Carib Scope

分类： environment

  • Community Invited to Review Final Plans for Nelson’s Dockyard National Park

    Community Invited to Review Final Plans for Nelson’s Dockyard National Park

    Nelson’s Dockyard National Park’s long-awaited draft Marine Spatial Plan and Natural Resources Management Plan have reached their final public validation stage, and local organizers are reaching out to all residents and industry stakeholders to take part in a crucial upcoming workshop to shape the future of the protected area.

    Scheduled for Thursday, 24 September 2026, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Events Center in Long Hall, Officers’ Quarters within Nelson’s Dockyard, the workshop is designed to center local knowledge and community input. Unlike closed-door planning sessions, this event gives everyday community members direct access to review the full draft proposals, ask clarifying questions of planning teams, and share generations of lived experience with the park’s land, coastal, and marine territories. This on-the-ground insight is seen as critical to creating plans that balance ecological protection with the needs of people who rely on the park’s resources.

    Discussion topics planned for the workshop cover a wide range of core management issues that touch both conservation and local livelihoods. Attendees will dive into pollution and waste reduction strategies, formal designation of different marine use zones, zoning for protected conservation areas, priority fishing zones, and spaces allocated for other marine activities. The session will also cover agreed management priorities for land, coastal, and marine ecosystems across the park, as well as the overarching governance framework that will guide plan implementation once finalized.

    Organizers have specifically encouraged broad participation from a diverse cross-section of groups, including individual local residents, civil society organizations, private sector representatives, independent fisherfolk, local farmers, and stakeholders across the marine, fisheries, and tourism sectors that depend on the health of Nelson’s Dockyard’s ecosystems. Anyone interested in attending is asked to register in advance via the official form at https://forms.gle/zowf6GeXFnDznNeW7.

    The development of the two management plans is being carried out as part of the broader EbA Caribbean Project, led by the Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE) at The University of the West Indies Five Islands campus. Local on-the-ground implementation at Nelson’s Dockyard National Park is being handled by Integrated Health Outreach, working in formal partnership with the Antigua and Barbuda National Parks Authority. The entire initiative receives funding from the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, which supports ecosystem-based adaptation and conservation work across the Caribbean region.

  • Grenada marks World EV Day 2026

    Grenada marks World EV Day 2026

    On World EV Day 2026, Grenada joined global efforts to promote electric transportation, aligning its local observance with the international theme “Switching Electric: Driving Down the Cost of Motoring” – a priority that carries unique urgency for the small island nation.

    As a country that relies entirely on imported fossil fuel to meet its energy needs, Grenada faces constant exposure to volatile global oil price swings driven by geopolitical and economic events outside its control. When fuel prices rise, the ripple effects touch every corner of the national economy: transportation fares climb, electricity generation costs increase, and the prices of everyday goods and services surge, putting sustained pressure on households and businesses alike. This persistent vulnerability has made the shift to electric mobility far more than an environmental initiative for Grenada; it is a critical step toward strengthening national energy security and economic stability.

    To advance this transition, the Government of Grenada has already built a comprehensive policy and infrastructure foundation anchored by the National Energy Policy for Transport to 2035, which sets a long-term strategic framework for sustainable transportation adoption across the country. The first phase of electric vehicle integration is already underway, with EVs rolled out to government public institutions to set an example for private adoption. Supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) through the Global Electric Mobility Programme, the nation is steadily expanding its public charging network to address range anxiety and enable wider EV use.

    Alongside infrastructure development, Grenada is updating its regulatory framework to support safe, orderly EV adoption. New national standards for charging equipment have been introduced, and amendments to the Road Traffic Act are advancing to accommodate electric transportation. To avoid creating unmanaged environmental challenges down the line, the government is also developing a national roadmap for end-of-life electric vehicle battery disposal and recycling, ensuring the environmental benefits of EV adoption are not undermined by future waste management risks.

    At the center of this transition is the Grenada Transport Commission, the lead agency tasked with guiding public transport operators through the shift to electric mobility while delivering near-term relief to address current fuel cost pressures. Between 2025 and 2026, the commission channeled more than EC$1.7 million in direct support to the public transport sector. Of that total, approximately EC$1.45 million went to operators through the Fuel Tax Rebate Programme, while an additional EC$250,000 was distributed via the Western Bus Passenger Relief Initiative to ease cost burdens for both drivers and commuters.

    Cabinet has recently approved additional support for operators, including a 50% concession on tyres, vehicle parts, and operational consumables, a policy developed in close consultation with the National Bus Association to address operators’ stated needs. The commission has also conducted independent, route-by-route research to map actual transportation costs across all zones of the country, ensuring any future debates over public transport fares are rooted in evidence-based, objective analysis rather than anecdote.

    As the national technical lead for electric mobility in the transport sector, the commission is currently conducting on-the-ground evaluations of electric bus performance, national charging infrastructure requirements, and the unique practical needs of Grenada’s roughly 1,500 public transport operators. A core priority of this work is ensuring the transition is accessible and affordable for small-scale operators, particularly the thousands of owner-drivers who operate a single vehicle and operate on tight profit margins.

    Speaking ahead of World EV Day 2026, Hon. Kerryne James, Grenada’s Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment, emphasized that while near-term fuel rebates provide critical relief for operators grappling with high fuel costs, electric mobility offers a permanent, long-term solution by eliminating the sector’s exposure to volatile global fossil fuel prices entirely.

    James reiterated the government’s commitment to a collaborative, operator-centered transition: “Government remains committed to ensuring that operators are not asked to make this transition alone. Charging infrastructure, financing mechanisms, and ownership cost assessments are all being developed with operators at the centre of the discussion.”

    As the nation marked World EV Day 2026, its core message echoed across government and stakeholder groups: switching to electric transportation delivers dual benefits for Grenada. It advances global and local climate action, while also delivering practical, long-term gains by lowering transport operating costs, strengthening energy independence, and building a more economically and environmentally resilient future for all Grenadians.

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  • Signs of Screwworm Infestation in Puma, Scarlet Macaw

    Signs of Screwworm Infestation in Puma, Scarlet Macaw

    A decades-long victory over a devastating parasitic pest in Central America has been thrown into jeopardy, after conservation groups confirmed suspicious signs of New World screwworm infestation in two iconic wild species in Belize’s western Maya Mountains.

    Camera-trap imagery collected by Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), in partnership with the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic, captured a wild puma and a recently fledged Scarlet Macaw exhibiting visible symptoms that match New World screwworm infection. The discovery marks one of the first confirmed detections of potential infestation in native wildlife in Belize, after the parasite reclaimed territory across the region over the past three years.

    Scientifically named *Cochliomyia hominivorax*, New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals. Once the eggs hatch, larvae burrow deep into host tissue, causing extreme pain, widespread tissue damage, life-threatening secondary infections, and almost certain death if left untreated. For more than 50 years, the parasite had been completely eradicated from North and Central America through the widespread use of the sterile insect technique: conservation and agricultural authorities released massive volumes of sterilized male flies that mated with wild females, producing no offspring and collapsing local populations. That success unraveled in 2023, when the pest reemerged in Panama. It has since spread northward at an alarming rate, moving through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala before reaching Belize, El Salvador, and ultimately Mexico.

    Long before this recent wildlife detection, public health officials had warned that Belize faced disproportionate risk from the parasite’s spread. Earlier this year, Belize’s Ministry of Health and Wellness partnered with the Pan American Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to host a national training seminar focused on boosting surveillance systems and clinical response capacity. Authorities have highlighted multiple factors that make the country uniquely vulnerable: unregulated cross-border movement of wild and domestic animals, existing livestock production infrastructure that facilitates parasite spread, warm, humid environmental conditions ideal for fly reproduction, and high occupational exposure for rural workers who regularly interact with livestock and wildlife.

    While the infestation has primarily been monitored for its impact on domestic livestock to date, the new detection in a large predator and a threatened bird species has underscored critical gaps in understanding of the pest’s effect on Belize’s native biodiversity. FCD notes that the full population-level impact of screwworm infestation on Belize’s wild animal communities remains unstudied, but the camera-trap findings make clear that expanded monitoring, systematic documentation, and targeted research are urgently needed to assess how the parasite is disrupting ecosystems beyond agricultural production.

    FCD has committed to integrating ongoing screwworm surveillance into its existing long-term wildlife monitoring programs across the country. The organization will share the data it collects with national and international conservation and public health bodies to support coordinated regional response efforts and protect both Belize’s wildlife and human communities.

  • Abaco residents warned over possible python sighting

    Abaco residents warned over possible python sighting

    Residents of Abaco are now facing a new potential ecological threat, prompting local authorities to issue an urgent warning: keep distance from any large, unidentified snakes and immediately report any suspected sightings of Burmese pythons as investigations into the invasive species’ possible presence on the island get underway. The Bahamas’ Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources confirmed on Wednesday that it received a public report of a large snake in Abaco that witnesses believe to be a Burmese python, and the agency is treating the developing situation with extreme urgency. Officials warn that if this large non-native snake becomes established on Abaco, it could wreak havoc on local native wildlife, commercial agricultural operations and the island’s entire fragile natural ecosystem. At this early stage of the investigation, two core questions remain unanswered: first, whether the reported snake is confirmed to be a Burmese python, and second, whether the individual sighting points to an isolated released or escaped pet, or the first evidence of a reproducing wild population. To help investigators answer these questions quickly and accurately, local officials have put out a broad call for public participation. Any resident who spots a suspected Burmese python is asked to report the sighting immediately, sharing the exact location and time of the encounter with authorities. For those who are able to do so safely, officials also request clear photographs or video footage of the animal to speed up the identification and risk assessment process. In the event that a resident has already killed or captured a suspected Burmese python, authorities are asking that the specimen be kept as intact as possible. This allows scientists to conduct a full examination, determine the snake’s sex, collect critical biological samples, and gather data that will help reveal whether the sighting is an isolated incident or proof that a wild population is already established. Burmese pythons, one of the largest snake species on the planet, are non-venomous constrictors native to regions of South and Southeast Asia. Unlike venomous snakes that subdue prey with toxins, these large reptiles kill their food by tightening their coils around prey to cut off breathing, then swallow the entire animal whole. Most mature adult Burmese pythons measure between 10 and 16 feet in length, though the largest recorded specimens have grown past 18 feet. Highly adaptable, Burmese pythons thrive in a wide range of habitats including wetlands, swamps, grasslands and forested areas, and they are surprisingly powerful swimmers that can travel long distances across open water. Their diet consists of a wide range of native species, including small to medium mammals, birds and reptiles. Combined with their large size, extreme adaptability to new environments, and high reproductive rate, these traits have made them one of the most damaging invasive species in regions where they have been introduced outside their native range. A single female Burmese python can lay up to 100 eggs in a single clutch, a reproductive rate that means a small founding breeding population could explode into a large, established wild population very quickly. This high reproductive potential is one of the key factors driving authorities’ urgent response to the unconfirmed sighting. The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources says it will continue ongoing monitoring of the situation and release updated public information as more details become available. Residents can report any suspected sightings directly to Agriculture Officer Josefina Adderley-Curry at the contact number 376-5069.

  • UWI appoints new leadership for climate-smart development institute

    UWI appoints new leadership for climate-smart development institute

    The University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced a key leadership transition at its Global Institute for Climate-Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD), appointing Professor Preeya S. Mohan as the institute’s new Executive Director and Dr Ronald Roopnarine as Deputy Director. Both appointments officially went into effect on August 1, 2024, the university confirmed in an official press release.

    Founded in October 2021, GICSRD operates through a region-wide virtual operating model that unites specialized expertise across all UWI campuses, affiliated research institutes, and international partner networks. Its core mission is to advance climate-smart, disaster-resilient development across the Caribbean, and to accelerate the region’s progress toward meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

    Professor Mohan, who counts among the youngest tenured professors ever appointed by UWI, currently holds a position as Professor of Environment and Development Economics at the UWI St Augustine Campus. She also serves as a Fellow and MPhil/PhD Programme Coordinator at the campus’ Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES). Her research agenda centers on investigating the economic impacts of climate change and other systemic external shocks on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), with a specific regional focus on the Caribbean.

    A globally recognized scholar in climate economics, Mohan has an extensive publication record, including more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 13 book chapters. Her work has been featured in leading academic publications such as *Nature Climate Change*, *Energy Policy*, *Food Policy*, *WIREs Climate Change*, and the *Journal of Environmental Management*. Beyond her research, she holds prominent leadership roles in global climate governance: she is a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report, contributing to the chapter on Adaptation Finance, and sits on the International Finance Expert Working Group for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Dr Roopnarine, the new Deputy Director, is currently Deputy Dean for Outreach and Internationalization at the UWI St Augustine Campus’ Faculty of Food and Agriculture, where he works as a Senior Lecturer specializing in Disaster Risk Resilience. He also holds the position of Network Manager for Caribbean WaterNet/Cap-Net UNDP, a regional water governance network.

    Roopnarine’s work spans multiple critical areas of climate and development action, including disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, sustainable land and water resource management, nature-based climate solutions, and geospatial climate risk assessment. His hands-on project experience ranges from developing community flood early-warning systems and conducting flood and landslide hazard assessments to designing wastewater reuse frameworks, implementing water safety planning, addressing land degradation, and scaling climate-resilient agricultural practices across the Caribbean.

    He also serves on multiple high-level national and international scientific bodies, including the Scientific Committee of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme and the Scientific Committee for the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Islands Water Congress.

    As the institute welcomes its new leadership, GICSRD formally recognized the contributions of outgoing Director Dr John Charlery and former Deputy Director Dr Evangeline Inniss-Springer, thanking both for their foundational leadership and service during the institute’s early growth phase. Additional public information about GICSRD and its full Management Committee is available on the institute’s official website: www.uwi.edu/gicsrd.

  • IHO Nature Rangers Continues Clean-up Efforts with International Coastal Cleanup Day 2026

    IHO Nature Rangers Continues Clean-up Efforts with International Coastal Cleanup Day 2026

    In Antigua and Barbuda, ahead of International Coastal Cleanup Day 2026, local environmental organization IHO Nature Rangers has launched a wide-reaching call to action, mobilizing young people and community organizations from across the nation to join a collective effort to clear coastal and marine waste and boost youth-led conservation of the country’s fragile coastal and marine ecosystems.

    Organized under the leadership of IHO Nature Rangers and its specialized Volunteer Litter Prevention Wardens division, the 2026 cleanup initiative opens participation to all youth groups and community partners across the country. Organizers have specifically put a call out to young residents from Parham, Seatons, Glanvilles and their surrounding neighborhoods to join, emphasizing that healthy coastlines are irreplaceable pillars of Antigua and Barbuda’s natural environment, local communities, and fast-growing blue economy.

    The impetus for this targeted cleanup effort came from a recent site assessment conducted by the project team in coastal zones falling within the North East Marine Management Area (NEMMA). During the visit, team members documented significant volumes of debris originating from both land-based and ocean-based sources accumulating along the region’s shorelines. This on-the-ground observation underscored the urgent need for sustained intervention: cutting waste at its source, removing accumulated trash from vulnerable coastal habitats, and fostering a widespread culture of accountability for marine ecosystem health across local communities.

    Britney McDonald, Project Manager for IHO Nature Rangers, shared her first-hand perspective from the NEMMA assessment: “During our recent visit, we saw directly the scale of debris that is reaching our coastal zones from both land and sea. These areas are non-negotiably important to our communities and our national blue economy. Our coastlines underpin fisheries, tourism, recreation, native biodiversity, and the livelihoods of thousands of people, so protecting them demands collective action from every one of us. This cleanup event gives our young people, volunteers and communities a chance to lead by example, and show that environmental stewardship is accessible to everyone.

    Marked globally on September 19, 2026, International Coastal Cleanup Day brings together communities across every inhabited continent to remove litter from coastlines and inland waterways. For IHO Nature Rangers, this event is far more than a one-time trash pickup: it is a core component of the organization’s long-term work to build public environmental awareness, cultivate youth leadership capacity, and drive hands-on conservation action across all NEMMA communities. The organization has previously hosted successful cleanup initiatives in Parham, Seatons, and Glanvilles as part of this ongoing program.

    The Volunteer Litter Prevention Wardens will take on a dual role during the event: beyond supporting on-the-ground cleanup activities, the team will also lead outreach to local communities to promote responsible waste management habits and long-term litter prevention.

    The 2026 cleanup event will take place on Saturday, September 19, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Spencer’s Bay, and all members of the public are invited to register to participate via the online portal at https://qrco.de/bgzlSv.

    Organizers note that every piece of trash removed eliminates one more hazard for marine wildlife and ecosystems, and every volunteer helps strengthen a culture of collective environmental stewardship that will protect Antigua and Barbuda’s coastlines for generations. The goal of the event is to leave the nation’s coastal spaces cleaner, healthier, and more resilient to environmental pressures.

    This cleanup initiative forms a core activity of the broader “Strengthening Conservation Actions in the North East Management Area, Antigua and Barbuda” project, which is headed by IHO Nature Rangers. The project receives funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and the World Bank, with implementation support from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, plus local partners Integrated Health Outreach and the EcoShores Sustainable Futures Network.

    For members of the media seeking additional information or to interview project team members, inquiries can be directed to Project Manager Britney McDonald at (268) 785-5169.

  • More Sargassum, More Costs. No Plan?

    More Sargassum, More Costs. No Plan?

    By 2026, the persistent influx of sargassum along Belize’s coastlines has evolved from an occasional environmental nuisance to a crippling, recurring financial burden for the country’s coastal tourism sector. For hotels, tour operators, and small coastal businesses, routine seaweed removal is no longer an unexpected cost—it has become a permanent line item on every annual operating budget.

    Reynaldo A. Malik Jr., president of the Belize Hotel Association (BHA), explains that certain coastal geographies have exacerbated the crisis, with the Placencia Peninsula hit particularly hard. The peninsula’s natural coastal formation creates natural traps that allow massive volumes of sargassum to accumulate along its shorelines, far beyond what private properties alone can manage consistently.

    Malik emphasizes that the responsibility for clearing national coastlines cannot rest exclusively on private industry. While BHA members acknowledge their obligation to maintain the beach segments directly fronting their properties, he argues that public and undeveloped coastal areas—including government-owned crown land—must be managed by state and local authorities. What is needed, he stresses, is a formal public-private partnership built around a actionable, long-term strategy to address the crisis. It is this lack of a functional, coordinated plan that has frustrated industry leaders the most, Malik says.

    “You can allocate any amount of public funding to this problem, but without a clear implementation plan, that money is simply wasted,” Malik noted, comparing unplanned spending to throwing cash into the wind. His critique extends to some parts of the tourism industry as well: he acknowledged that not all hotel operators are holding up their end of mitigation efforts, with some properties allowing massive piles of sargassum to build up on their stretches of beach without intervention, worsening the problem for neighboring businesses and the wider coast.

    The conversation around sargassum mitigation has become tied to recent tourism policy changes: Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler has framed the recent increase in hotel occupancy tax, from 9% to 12%, as a mechanism to generate dedicated funding for sargassum response efforts. Malik confirmed that BHA has been holding ongoing exploratory talks with the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Prime Minister, with a formal negotiating meeting still scheduled for a future date.

    Given tourism’s outsize role in Belize’s national economy, any disruption to the coastal tourism sector ripples through the entire country’s financial health. “Impacts to our industry, whether positive or negative, create direct ripple effects for Belize’s overall economy,” Malik said. Despite the current frustration over the lack of a clear plan, he remains optimistic that stakeholders will reach a collaborative solution that works for all parties involved.

  • Dominican Republic to present water and sanitation progress at OAS

    Dominican Republic to present water and sanitation progress at OAS

    This Thursday, September 10, the Dominican Republic is set to share its key advances in drinking water access and coastal sanitation initiatives at a high-profile extraordinary gathering of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), a core governing body of the Organization of American States (OAS), hosted at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

    Leading the country’s presentation will be Wellington Arnaud, executive director of the Dominican Republic’s National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA). Arnaud will center his remarks on the nation’s ongoing Coastal Water and Sanitation Program, outlining on-the-ground results that have expanded access to clean drinking water, upgraded critical sanitation infrastructure, and strengthened protections for both coastal communities and fragile marine ecosystems across the country.

    Organized around the overarching theme “Clean Water, Strong Communities, a More Resilient Hemisphere,” the meeting is designed to serve as a collaborative platform for regional stakeholders. Representatives from across OAS member states will gather to exchange firsthand implementation experiences, map out shared challenges, and co-develop actionable solutions to pressing cross-border issues related to water access, sanitation infrastructure, and community-level climate resilience.

    Beyond Arnaud’s core presentation, the event will feature opening and contextual remarks from several senior regional leaders. These include OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin, Sir Ronald Sanders — who currently serves as CIDI President and Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the OAS — and Mayerlyn Cordero Díaz, the Dominican Republic’s own Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the organization.

    As one of the OAS’s principal standing organs, CIDI counts all OAS member states among its membership. Its core mandate centers on advancing targeted cooperative development projects that drive inclusive integral development across the Americas and cut systemic poverty in vulnerable regions. This meeting aligns directly with that mission, focusing on one of the hemisphere’s most pressing public and environmental priorities.

    After the formal presentations conclude, all participating national delegations will have a dedicated space to pose questions, share their own national perspectives, and debate collaborative pathways forward. Organizers frame the gathering as a critical opportunity to deepen regional coordination and build partnerships that deliver scalable, sustainable water and sanitation solutions for communities across the Western Hemisphere.

  • Antigua and Barbuda Rooftops Mapped for Solar Energy Potential Under IRENA Simulator

    Antigua and Barbuda Rooftops Mapped for Solar Energy Potential Under IRENA Simulator

    Across the small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, a new specialized tool is empowering local stakeholders to unlock the untapped renewable energy potential sitting right above their heads: rooftops. Developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the customized Antigua and Barbuda SolarCity Simulator gives homeowners, commercial operators, and public planning teams unprecedented granular data to evaluate the feasibility of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) solar installations, merging high-precision geographic mapping with detailed financial analysis.

    Unlike broad regional solar potential assessments, this platform is built to deliver actionable insights at three distinct scales, catering to the needs of different users. For individual property owners, the tool allows users to zoom into a specific parcel of land and select their building, then generates a 1-square-meter resolution analysis of the roof’s solar generating capacity. Beyond raw potential, the simulator outputs key practical details: the total area of rooftop suitable for panel installation, a full year’s projected electricity output, and a typical hourly generation profile aligned with local sunlight patterns.

    One of the most significant barriers to rooftop solar adoption is the uncertainty around return on investment, a gap the SolarCity Simulator is explicitly designed to fill. After generating generation estimates, the tool pulls in local cost data to produce a full financial breakdown, including expected upfront capital expenditure, projected payback timelines, and ongoing cash flow projections. To accommodate different user needs, it also allows for full customization of assumptions: users can adjust panel capacity, efficiency ratings, financing terms, and other technical and fiscal parameters to test multiple installation scenarios and find the right fit for their budget and energy needs.

    For public sector planners and clean energy developers, the platform offers expanded analysis capabilities for multi-property zones and large geographic areas. At this scale, the simulator automatically maps out zones with the highest aggregate rooftop solar potential, helping policymakers and developers target infrastructure projects and set achievable national renewable energy targets. Users can also model how different policy interventions—such as generation-based subsidies, capital cost grants, or tax incentives—would impact adoption and overall generation across the region, giving planners a robust tool to design effective policy.

    Beyond energy and financial metrics, the platform also quantifies the environmental benefits of rooftop solar deployment. It calculates the volume of greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution that would be avoided by shifting to solar generation, and translates these impacts into relatable equivalents, such as the number of passenger cars removed from roads or the number of mature trees planted to sequester carbon.

    IRENA notes that the broader global SolarCity platform is designed to serve dual purposes: it helps individual households and businesses estimate long-term energy cost savings from rooftop solar, while giving government regulators and energy departments a way to test the effectiveness of existing and proposed clean energy incentives. The exact launch date of the Antigua and Barbuda customized version has not been disclosed in the published implementation guidelines, but the tool is now available for use by all local stakeholders.

  • Heat stress grips T&T

    Heat stress grips T&T

    As the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season reaches its historically active peak, the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is facing an unexpected and growing climate threat: escalating dry conditions that are projected to worsen into 2027, according to an updated official outlook released by the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) this week. Right in the heart of what is typically a wetter hurricane period, the country is already grappling with extreme heat stress, with recent maximum temperatures hitting 33°C in Trinidad and 32°C in Tobago. When adjusted for heat index – the perceived temperature that accounts for humidity – those values rose to 36°C and 35°C respectively, with forecasters projecting continued hot, mostly sunny conditions in the immediate short term. The current drought projection is built on analysis of the three-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) covering July through September 2026, which shows an uneven but widespread pattern of below-average rainfall across both islands. In July, rainfall totals were near normal across most of Trinidad and sections of Tobago, but the Crown Point monitoring station in Tobago recorded just 72% of its typical monthly precipitation, at 115.8mm. Piarco, Trinidad’s main monitoring site, logged 215mm of rain, 94% of its long-term average. Over the full May-to-July period, extreme dryness was confirmed at Crown Point, south-western Tobago and Valencia, with slightly drier-than-normal conditions across central and north-eastern Tobago and north-eastern Trinidad. South-western Trinidad has already slipped into a moderately dry spell, with early drought development already underway. Nationwide, the number of consecutive dry days has risen steadily between June and July 2026, while the frequency of heavy rainfall events of 10mm or more has dropped across both islands. Looking ahead to September, the TTMS has issued an initial drought watch for most of Trinidad, with the highest risk of agricultural drought developing across the lower Caroni River basin from Piarco westward. Moderately dry conditions are expected in south-western Tobago, while central and north-eastern Tobago, north-eastern Trinidad, and the upper Caroni River basin will remain locked in persistent dry conditions through the end of the month. The trend of worsening dryness is expected to accelerate through October. By the end of that month, the TTMS projects that official drought warning conditions will take effect across all of Tobago and north-eastern Trinidad. The upper Caroni River basin will remain moderately dry, while the drought watch will expand from the lower Caroni westward into north-western Trinidad. That pattern is expected to hold through the end of November, with Tobago remaining under drought warning, drought watches in effect across the entire Caroni River basin extending into north-western Trinidad, and moderately dry conditions across northern Trinidad. Overall, short-term drought is projected across Tobago, north-eastern Trinidad, and the lower Caroni River basin between October and November 2026. Beyond the immediate three-month outlook, long-term projections raise even greater red flags. By December 2026 or January 2027, the TTMS warns that a long-term drought watch may need to be enacted, driven by a developing moderate-to-strong El Niño pattern forecast for late 2026. El Niño events across the region typically suppress wet season rainfall, push temperatures higher, and increase evaporation rates across northern South America and the Lesser Antilles, a pattern that could extend drier-than-normal conditions through the 2027 dry season. The growing drought poses major, immediate risks to two critical sectors of the nation’s economy: agriculture and public water supplies. For agricultural producers, irregular rainfall, extended hot spells, and falling soil moisture have combined to create elevated risks for both standing crops and livestock. Water resources are already under pressure, with reduced recharge rates for dams, natural streams, and underground aquifers cutting into the volume of available water for public distribution systems. In response to the developing crisis, the TTMS has issued a series of advisories for government agencies, businesses, and residents. Water and energy authorities are urged to roll out sustained water conservation measures immediately to protect reserves. The general public is asked to adopt careful water storage and usage habits to reduce unnecessary waste. For farmers, forecasters recommend close monitoring of on-farm water use, investment in improved irrigation and on-site water storage, regular weeding to cut down on water competition between weeds and crops, and increased surveillance for pest populations that thrive in drier-than-normal conditions. The TTMS is urging all relevant government and private sector stakeholders to use the updated drought outlook to update contingency plans, strengthen drought management protocols, and expand early warning systems to respond to the worsening conditions ahead.