The Climate 100 List: Mia Mottley, trailblazing Barbados PM, brings a dose of reality to global climate debate

Known for her powerful speeches, Mottley’s landmark Bridgetown Initiative calls for serious change to debt repayments for developing nations, who suffer the most after devastation caused by the climate crisis - yet have contributed the least

Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, speaks at COP28 on December 2, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Getty Images)

“This is not science fiction, this is our reality,” Barbados’ prime minister, Mia Mottley, has repeatedly said in global speeches.

She’s referring to the state of our climate and has quickly become one of the world’s most prominent voices on the severity of the issue, where her actions match her words.

She’s set ambitious targets, like cutting fossil fuels in Barbados by 2030; has a vision for all homes on the island to have solar roof panels; and has schemes for restoring coral reefs and planting a million trees.

Mottley is a former lawyer, who earned a law degree from the University of London and studied at London’s School of Economics. Though politics is almost in her DNA as her grandfather, Ernest Deighton Mottley, was the first mayor of Bridgetown who received a knighthood in the 2019 New Year’s Eve Honors and her uncle (named after her grandfather) was the political leader of the Christian Social Democratic Party.

She began her political career in 1991, and aged just 29 she was one of the youngest Bajans to be assigned a minister portfolio. She was then appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture in 1994 (a role she held until 2001) and in 1996 she was elected general secretary of the Barbados Labour Party.

Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley making her powerful statement at Cop26 in Glasgow on November 2, 2021 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Since becoming the country’s eighth prime minister in 2018, Mottley has added a number of firsts to her name, too. She’s not only the first woman to lead the country, but also the first to serve since Barbados became a republic in November 2021 (behind which she was a driving force). She was also the first Bajan to be featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Aside from those milestones, she cemented herself as a trailblazing leader and quickly became known for her eloquent, urgent and powerful speeches after announcing her Bridgetown Initiative at the opening ceremony of the Cop26 climate summit in November 2021.

The initiative advocates for poorer nations, who bear the physical and financial brunt of the climate crisis yet who have contributed the least emissions. In 2020, Barbados accounted for less than 0.01 percent of global emissions.

At the UN in September 2021, Mottley said: “We have the means to invest in protecting the most vulnerable on our planet from a change in climate, but we choose not to. It is not because we do not have enough, it is because we do not have the will to distribute that which we have.”

She went on to say: “Our world knows not what it is gambling with, and if we don’t control this fire, it will burn us all down,” where she also drew on the lyrics of Bob Marley, pointedly asking, “who will get up and stand up for the rights of our people?”

Prince Charles, then Prince of Wales, joins the President of Barbados Sandra Mason (C) and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley (L) in a toast to the nation during a reception hosted by the President of the Republic at State House on November 30, 2021 in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Prince of Wales arrived in the country ahead of its transition to a republic within the Commonwealth (Getty Images)

The following year, at Cop27 in Egypt, she told leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries that their failures to do better resulted in a “death sentence” to small islands and developing nations, as The Independent previously reported.

To combat the lack of action, the Bridgetown Initiative aims to spearhead a reform in world finance, rebalancing the difference between wealthier and poorer counties in how they’re able to cope with and adapt to the effects of the climate crisis.

The movement pushes Barbados to the forefront of tackling the disparity in coping with the climate crisis, which is rooted in how vulnerable Barbados (and other island nations) are. At its heart, Mottley’s plan wants debt capped or cancelled for “climate-stricken nations”.

Those on the climate frontlines are most at risk of rising sea levels along with extreme weather disasters like floods, hurricanes, coastal erosion and droughts. And while debt repayment for wealthier nations is usually around 1-4 percent, poorer countries face staggering rates of 12-14 percent, because they’re seen as much riskier loans.

Mia Mottley with former secretary of state John Kerry, MSC chairman Christoph Heusgen and Bavaria’s state governor Markus Soder at the 2024 Munich Security Conference on February 17 (Getty Images)

These higher interest rates seriously hamper the ability to repay, especially in conjunction with attempting to rebuild homes, hospitals and schools after extreme disasters. For developing countries, the cost of countering climate-related natural disasters is estimated at $70bn per year - but could rise to as much as $300bn by 2030.

Mottley sees the Bridgetown Initiative working in the same way that Europe’s debt was capped post-Second World War, so countries were able to rebuild. Without this approach to the gulf of inequality and outdated repayment structures, Mottley says it’s nearly impossible for vulnerable nations to truly be able to fight the climate crisis.

The initiative also demands that wealthier countries - who account for four fifths of global emissions - pay more towards funding climate resilience in poorer nations.

“Our people are watching, and our people are taking note,” she told global leaders from the stage of Cop26 in Glasgow.

“Are we really going to leave... without the commitment to ambition that is sorely needed to save lives and to save our planet? Or are we so blinded and hardened that we can no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?”

The Independent will be revealing its Climate100 List in September and hosting an event in New York, which can be attended online, to reserve your place click here.