KINGSTON, Jamaica – United States Ambassador Luis G. Moreno and Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, on Friday, June 26, 2015 signed an agreement to effect the merger of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) and the Jamaica Protected Areas Trust (JPAT)/ Forest Conservation Fund (FCF). The merger will facilitate approximately J$700 million dollars in funding geared towards the preservation of the environment.
Speaking at the event Ambassador Moreno asserted that “the United States is committed to helping the people of Jamaica mitigate growing threats from global climate change. The Ambassador went on to highlight the strong and productive working relationship between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the EFJ, both of which have worked together to effect this merger.
Minister Pickersgill asserted that new partnerships are necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change, noting that synergies between governments, civil society, academia and most importantly the Jamaican people is important to bring about needed change.
This merger will among other things, effect the change to the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) agreement which facilitates the JPAT/FCF debt-for-nature swap; amend the Articles of Association of the EFJ; and modify the Enterprise of the Americas Agreement which effected the creation of the EFJ.
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