The first-ever Climate Smart Awards drew to a close on Wednesday, wrapping up a two-day Climate Smart Summit hosted at Bridgetown’s Hilton Barbados Resort, with Barbados claiming the highest honor: Climate-Smart Country of the Year. The Caribbean island nation was selected for the award in recognition of its groundbreaking leadership across three critical climate action pillars: scaling up renewable energy expansion, unlocking unprecedented volumes of climate finance, and building robust long-term climate resilience plans. Accepting the award on Barbados’ behalf, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn emphasized that the honor is a testament to nearly a decade of deliberate advocacy and creative policy innovation in the global climate finance space. Speaking to Observer Online, Straughn noted that the award validates the small island nation’s years of work amplifying the underrepresented voices of climate-vulnerable small island developing states in global climate negotiations. For eight years, Barbados has pushed for systemic change through the Bridgetown Initiative, a landmark framework that calls for a complete overhaul of global development finance structures, specifically reforming how wealthy nations support low-income and climate-vulnerable countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts. Straughn highlighted that Barbados has pursued aggressive, creative financial restructuring that has proven even small nations can deliver impactful climate action by partnering effectively with both multilateral development banks and global commercial markets. Beyond delivering certainty to creditors, the minister pointed to the nation’s pioneering work on natural disaster clause financing instruments, which give vulnerable countries greater flexibility to invest in resilience rather than diverting critical resources to debt service during climate crises. Racquel Moses, CEO of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator—the organizer of the summit and awards—credited Barbados with extraordinary progress in expanding renewable energy capacity, noting the country has achieved 95% growth in renewable energy generation since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Moses added that Barbados has set a regional benchmark for climate accountability by consistently meeting its Paris Agreement obligations, including on-time submission of its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and has mobilized higher levels of climate finance than any other country in the Caribbean. Moses explained that award assessments were based on a rigorous set of criteria, including renewable energy growth and ambition post-2015, national climate vulnerability and preparedness, NDC compliance, and climate finance mobilization capacity. Beyond the top national honor, the ceremony recognized a diverse range of organizations and projects driving climate action across the Caribbean, spanning philanthropy, community leadership, innovative technology, and on-the-ground adaptation and mitigation work. The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) was named Climate Smart Philanthropist of the Year, while Curaçao took home the award for Climate-Smart Overseas Territory of the Year. Shalini Maharaj, a technical officer at CBF, told Observer Online the award highlights the regional fund’s core mission of strengthening long-term climate resilience and protecting Caribbean biodiversity. Established to deliver a steady, sustainable stream of funding for conservation efforts across the region, CBF’s work supports targeted initiatives that protect and preserve the Caribbean’s unique natural ecosystems. “It’s a tremendous honor to have our work recognized by the region,” Maharaj said. “Every person involved with CBF, from the board of directors to our on-the-ground staff, works tirelessly to deliver on our vision and mission. This acknowledgment of our hard work is incredibly gratifying, and this win is not just for our organization—it’s a victory for the entire Caribbean.” Several major global philanthropic organizations also received recognition for their climate action investment across the region, including the John Templeton Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Bezos Earth Fund. The remaining award categories honored local and regional projects driving tangible climate impact: Kukki Aquaculture took home Climate Smart Adaptation Project of the Year, GrenadaGrows won Climate Smart Mitigation Project of the Year, Finca Chocolat claimed the Nature-Based and Ecosystem Resilience Award, and PROTOFABTT was recognized with the Innovation and Technology for Climate Award. Special recognition awards went to the Inter-American Development Bank and New Energy Events, while the Clara Lionel Foundation won the event’s People’s Choice Award for its climate work in the region.