Jamaica Environment - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston from vehicle emissions; land erosion

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 13.25 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 8.23 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.08 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 140 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 1.1 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 114 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

10.823 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior

Land use

agricultural land: 41.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 9.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 21.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 31.1% (2018 est.)

other: 27.5% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.15% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 56.7% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 0.79% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,051,695 tons (2016 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Jamaica on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jamaica 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jamaica 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.