The Island Of St. Lucia Is Almost Carbon Negative But A Climate Victim

Source: Forbes

The Island Of St. Lucia Is Almost Carbon Negative But A Climate Victim

Ken Silverstein
Senior Contributor
I write about the global energy business.

St. Lucia may only be 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, but it boasts one of the world's fastest women — Julien Alfred, the female version of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. The country of roughly 180,000 people is also proud of its two Nobel Prize winners for literature and economics.

And while it may be the world’s top-rated honeymoon destination, St. Lucia is slipping off the global radar — a quiet victim of climate events that are wiping out its farm products and infrastructure. Tropical Storm Brett sucker punched it in June and has yet to recover. The Caribbean Island needs help, too, ironic because it is close to becoming a net carbon remover — a function of its rainforest preservation efforts.

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As the climate effects worsen, these countries will suffer more. Heavy rains often wash down the mountains, destroying homes, farmland, and transportation routes — events I witnessed last year in the Dominican Republic.

“We sustain our people and a wider population,” Leslie A Jn Baptiste, legal and business management consultant, told me. “We have reserved a large portion of our trees and rainforests. If we can do this as a small island, the richer countries can do the same while recognizing the island nations for doing this. We are here to assist you — but we also need you to support and encourage us.”

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Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2023/09/05/the-island-of-st-lucia-is-almost-carbon-negative-but-a-climate-victim/

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