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Charles began his 12-day tour of the region on
St. Lucia and is due to visit several other islands that are
also former British colonies and retain Charles' mother, Queen
Elizabeth, as head of state.
The prince, an outspoken environmentalist, in a speech shortly
after arriving called attention to efforts to create sustainable
agriculture and hailed local entrepreneurs taking risks to
protect the environment
"Climate change... poses nothing short of an existential threat
to this island as it does to every part of this region," he said
at Vieux Fort at the southern tip of the island.
The British royal spoke just a few weeks after St. Lucia marked
the 40th anniversary of its independence in 1979.
Charles, the heir to the British throne, pointed to a project
that aims to map St. Lucia's seabed. It is supported by the
Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme, which was launched by
the UK government in 2016 and aims to support marine economies,
nicknamed blue economies, of 17 Commonwealth small island
states.
Charles said the initiative holds "the potential to help develop
St. Lucia's vital blue economy in significant and sustainable
ways."
The prince was expected to fly to Barbados later on Sunday,
where he will join his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall,
who was likely to accompany him on the remainder of the tour.
Charles will also travel to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St.
Kitts and Nevis and Grenada, in addition to communist-run Cuba,
the first time a British royal will make such a visit.
The trip to Cuba is meant to underscore warming British-Cuban
ties and was scheduled in coordination with the British
government.
(This story has been refiled to add dropped word "to" in
paragraph eight.)
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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