Country Comments

The UNEP reported Trinidad and Tobago is the most industrialized country in the Commonwealth Caribbean region and suffers the attendant environmental problems associated with the production of oil, natural gas and petrochemicals in addition to rum, soap, paint and wood products. (1)

Coupled with a total population that is over five times greater than can be sustained with the renewable resources it possesses, natural habitat both marine and forests have suffered negatively from this pressure and growth for everything from housing to food production.

Globally, some progress on women’s rights has been achieved but much improvement remains. In Trinidad and Tobago, 83.3% of legal frameworks that promote, enforce and monitor gender equality, with a focus on violence against women, are in place. As of February 2021, 26.2% of seats in parliament were held by women. In 2011, 58.2% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) had their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods. (2)

A positive of improving women’s empowerment and access to family planning has been a below replacement fertility rate since the turn of the century. If immmigration and emigration figures remain fairly even, it is possible the country could begin to see a decline in its population by the end of the decade and begin the slow path back to long term sustainability.

(1) https://www.unep.org/pt-br/node/14108

(2) https://data.unwomen.org/country/trinidad-and-tobago