CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition Journalists Reviving Awareness of what Matters | Page 165

Photo by Varun Baker

Goffe expressed concerns also for the lack of
sufficient involvement of the disabled in talks
about climate change strategies. She said, as
members of the group of people most at risk
because of the onset of climate change, people
with disabilities, who make up approximately
10 per cent of the population, should not be
an afterthought.
The range of disabilities include intellectual,
cognitive, sensory and physical impairments.
With the reality of climate change and its
relationship with natural disasters, Goffe said
there is concern about the level of training
members of teams that offer assistance before,
during and after a disaster have in how to deal
with the disabled.

Funding is a persistent challenge for nongovernment entities - like the CDA - in the
region that seek to combat climate change.
Call to action!
Gerald Lindo, a representative from Jamaica’s
Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and
Climate Change, said it has been clear for
some time that the stymied response to climate
change is “bound up in the understanding of
development”.
“The world’s definition of development is
informed by practices of fossil fuel burning
and rapid industrialization,” Lindo said with
an observable urgent appeal.

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