Business Barbados - 2023 Edition

Sustainable and Environmentally Sensitive Property Development in Barbados Terry Hanton, FCA, MRICS Associate Managing Director, Property Consultancy Services arbados is a global leader in sustainable and environmentally sensitive practices. Our Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, has carried out pioneering work at numerous COP meetings and presentations to the UN regarding the impact of climate change on vulnerable small island states, particularly those dependent on tourism. The ‘Bridgetown Initiative’ adopted at COP 27 provides for “loss and damage” funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. The Barbados government’s ‘2030 Promise’, which is included in the National Energy Policy, sets out a goal of having the country’s national electricity grid powered entirely by renewable energy sources by 2030. And this is no vague promise. The island’s electricity utility, Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P), which is Canadian-owned, has committed to a goal of 100% transition to renewable energy and has itself invested in large wind and solar farms on the island. In addition, many private individuals have sought planning consent for solar farms, with many currently in operation or under construction. One of the largest companies on the island, Williams Industries, has pioneered the issuance of bonds to the public to fund its renewable energy installations. The economics of solar are excellent, as the ‘buy/sell’ arrangement with BL&P provides for a higher dollar rate payable by BL&P to private providers of electricity to the grid than the rate payable to BL&P by its customers for electricity consumption. These net returns provide excellent yields to private individuals and corporate bond holders. The public have embraced the opportunities to invest. Recently Barbados announced its intention to set up a Green Bank, with funding from the international ‘Green Energy Fund’. The Green Bank will fund initiatives in housing, transportation, water and energy. These are four of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the United Nations member countries in 2015. Barbados has long been a global leader in domestic solar power generation – approximately 90% of homes heat their water tanks from roof mounted solar panels. The island is also a pioneer in the operation of a desalination plant which converts sea water into potable water. B P R O P E R T Y D E V E L O P M E N T I N B A R B A D O S 49 BUSINESS BARBADOS 2023