental health stresses and displacement for the population.[27]” These broader impacts threaten the right to life and right to health for all Jamaicans.

VIII. Existing Efforts and Recommendations

23. As mentioned earlier, Jamaica has taken a proactive approach to addressing climate change, which must be commended. For example, climate change adaptation is one of the outcomes of the Vision 2030 Jamaica-National Development Plan. Furthermore, the ILO is working with Jamaica to infuse climate action with decent work principles in Jamaica, advancing social justice and sustainable economic development goals.[28] More recently, Jamaica received funding from the Green Climate Fund via UNOPS to develop a National Adaptation Plan.[29]

24. However, there remain additional opportunities to strengthen Jamaica’s adaptation approach. These include developing a national health strategy to be approved by the Ministry of Health, conducting a national assessment of climate change impacts, and implementing activities to increase the climate resilience of health infrastructure.[30]Jamaica should also look to investing in defending shorelines and infrastructure, as well as protecting marine resources and biodiversity. Such adaptation measures can better strengthen the right to health in the short-term, and the right to development and economic self-determination in the long-term.

25. Along with adaptation, Jamaica must consider a broader mitigation approach. Jamaica should look to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions where possible. However, given that Jamaica has not materially contributed to the damage in the climate system, it should coordinate with other similarly situated States. Most importantly, Jamaica should ensure that its mitigation approach is consistent with its right to develop and its ability to fully exercise its self-determination in the international legal order.

IX. Conclusions

26. Climate change is an existential threat to Jamaica. Increased temperatures, sea level rise, and climate-induced disasters like floods, hurricanes, and droughts will affect every facet of life in Jamaica. This confluence of events “not only impacts the right to health, food, water, development or an adequate standard of living and the enjoyment of cultural rights, it also threatens the very survival of people and their right to life and to physical integrity.”[31] In Jamaica, climate change may lead to forced internal displacement and relocation away from the coastal shoreline or international migration out of the country, leading to a more vulnerable population. In fact, if Jamaica loses significant mass or becomes inhabitable, it could “threaten the very existence” of the State.[32]

27. In all its existing and future efforts to address climate change, the Jamaican government must prioritize human rights. These include, but are not limited to:

● protecting the self-determination of its peoples in a rapidly warming climate system, including the Jamaican peoples’ ability to choose their internal and external status and to continue their economic, social, and cultural development;

● protecting the right of development for Jamaica in an era of accelerating climate change impacts;

● protecting Jamaica’s permanent sovereignty over its natural resources, a critical component of economic self-determination and the right of development; and

● ensuring that economic, social, and cultural human rights, including the right to adequate shelter, the right to work and dignified working conditions, and the right to health, are protected.

28. However, the international community must play its part. Jamaica should categorize and account for losses and damages caused by climate change for purposes of reparation. Such losses and damages have likely come about from breaches of international legal obligations from high-emitter States, and Jamaica may be entitled to reparation for such loss and damage related to Jamaica’s ability to develop, or with respect to Jamaica’s self-determination.

[1] https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/236/article-A001-en.xml#:~:text=change%20as%20well.-,Jamaica's%20dependence%20on%20fossil%20fuels%20imports%20for%20energy%20generation%20calls,emissions%E2%80%94below%20other%20Caribbean%20comparators.

[2] https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/jamaicas-farmers-struggle-contend-changing-climate&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1735899066113147&usg=AOvVaw0b9bsNgHSK808M_5kta7pj

[3] https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/260410/WHO-FWC-PHE-EPE-15.57-eng.pdf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1735902617517815&usg=AOvVaw0v71A-8H2sa2reJnKpSbkY

[4] https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/236/article-A001-en.xml

[5] https://wesr-cca.unepgrid.ch/cca/jamaica/goal-country-analysis

[6] https://wesr-cca.unepgrid.ch/cca/jamaica/goal-country-analysis

[7] https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft_articles/6_3_2016.pdf (Art. 5)

[8] https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft_articles/6_3_2016.pdf (Art. 11)

[9] https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/CCRD%20Jamaica%20Factsheet.pdf

[10]https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mona.uwi.edu/physics/sites/default/files/physics/uploads/10_CCAndSea%2520Level%2520Rise.pdf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1735899297835275&usg=AOvVaw1cgyV1RzWtaAxJx3cq11aW

[11]https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2023/11/29/report-says-kingston-among-cities-which-could-lose-land-to-sea-level-rises/

[12] https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/CCRD%20Jamaica%20Factsheet.pdf