Caribbean Bore 90% of $57bn Climate Damage to Island Nations
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- ODI Global found Caribbean nations absorbed $53.2bn (£40bn) of climate-fuelled damage between 2000 and 2024—more than 90% of the $57bn total across 39 developing island nations in the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
- Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica in October 2025 with 185mph winds—the strongest ever recorded in the country—causing $12.2bn in damage, of which $9.7bn (about 80%) is attributed to the climate crisis and equates to nearly half of Jamaica's total economy.
- The International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion last year after several Caribbean countries submitted evidence, potentially obligating states to pay compensation if they fail to curb fossil fuels and prevent climate harm.
- Jamaica's government passed the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Act in May, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness pledged investment in solar and other renewables as the country reels from back-to-back brutal hurricane seasons.
- Digicel Group is partnering with U.S. renewable firm Caban Energy to deploy solar-powered telecom sites in Jamaica and Barbados, with expansion planned to 15 of its 25 markets—targeting 15,000MWh of clean energy annually and 16,457 tonnes of CO₂e emissions cuts.
- ODI Global projects small island developing nations could face a further $49bn in storm-attributable losses by 2050 under a 1.5C warming scenario, rising to $51bn at 2C.
- International climate financing is moving in the wrong direction as wealthy nations cut contributions to mitigation and adaptation, while the loss-and-damage fund commitments fall far short of the destruction now hitting vulnerable states, ODI warned.
Why it matters: This study gives climate-vulnerable nations hard, defensible attribution numbers they can deploy in international reparations fights. The $9.7bn Hurricane Melissa toll—roughly half of Jamaica's GDP, with 80% climate-attributable—exposes how absurdly undersized current loss-and-damage fund commitments are relative to the destruction vulnerable states actually absorb.
