In 2017, I met a girl from Dominica, alongside a host of other Caribbean youth like myself, during a leadership exchange programme. She and I spent less than a month together in a foreign land, but during that time we became very close friends. At the end of August, when the exchange aspect of the programme ended, she and I went back to our respective countries, hoping that we would see each other again.

Less than one month later, in September, Hurricane Irma devastated the north eastern Caribbean islands. Guyana was out of the hurricane’s path, but Dominica was on alert. I held my breath, up until the threat had passed and Dominica was intact. But then, Hurricane Maria came soon after, and Dominica was hit. I remember feeling my heart in my throat. I remember being at school, frantic but immensely helpless. The power on the island went out, their communication networks were down. Imaginably, I had no idea what was happening. I remember refreshing my newsfeeds everywhere, all day; I was religiously following #HurricaneMaria and #Dominica on Twitter. I even took to Facebook to message people that seemed to be her close family. I had to make sure she was okay.

I found solace in another friend, in the Bahamas, who was also on our exchange programme. Each day, several times a day, we would check in with each other to compare what we read or heard. Days passed, anxiety levels raised and soon enough it was the weekend. I remember this specific Saturday so vividly. I had just gotten to the venue for my Integrated Mathematics lessons, and I decided to message her some more just so she would know that I had her in my thoughts and prayers all the time. When I got into the chat, I saw double ticks; the messages were delivered! And, I was suddenly filled with hope that she was okay. I hadn’t received a reply, but I sent a few dozen more messages. They were being delivered. Not able to control myself, and without a single care for math lessons, I reached out to the Bahamian friend right away to share the news. He saw the same thing, and at that moment we breathed easily after days. Later that day, I got a single message: “Sissy I am ok”.

Subsequently, as the island began receiving help and putting certain key mechanisms in place, communication became better and I heard all about the devastation there from her. But she and her family members were okay, and I was grateful for that.

A few days ago, I read a World Economic Forum report on some research done by Oxfam (which is a confederation of 19 independent charitable organisations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty). The research highlighted the magnitude of the displacement being caused by Climate Change. This leads to a Climate Migration, or a climate exodus, rather.

“As the Earth’s atmosphere warms, the likelihood of severe floods, cyclones, wildfires, and other weather extremes increases,” the report underscored.

What was simply incredulous about this research, however, was that it illustrated that people living in poorer, developing nations are exponentially more susceptible to some of the dire effects of climate change, despite contributing to its occurrence exponentially less.

The report highlighted: “With small island states like Cuba and Dominica among the worst affected areas, people there are 150 times more likely to be homeless than people in Europe, despite producing a third of the emissions per capita as wealthy countries.”

I immediately thought about my Dominican sister, and how she was forced to live away from her family, in another country, for a few months, because of the devastation caused by the Hurricane. In it a given that us small states here in the Caribbean do not contribute as many emissions, and I cannot get angry when I attend Climate Change discussion fora and I hear people question why we should be taking action to mitigate against this. Those sentiments are not unjustified, but I can only reaffirm that it is still in our best interest to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices.

This is why I support our government’s ban on styrofoam and the proposed ban on single-use plastics. This is why every time I hear our President talk about his Green State vision, I am filled with pride, but also simultaneously wary, that our oil and gas revenues do indeed bring this vision to fruition instead of being otherwise used. And, when I think about being more conscious in my environmental decisions (you know, like using fewer plastics, limiting my consumption of meat, and so), it seems less taxing, and more of a responsibility. You sight me?