July 18, 2022

Jamaica’s decision in July 2021, to pursue Catastrophe Bonds as a way to reduce the impact that severe natural disasters can have on the national budget, has been hailed as a prudent way to protect the economies of middle-income countries and small island developing states (SIDS). This was discussed on July 13 at Jamaica’s side event at the UN High level Political Forum (HLPF) where spokespersons from the government and international development partners shared the importance of the decision.

Director General of the PIOJ, Dr Wayne Henry said, “Rather than waiting on the occurrence of a climate-related shock to materialize to devise a response, the Government of Jamaica has proactively partnered with key stakeholders to develop an innovative financing instrument, in the form of the Catastrophe Bond, to facilitate a quick and comprehensive response to specific climate-related shocks, to safeguard and maintain the fiscal health and resilience of the economy.” READ MORE