Sustainable Development Minister, Hon. Shawn Edward, however, discloses that these funds have not yet been available to countries like Saint Lucia. The Minister says CARICOM will restate its position for the upcoming COP in Dubai.

“We have to continue pushing for some of the monies that have been pledged by the developed world. At a previous COP, $ 100 billion was pledged - that was monies that were made accessible to developing countries. To date, we notice that the monies have not been forthcoming and when we are impacted by weather systems, we are left with no choice but to borrow,” the Sustainable Development Minister lamented. Recently, a high-level meeting climate change meeting was held in Grenada. According to Edward, CARICOM member-states will speak with one voice in Dubai.

“Every one of the Caribbean countries, Saint Lucia not an exception, continue to borrow and sometimes we have to borrow at the brink of credential limits just to ensure that we deal with our adaptation issues. This issue is critical as it comes on the eve of COP 28 which is in Dubai,” he explained.

The Minister went on to underscore the importance of fruitful climate change mitigation discussions in the global arena. He referred to the November 6th, 2022 trough system which lingered over the northern quarter of Saint Lucia for a few hours. “We saw a trough which remained stationary over Corinth and the northern half of Saint Lucia for two hours, and in its wake, we saw cars floating in the streets, appliances exiting homes through windows and doors, and a lot of damage was inflicted on property,” he recalled.

Small island developing states are, however, being asked to play their part in conserving the environment. A point of concern is littering and the environmental dangers of plastics. The Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority is currently working to finalise a plastic management legislation to regulate the use of plastics on-island.