Inside Saint Lucia’s Bold Push for Climate Action and National Ownership
For Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on the frontlines of climate change, NDCs 3.0 — the third round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — are more than updates to climate targets. By aligning climate action with national development priorities, NDCs enable SIDS to strengthen community resilience — creating new jobs, expanding energy access and building coastal defenses to protect against climate impacts.
In February 2025, Saint Lucia became the first Caribbean country to submit its NDC 3.0, strengthening its commitments on both mitigation and adaptation. The NDC 3.0 doubles its previous emissions reduction target, aiming for a 14% cut in energy and transport emissions by 2030. It also sets new 2035 targets: a 10% reduction in the cooling sector and 22% in energy — potentially increasing to 32% with further geothermal development. Saint Lucia also aims to sequester 33,000 metric tons of CO2 through forest restoration. Building on its National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Saint Lucia’s adaptation commitments guide efforts to scale action across eight priority sectors — from water and agriculture to fisheries and tourism.
Leveraging NDC Partnership support to strengthen government coordination and national ownership, Saint Lucia has built continuity across NDC cycles, successfully raising its climate ambition and positioning itself as a regional climate leader.
From Planning to Implementation
Saint Lucia’s progress is anchored in its cabinet-approved NDC implementation plan –– a framework guiding sectoral action, tracking progress and shaping investments relevant to evolving national circumstances and priorities — developed with support from the NDC Partnership. The plan gave Saint Lucia a clear picture of progress under its previous NDC, providing the evidence base needed to shape the NDC 3.0 targets and priorities.
Through quarterly meetings convening sectoral ministries and representatives, and the use of the NDC Implementation Plan Online Tool — a user-friendly tool for NDC coordination and resource tracking — Saint Lucia was able to track progress on its previous NDC and feed real results into its NDC 3.0 process. This grounded sectoral planning in solid data, enabling clearer, more targeted dialogue between implementing partners and sectoral ministries.
“The NDC Partnership’s support really helped in maintaining that momentum between NDC cycles,” said Dawn Pierre-Nathoniel, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer and NDC Partnership national focal point. “One of the key lessons was to utilize the synergies that already existed –– with there being no need to reinvent the wheel. We were able to use data from our prior processes instead of going back and starting over.”
During this period between NDC submissions, the country advanced key legislative and policy reforms. The Climate Change Act, passed in 2024, was among the first in the Eastern Caribbean to legally formalize the role of the National Climate Change Committee (NCCC) and embed climate governance into law. This ensured climate action remained a permanent fixture in national decision-making and strengthened accountability by clarifying institutional roles and responsibilities. Complementary reforms — including the National Energy Policy (2023–2030), a draft Integrated Resource and Resilience Plan and a revised Electricity Supply Act — created a clearer pathway for energy sector transformation, which is critical for meeting Saint Lucia’s mitigation targets.
The Impact of Strong Coordination
The NDC Partnership in-country facilitator, Onika Benn, embedded in the Department of Sustainable Development, played a central role in coordinating the NDC 3.0 process. Prioritizing national ownership, the facilitator worked closely with the NCCC, inclusive of sectoral ministries, youth and the private sector to ensure the updated NDC reflected their challenges and priorities.
“Having a full-time in-country facilitator really changed the game,” Pierre-Nathoniel explains. “It gave us a much more efficient, effective system for networking and relationship-building. That improved coordination, data collection and all the logistics—especially with the staffing constraints we face. The facilitator worked hand-in-hand with our team, under my supervision, to make sure everyone’s voice was heard.”
The facilitator coordinated over two dozen stakeholder consultations and helped translate sectoral data into actionable policy updates, enabling Saint Lucia to navigate capacity constraints and deliver a more ambitious and timely submission. High-level engagement from the Ministry of Finance anchored climate priorities in national budgetary processes, increasing the likelihood that NDC commitments will be matched with the financial resources needed for implementation.
Transparent and Data-Driven Stakeholder Engagement
Planning was underpinned by detailed technical data, including information on energy demand and fuel imports. In cases where proprietary data was held by private sector companies, the team used the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) to model different scenarios without compromising confidentiality. This meant that discussions with ministries and private partners could be highly specific, targeting the areas where reductions were most feasible and cost effective.
“Data can be extremely sensitive when dealing with private sector organizations, and trust is extremely important in such a national process,” Benn explains. “By sharing only the modeled scenarios, we built confidence that targets were not only aspirational but also technically achievable.”
Because electricity generation is central to Saint Lucia’s NDC, the team worked closely with the national energy provider to understand its plans and constraints. “This collaboration grounded our projections in reality and ensured that stakeholders had full confidence in the NDC because they helped shape it,” Benn says.
Youth Engagement Within a Whole-of-Society Approach
Youth engagement was integral through the NDC development process, reflecting the country’s broader commitment to whole-of-society participation. With support from the facilitator, Saint Lucia advanced a model of youth inclusion that combined public engagement, policy influence and formal representation.
Launched in 2024, the “Youth in Climate Change” project engaged more than 800 young people in climate education, distributed 500 LED bulbs to schools, delivered technical training to 15 youth leaders, placed 11 tertiary students in internships and supported youth advocacy training. All secondary schools on the island committed to energy efficiency pledges. Youth input informed NDC provisions on education and youth participation in climate decision-making, aligned with the Medium-Term Development Strategy and NAP.
At the national level, the 2024 Climate Change Act institutionalized youth representation in climate governance, making the National Youth Council and Caribbean Youth and Environment Network legal members of the National Climate Change Committee.
“It was very important to meet with stakeholders to build their trust,” says Benn, “so that they can be aware of what the process entails, and they can see themselves as part of the process –– to ensure that the outcomes that were achieved for the final NDC reflected their thoughts and their concerns.”
Towards NDC 3.0 Implementation and Regional Collaboration
The approach is yielding results, both nationally and regionally. Saint Lucia is not only scaling up ambition at home but also serving as a regional model for sustained, effective climate action.
In 2025, the country presented its NDC 3.0 experience at Climate Week in Latin America and the Caribbean and engaged in bilateral exchanges with Saint Kitts and Nevis, which has requested direct support in preparing its own NDC. The facilitator continues to share Saint Lucia’s model through the Regional Climate Change Centre and other platforms for South-South cooperation, helping to accelerate ambition across the region.
A webinar, “The Pathway to NDC 3.0: Experiences and Lessons Learned from Saint Lucia,” was organized by the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre for the Caribbean together with the NDC Partnership, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) to provide regional capacity building support for the preparation and communication of NDCs 3.0.
“A number of needs have emerged as we look toward implementation,” says Pierre-Nathoniel. “We're looking to embed a monitoring, evaluation and learning officer to assist us. Support to fund and execute our forestry inventory is also critical, as is operationalizing our National Climate Finance Unit to attract the necessary funding.”
Looking ahead, Saint Lucia also aims to deepen private sector engagement, scale up investment in clean energy and resilience, advance readiness for carbon markets and mobilize resources to implement adaptation measures across its key NAP sectors. Saint Lucia’s Department of Sustainable Development and Department of Finance, in collaboration with the NDC Partnership Support Unit, hosted a national dialogue to strengthen private sector engagement in climate action, exploring climate-smart business models, investment opportunities and the enabling conditions needed to scale up private investment in NDC implementation.
Saint Lucia’s experience shows what’s possible when countries take a long-term view, sustaining coordination across planning cycles. It also demonstrates how embedded support can help turn ambition into sustained practical action.
“Our national ownership was cemented by establishing the multisectoral National Climate Change Committee, which is now enshrined in the Climate Change Act,” reflects Pierre-Nathoniel. “We have taken these steps to create ownership, conversation and action. People are aware, people are empowered –– and we are moving forward.”