Caribbean bears brunt of £43bn climate-fuelled damage to developing islands
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Caribbean nations suffered $53.2bn (£40bn) in climate-fuelled disaster damage from 2000–2024, more than 90% of the $57bn total across 39 developing island nations in the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea, according to ODI Global.
- Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica in October 2025 with 185mph winds — the strongest ever recorded there — with ODI attributing $9.7bn, roughly 80% of the $12.2bn total damage and nearly half of Jamaica's entire economy, to the climate crisis.
- ODI Global researcher Emily Wilkinson said the findings are critical for reparations talks, noting Caribbean states provided evidence in a landmark International Court of Justice advisory opinion that could compel compensation from high emitters.
- Jamaica's government passed the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Act in May to speed post-disaster rebuilding, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness last month pledged investment in solar power.
- Digicel Group CEO Marcelo Cataldo said worsening storms forced the Caribbean telecom to accelerate a shift to solar, partnering with Caban Energy to roll out solar-powered sites in Jamaica and Barbados, with plans to expand to 15 of its 25 markets and generate 15,000MWh of clean energy annually.
- Future projections in the report estimate storms alone could cause an additional $49bn in climate-attributable losses across small island developing nations by 2050 under a 1.5C warming scenario, rising to $51bn at 2C.
- International climate financing is moving in the wrong direction as some wealthy nations cut contributions, ODI warns, while the report ties more than 190 deaths a year over the 25-year period to the climate crisis.
Why it matters: Jamaica's $9.7bn climate-attributed loss from a single hurricane approaches half its entire economy, while wealthy nations simultaneously cut adaptation funding — leaving small island states with escalating damage costs and shrinking outside support, and giving the ICJ reparations case concrete ammunition.
Ask SkimNews
