My name is Deniel. I’m from Trinidad, the southernmost island of the Caribbean. We Caribbean people are resourceful people. Our ways, I think, are instinctively resilient. Many of us know the reality of not having a ‘pipe borne water supply’. But, water is a primary need. We literally cannot live without it. So, our parents informally navigate solutions like rain spoutings attached to our roofs. Nature provides for us that which we need. There is a certain harmony in our lives, between us and the natural world around us. That is clear here in the Caribbean.

The thing is, this harmony has been disrupted. There has been a shift to discord. The literal nature of the world around us has shifted. With significant global temperature rises, extreme shifts in weather patterns are devastating in consequences. On June 30, 2024 – the very beginning of what is considered the ‘Hurricane Season’ in the Caribbean, named storm Beryl became the earliest category 5 hurricane in 100 years. Beryl developed from being a tropical depression to a major hurricane in just 42 hours.

Beryl moved through the region, its reach beating out multiple islands at the same time to varying degrees with wind and rain, leveling destruction. Most impacted were the islands Carriacou, Petite Martinique (PM) and Union. Some 98% of structures on Carriacou and PM were destroyed and damaged. Total disharmony. In the moment, in the reality of the loss realized after the moment, and in the consequences of the loss to be lived through. One such consequence is the basic relationship between the people and nature to meet their water needs. 98% of structures destroyed or damaged… think, their roofs. Yes, the immediate obvious concern is they’ve lost their shelter. But think about it. In addition to their shelter, they’ve lost their means of catching water.

Water which is essential. And water which, at the turn of seasons from wet to dry, is scarcer than ever, because, well… the extreme weather shifts that resulted in a category 5 hurricane at the absolute start of the hurricane season, also results in extreme heat and drought during the dry season. The delicate balance of collecting rainwater during the wet season to sustain life in the dry season, disrupted by climate change, now annihilated in the midst of our communities in crisis.

Some say Mother Nature is fighting back and punishing humanity. But I agree with Mikaela Loach, “It’s a gross injustice. It is the model of colonialism being replicated: the South is exploited for the benefit of the North.” Caribbean islands are not among the richest nations contributing to the over 90% total global emissions in excess of the planet’s capacity. Historically, it is a small number of high-income countries. And within these countries, the industries and corporations that drive forward at any and all costs to maintain themselves and be as profitable as possible are significantly implicated. These industries operate within the colonial framework of exploitation to the benefit of the colonizer.

Shell, Exxon, BP, etc, earned in the billions of dollars in the second quarter of 2024 from the exploitation and destruction of our planet. These big oil companies are aware and have been for years of the damages caused by their fossil fuel industry. Yet, they continue with the non-stop drilling and emission of greenhouse gases. To them, it’s just been a good business opportunity.

Meanwhile, the cost of living increases as a consequence of capitalism and consumerism, fueled by the flow of power and money globally. The global South – the Caribbean – is limited in our ability to respond to the consequences of the climate crisis. Incurring losses and the disruption of lives and livelihoods, the once colonized Caribbean yet again draws the proverbial short straw of coloniality.

It is paramount that there continue to be collective and united efforts to pressure those primarily responsible to take action to reduce emissions, and to engage in resistance against neocolonial systems that drive capitalism and atmospheric colonization. And at the same time, we also need to prepare our communities and increase their collective capacity to build resilience and respond with innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges induced by the climate crisis and fight for avenues through which resources to support such resilience can be made accessible. This requires building awareness of the interconnectedness of the multiple traumas of our colonial past and neocolonial present. Conversations around reparations for past atrocities must include discussions on the problematic notions of our space and bodies as ‘paradise’, commodified and sold across history and today. And also how this connects to our position in the replicated model of colonialism that is the climate crisis.

• Advocating for participation in spaces beyond physical presence to active participation and action to address our needs and issues is a start to doing this.
• Add to this, advocating for laws and policy that account for the dynamics of the geopolitical position of the global South, while reducing global dependencies on fossil fuels and driving sustainable, innovative ways of developing and engaging renewable energy options.
• And actively pressuring companies and corporations through organized boycotting.
• Last but not least, by telling our story and sharing our realities and the need for collective action, as those on the frontline of the climate crisis, facing its extreme and devastating onslaught. We are a people of oral history tradition. Let us use it.

If we engage in this way, collectively, to combat the climate crisis and advance sustainability, we can protect our Caribbean region from climate disasters and safeguard our ecosystems from oil spills. Our combined sharing of ideas, experiences, and expertise creates a flow of knowledge and understanding and enhances collective resilience. The reality of the climate crisis may seem daunting, particularly from where we stand on our small islands. But we are one Caribbean. One Big Ocean Sustainable Space. A literal BOSS Region. Machel says, “Do It Like A BOSS!”