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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Natricia Duncan in Kingston

Caribbean bears brunt of £43bn climate-fuelled damage to developing islands

A drone view of affected areas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica.
Report also highlights devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa, which tore through Jamaica in October 2025. Photograph: Raquel Cunha/Reuters

Caribbean nations suffered $53.2bn (£40bn) of damage from climate-fuelled disasters between 2000 and 2024, research into the cost of the climate crisis to developing small islands has found.

The figure is more than 90% of the total $57bn in economic damage caused by floods, storms and drought across 39 developing island nations in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, according to a study by development thinktank ODI Global.

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