Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia

The Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia, published in December 2011, provides a comprehensive assessment of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, climate vulnerabilities, and strategies for mitigation and adaptation. The report details a GHG inventory for the year 2000, projects future emissions through 2020 under various scenarios, and evaluates the vulnerability of key sectors—including tourism, agriculture, and water resources—to rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and sea-level rise. It proposes a series of priority adaptation and mitigation measures, while identifying significant gaps in financial, technical, and institutional capacity that hinder the mainstreaming of climate resilience into national development planning.

• Saint Lucia's total greenhouse gas emissions for the year 2000 were 579 Gg of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), representing an almost 2% increase from 1994 levels.
• The energy sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, specifically CO2 emissions from stationary combustion, followed by methane (CH4) emissions from solid waste disposal and CO2 emissions from transportation.
• In the energy sector, the majority of CO2 emissions in 2000 resulted from the combustion of Gas/Diesel Oil (59.5%) for thermal electricity production and Gasoline (34.6%) for road transport, agriculture, and fishing.
• The Land Use Change and Forestry sector is a net source of CO2 emissions, although emissions decreased by nearly 75% between 1994 (approximately 85 Gg) and 2000 (21 Gg).
• Climate models project significant temperature increases for Saint Lucia by the end of the 21st century, with GCMs predicting increases between 1°C and 4°C, and RCMs projecting increases between 1.9°C and 2.4°C.
• Annual rainfall is projected to decrease, with GCMs showing a median decrease of up to 22% and RCMs predicting a decrease of up to 57% by the end of the century.
• Hurricane intensity is expected to increase; a 2008 study concluded that by 2025, Saint Lucia could experience 3-4 category IV and V hurricanes annually, compared to a previous Atlantic Basin average of 1.4.
• Sea level rise in the Caribbean is expected to be between 0.17 m and 0.24 m by 2050 under the A1B scenario, which will cause the shoreline to recede and impact coastal development planning.
• The tourism sector is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on coastal assets; risks include coral bleaching, beach erosion, and increased energy demand for cooling as temperatures rise.
• The water sector is identified as a critical cross-cutting vulnerability; the severe drought of 2009/10 exposed significant supply deficiencies and the need for increased storage facilities.
• Mitigation Scenario #1, consisting of 16 measures, is projected to reduce overall GHG emissions by 19.6% relative to the baseline by 2020.
• Mitigation Scenario #2, which adds landfill gas capture and a demand-side management program for electricity to Scenario #1, is projected to reduce overall emissions by 25.7% by 2020.
• Priority mitigation measures for early implementation include waste reduction, reforestation of marginally used agricultural lands, transportation demand management, wind farm establishment, and improved energy efficiency standards for appliances.
• Key adaptation strategies include the implementation of setbacks for new construction, the adoption of updated building codes, the use of natural defenses (mangroves and coral reefs), and integrated watershed management.
• The report identifies systemic constraints to climate action, including limited financial resources, inadequate specialist human resources, and a lack of integrated development planning.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2011). Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia. https://cdn.leap.sei.org/documents/SNCSaintLucia.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia. 2011. https://cdn.leap.sei.org/documents/SNCSaintLucia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia |date=December 2011 |url=https://cdn.leap.sei.org/documents/SNCSaintLucia.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2011second, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Second National Communication on Climate Change for Saint Lucia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = dec, url = {https://cdn.leap.sei.org/documents/SNCSaintLucia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }