麻豆社

World leaders meeting in Paris on Thursday could give poorer countries access to hundreds of billions of dollars to tackle climate change.

Poorer nations want more money because they did little to cause climate change but face its worst effects.

They also struggle to afford expensive projects like renewable energy.

Climate finance, including funding for flood defences or solar plants, has long been one of the biggest sticking points in climate negotiations.

The Jamaican minister Matthew Samuda says it's time for the countries who triggered this crisis to offer up more than just "gifts".

He tells Newsday that salt water is "intruding Jamaica鈥檚 wells and there's soil deterioration". Jamaica alone would need "three billion dollars to be water resilient by 2030". He said because his country is not facing poverty it is "unfortunately left out" but it needs to be given the same considerations as countries in Africa.

Photo of Jamaican government Minister Matthew Samuda speaking at a podium at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 15, 2022. (credit AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

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