Jamaica Environment - 2024

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

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.)

Urbanization

urban population: 57.4% of total population (2023)

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

Revenue from forest resources

0.15% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 14.83 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 8.23 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.08 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

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

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 140 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 1.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 110 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

10.82 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)