Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre reiterated a warning against complacency after Saint Lucia was spared the full fury of Hurricane Beryl.
The storm wreaked havoc elsewhere in the Caribbean, including Grenada, Petite Martinique and Carriacou, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.
"I want to say to the people of Saint Lucia, we are not out of the woods. This is just the beginning of what the experts say is going to be a very intense hurricane season," Pierre warned during a press conference Thursday.
"All the climate action that we must take, all the adaptation and the mitigation, we have to do that as a people," he told reporters, adding that shortly after the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially began on June 1, Beryl arrived.
Pierre also called for national unity, declaring it was no time to play politics.
"We can play all the politics we want. If we get a Category Five hurricane, there will be no politics to play," he asserted.
As a result, the PM invited opposition United Workers Party (UWP) members to join the recovery process.
Pierre also said the time for talk regarding climate action was over, and the developed countries must put their money where their mouth is.
He explained that Goodwill could not address the hurricane devastation in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which needed resources and money after losing a major percentage of their GDP.
"I think there is need now for us to have almost a Marshall Plan where when these things happen, there is instant support both for adaptation and for mitigation," Pierre told Thursday's news conference.
He indicated that science has proved that developed countries were the major contributors to climate change by causing emissions.
"We are paying for it in these Islands," Pierre lamented.
In addition, he called for vulnerability clauses in agreements with international financial institutions to support the Islands impacted by climate change.
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