PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — Michael Saunders, a 21-year-old native Turks and Caicos Islander and student at the University of Waterloo delivered a TEDx talk at TEDxMcGill 2026, one of Canada’s most prestigious student-run TED events. The talk, centered on Caribbean climate vulnerability and ecological debt, positions the Turks and Caicos Islands at the heart of a critical global conversation about fairness, resilience, and the future of innovation in small island states.

Initially titled “The Short End of the Stick: How Caribbean Vulnerability Becomes Global Strength,” Saunders traces a throughline from the Caribbean’s colonial past to its present-day climate reality. Drawing on his experience growing up in TCI, including living through back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, in 2017, he argues that the region’s structural vulnerability is the accumulated result of centuries of economic extraction, followed by decades of climate damage the Caribbean did little to cause.

“SIDS contribute less than one percent of global emissions, yet face some of the highest risks from climate change. The countries that did the least to create the crisis are paying the highest price for it.” — Michael Saunders, TEDxMcGill 2026

Central to the talk is the concept of ecological debt, the idea that wealthier nations bear a responsibility for the climate costs now falling disproportionately on vulnerable regions. For TCI specifically, Hurricane Irma alone caused more than half a billion dollars in damage and losses, exceeding the entire national budget that year, while devastating nearly 80 percent of critical buildings and housing across the islands.

Yet Saunders is careful not to frame the Caribbean solely as a victim. He argues that the same conditions that made the region vulnerable now position it to lead on resilience and climate technology, highlighting TCI’s Blue Belt Programme, mapping fragile reef ecosystems and strengthening coastal defences, as innovation already taking shape.

Looking ahead, Saunders argues the path forward requires Caribbean governments to lead through policy. He points to three levers. First, the development of regional green finance taxonomies: CARICOM and the IFC are already working to establish guidelines that define green assets and channel private capital toward climate-resilient projects, but territories like TCI can accelerate this through complementary domestic legislation. Second, climate-resilient debt instruments: in 2022, Barbados restructured $150 million in sovereign debt through a blue loan arranged by Credit Suisse and CIBC FirstCaribbean, guaranteed by The Nature Conservancy and the Inter-American Development Bank, unlocking $50 million for marine conservation over 15 years. TCI, with its Blue Belt Programme and extensive marine protected areas, is naturally positioned to pursue a similar instrument, but requires the domestic legislative framework to execute it independently. Third, closing the climate finance access gap: despite SIDS representing 25% of Green Climate Fund (GCF)-eligible countries, they have received only 12% of total GCF allocations, a structural imbalance that can only be corrected if Caribbean jurisdictions build the institutional capacity to access these funds directly.

But Saunders’ ambition extends further. He argues the Caribbean should position itself as the world’s premier destination for climate innovation capital, not merely attracting green investment, but anchoring it. That means creating the conditions for environmental startups to incorporate, scale, and raise capital across the region: purpose-built climate investment zones, streamlined environmental venture licensing, and regionally coordinated incentive structures that make the Caribbean the obvious home for the next generation of climate technology companies. The Caribbean sits on the frontlines of the climate crisis, giving it unmatched real-world conditions for testing and proving climate solutions, and that is an asset that can be monetized. The region should not only be building resilience against climate change; it should be profiting from solving it. The Turks and Caicos Islands is uniquely positioned to lead this charge: with strong investor confidence, a longstanding affiliation with the United Kingdom due to being a British Overseas Territory, proximity to the United States, and a track record of responsible governance, TCI has the institutional credibility and strategic location to become the Caribbean’s anchor jurisdiction for climate innovation and diversified economic growth. And the window to seize that position will not stay open indefinitely.

Michael Saunders is currently completing a placement as an Analyst at Deloitte Canada, where he holds Bloom Scholar status, a recognition reserved for exceptional emerging talent. His background spans finance, economics, biology, and sports and entertainment, with prior roles at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and Baker Tilly TCI. The son of Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders and Indrani Saunders, he has roots in both the Turks and Caicos Islands and Guyana. His talk draws on both family histories, the parallel experiences of enslaved Africans and indentured Indian labourers, to illustrate how the region’s vulnerability was by design, not by accident.

With the full talk recently released on TEDx Official’s YouTube Channel titled “Climate debt: what do we owe to the Caribbean?”, Saunders joins a growing cohort of young Caribbean voices bringing the region’s perspective to international platforms. For the Turks and Caicos Islands, it is another signal that the next generation is ready to lead.

“Where I am from, we learn to track hurricanes before we learn how to drive. We know how to navigate the storm. Now we are asking for the power to shape what comes next.”