Every figure below carries its named source and year. The Eco Index scores twelve pillars on the same scale everywhere; seven are measured from published data with fixed thresholds, five are assessed from the named sources.
Saint Barthélemy at a Glance.
The score, and the four numbers that set the tone. 12 equally-weighted pillars, every pillar sourced.
Compare with:
Renewable power
0%
of electricity
The Eco Index across 12 pillars · scored 0 to 5 · World Bank, OWID, WHO/UNICEF JMP, FiBL, Protected Planet, IUCN, UNESCO (2023-24)
Water
Food & farming
Plant-based
Organic
Conservation
Wildlife
Materials
Pollution
Recycling
Energy
Culture
Heritage
Facts That Surprise People About Saint Barthélemy.
The numbers and firsts that change how you see Saint Barthélemy, the sobering and the remarkable. Every one is dated and linked to its source.
SoberingHealth
Tap water was declared unfit to drink in 2018
From August 2018 the water distributor banned the use of tap water for drinking because of bromates, a byproduct of disinfection that may cause cancer over time. The health agency said they had almost gone by 2019, but some points still exceeded the legal limit.
Source: IEDOM, Rapport annuel 2020 Saint-Barthélemy, L'eau (page 57) · 2018
SoberingEnvironment
An island with no natural fresh water
St Barths has a chronic water shortage because of low rainfall and no springs or groundwater for drinking. Its drinking water comes from seawater desalination plants, and the volume billed rose 22.1% in 2020 to 995,590 cubic metres.
Source: IEDOM, Rapport annuel 2020 Saint-Barthélemy, L'eau (page 56) · 2020
SoberingEnvironment
Every unit of power comes from diesel
Since 2015 all of the island's electricity has come from EDF's diesel power station. It produced 121,100 MWh in 2020, up from 118,000 MWh in 2019.
RemarkableNature
A marine reserve covering 1,200 hectares
The Saint Barthélemy Nature Reserve was created on 10 October 1996 and covers 1,200 hectares of sea. It was the 132nd nature reserve in France.
Worth knowingHistory
A Swedish colony for nearly a century
St Barths was a Swedish colony from 1784 to 1878, and its capital Gustavia was an important port. Its enslaved population peaked at around 4,000 people.
Source: Uppsala University, Swedish Caribbean Colonialism · 1878
The History of Saint Barthélemy.
Saint-Barthélemy has a distinctive living heritage shaped by French settlement from 1648 and nearly a century as a Swedish colony, with its capital at Gustavia. A French dialect that may resemble seventeenth century vernacular French is still spoken on part of the island, and the long tradition of straw braiding is still celebrated.
The land itself: hilly, ringed almost entirely by shallow reef, with a great many beaches for its size. Its high point is Morne du Vitet, 286 m. Source: national mapping and survey records.
Where it starts
Ouanalao
Before European ships arrived, the Arawak people called the island Ouanalao. Christopher Columbus sighted it in 1493 and claimed it for Spain.
How it got here
The Swedish century
French settlers occupied the island from 1648, and in 1784 France ceded it to Sweden in exchange for warehouse rights at the port of Gothenburg. Governor von Rajalin made Gustavia a free port in 1785, and for almost a hundred years it ran as a Swedish colony. A treaty of 10 August 1877, approved by the island's inhabitants, returned it to France, which took possession in 1878. Saint Barthelemy became an overseas collectivity in its own right in 2007.
The timeline
Before 1493
Ouanalao.
Before European ships arrived, the Arawak people called the island Ouanalao. Source
1493
European sighting.
Christopher Columbus sights the island in 1493 and claims it for Spain. Source
1648
French settlement.
French settlers occupy the island from 1648, and it becomes part of the lands of the French West India Company. Source
1784
Ceded to Sweden.
France cedes the island to Sweden in exchange for warehouse rights at the port of Gothenburg. Source
1784 to 1878
The Swedish century.
Governor von Rajalin makes Gustavia a free port in 1785, and Swedish neutrality helps the island become a hub of trade with the United States. Source
1877
A treaty and a vote.
A treaty signed in Paris on 10 August 1877 returns the island to France, subject to the approval of its inhabitants, who accept the change. Source
1878
Back to France.
France takes formal possession of the island on 16 March 1878, paying 80,000 francs for Swedish state property and 320,000 francs in compensation for Swedish officials. Source
2007
A separate collectivity.
Saint-Barthélemy, until then a commune of Guadeloupe, becomes an overseas collectivity of France on 15 July 2007 under Organic Law 2007-223 of 21 February 2007. Source
Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy · Comité Territorial du Tourisme de Saint-Barthélemy, history and heritage · Servant, La rétrocession de Saint-Barthélemy à la France, Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de la Guadeloupe (2008) · Uppsala University, Swedish Caribbean Colonialism · Servant, La retrocession de Saint-Barthelemy a la France (archived PDF)
Nature and Biodiversity in Saint Barthélemy.
This is why St Barths is on the site at all, and it is genuinely exceptional. The Réserve Naturelle Nationale was created by decree on 10 October 1996, the 132nd national nature reserve of France. It covers 1,200 hectares across five marine sectors around Gros Îlets and Pain de Sucre, Île Fourchue, Frégate, Île Toc Vers and part of Colombier bay.
A 25 km² collectivity with one national nature reserve
How protected is nature in Saint Barthélemy?
Terrestrial protected area3.73%
Marine protected area0%
Found only here. None verified; the anole is an Anguilla Bank endemic, not a St Barths one
The watchlist
Protected realAnguilla Bank anole (Anolis gingivinus) The island's common lizard is an Anguilla Bank endemic shared across the bank, not unique to Saint-Barthelemy.
Protected realReserve Naturelle Nationale Created in 1996, it protects seagrass, coral reef and islets across five marine sectors, which is where the island's biodiversity actually sits.
What is still here, and what is gone?
Tap a species for the honest status.
Its reptiles are Anguilla Bank endemics shared with neighbouring islands, and its protected biodiversity is chiefly marine, inside the Reserve Naturelle Nationale.
Who is putting it back
Created in 1996 and managed under the Réserves Naturelles de France network, about 1,200 hectares over five marine sectors protecting seagrass, coral reef and uninhabited islets.
Water and Ocean in Saint Barthélemy.
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater. So it is manufactured.
Desalination and rainwater cisterns; no natural fresh water at all
Cleanest water: Anse de Colombier, within the Reserve Naturelle marine reserve
What are the rules on Saint Barthélemy beaches?
·Tap water: Varies.
✓Plastic rules: Unconfirmed; neither EU nor French national plastics law applies automatically.
✓Solo travel: rated easy on the record for this destination.
✕Marine protection: 0% of the sea is protected. The 30x30 pledge for 2030 is not met yet.
Named on the open map: Plage de Saint-Jean, Plage des Flamands, Plage de Saline, Plage de Gouverneur, Plage Colombier, Plage de Grand Cul-de-Sac, Plage de Lorient, Plage de Toiny, Plage de Grand Fond, Plage d'Anse des Cayes, Plage de Corossol, Plage de Public, Plage de Marigot, Plage de Maréchal, Plage de Petit Cul-de-Sac, Plage de Grand Galet. That is 16 named beaches in the public record for St Barths, each one a place you can look up before you go. OpenStreetMap.
How is the sea around Saint Barthélemy doing?
One cross-section, every answer measured.
Surface
What the coast carries
Leatherback turtle nesting roughly March–July (females nest ashore at night); green turtles resident year-round in the seagrass lagoons.
Nearshore
Protected water
0% of territorial waters are protected, against the 30% pledged for 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Cleanest
Where the water is cleanest
Anse de Colombier, within the Reserve Naturelle marine reserve.
The record
Measured
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
Is the tap water safe in Saint Barthélemy?
Tap water on St Barths is supplied by SAUR for the Collectivité and tested by the regional health agency, ARS Guadeloupe. Samples from October 2025 to May 2026 met French quality limits, apart from Legionella found in February 2026 and water flagged as corrosive to pipes in May. The main header reservoir collapsed on 13 June 2026, and on 19 June the Collectivité banned drinking the tap water. Tests after the supply came back in late June found bromate above the legal limit and Legionella in several samples. A request to lift the ban, except at the hospital and the care home, was made on 24 July 2026, though two July samples still exceeded the bromate limit. Ask your host whether the ban has been lifted, and drink bottled or filtered water until it is.
Seaweed on the beaches. 2025 brought massive strandings of sargassum seaweed on St Barths. At the end of June the Collectivité ran an emergency clean up with local firms and professional fishers, collecting more than 9,000 cubic metres of seaweed from beaches and the sea in five days. IEDOM notes that rotting sargassum releases harmful gases and that mechanical raking can remove sand with the weed. In January 2026 the executive council approved a 419,700 euro contract to design and install floating barriers to stop the seaweed before it reaches the shore.
When is the best time to visit St Barths? Tap your month.
Tap your month.
Food and Drink in Saint Barthélemy.
The 2020 agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares in 2010. Two thirds of those holdings specialise in flowers and horticulture rather than food, and agriculture accounts for just 0.1 per cent of private sector jobs.
What is killing people in Saint Barthélemy? The imported diet.
Cause of death, and the diet behind it.
Diabetes17.6%
Can Saint Barthélemy feed itself?
0.1%
Agricultural land
8
Farmers
Harvest: Offshore fishing, November to May (tuna, marlin, dorado)
Feeding itself
The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares a decade earlier and more than 180 in 1980. That is 0.05 per cent of the territory.
Certification
There is almost nothing to certify. The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, which is 0.05 per cent of the territory, and two thirds of those holdings are flowers and horticulture rather than food.
Water for crops
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
Why the organic number looks like that. Certified organic farmland is not reported for St Barths, and with so little farming the measure tells you little. The official record shows farmland at 0.1 per cent of the island in 2020, six farms and eight permanent farm workers (2020 agricultural census, via IEDOM). The Collectivité now subsidises soil free growing such as aquaponics, and farmers get irrigation water at a reduced rate.
What actually grows here
TunaMarlinDoradoSpiny lobsterReef fishVegetablesAromatic herbsFlowers
The food that already fits
There is very little farmland here: six farms worked about one hectare in 2020, down from 25 hectares in 2010, mostly flowers, vegetables and herbs. The main local food is fish. About 40 fishers (2022) work tuna, marlin and dorado offshore for six to eight months a year and set pots for spiny lobster and reef fish closer in (IEDOM). That is what the island itself puts on a plate.
Buy direct where residents buy: Gustavia fish landing (marche aux poissons). Every one is a farm shop or market we have checked and listed ourselves, so the money goes to the grower rather than the importer. The checked markets
Checked kitchens from the directory: So Cuisine to So Cuisine is a restaurant in St Barths. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help you decide; Beach House St Barth to Beach House St Barth is a restaurant in St Barths. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help y; Arawak Cafe to Arawak Cafe is a restaurant in St Barths. See its verified sustainability rating and review to help you decide. Every kitchen listed here is checked for how plant-based the menu really is before it earns its place.
Is this grown in Saint Barthélemy?
Tap a food for the honest answer.
Imports most of its foodWahooMahi-mahiLimited local pumpkinAvocado
FAO, FAOSTAT crop production · World Health Organization · FAO AQUASTAT · IEDOM, Rapport annuel économique de Saint-Barthélemy 2025 (published October 2026) · OpenStreetMap, Overpass query of museums, historic sites and craft shops in St Barths · Agreste, Recensement agricole 2020, 42 exploitations a Saint-Barthelemy et a Saint-Martin (June 2022) · IEDOM, Rapport annuel 2020 Saint-Barthelemy, L'emploi (page 33)
Climate and Energy in Saint Barthélemy.
Saint-Barthélemy generates almost all of its electricity from an EDF power station running diesel engines, supplemented by a small but growing amount of rooftop solar and some wind, so the grid remains overwhelmingly fossil-based. As a wealthy, tourism-intensive island its energy demand per resident is high, driven by air-conditioning, desalination and imported goods, although no verified per-capita CO2 figure is published for the collectivity. The territory has adopted a multi-year energy plan (Programmation Pluriannuelle de l'Energie) targeting a 100% renewable mix and is rolling out electric-vehicle charging. For now the near-total diesel dependence and absence of significant clean generation place it in a low band.
What powers Saint Barthélemy?
Renewable 0.3%Fossil 99.7%
Electricity comes from a single diesel power station run by EDF, about 30 MW of capacity against an average 20 MW load. The French energy regulator CRE recorded renewables at 0.27% of production; the rest is thermal.
Climate pollution per person
The safe amount, what the planet can absorb
2 tonnes
One person here
12.3 tonnes
The world average, for comparison
4.7 tonnes
The grid
Saint-Barthélemy generates almost all of its electricity from an EDF power station running diesel engines, supplemented by a small but growing amount of rooftop solar and some wind, so the grid remains overwhelmingly fossil-based. As a wealthy, tourism-intensive island its energy demand per resident is high, driven by air-conditioning, desalination and imported goods, although no verified per-capita CO2 figure is published for the collectivity.
Pollution
The legal position is the opposite of what most people assume, so get it right. St Barths has been an EU Overseas Country and Territory since 1 January 2012, outside the EU customs territory, and it cancelled the application of the French national environmental code on its territory in 2009 in favour of its own.
Water stress
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
What pollutes most here
1The grid The share of electricity still generated from fossil fuel.99.7%
2Industry Luxury tourism and yachting.named
3On the record The legal position is the opposite of what most people assume, so get it right.
The biggest line item
One return flight against a whole year of living.
A resident's entire year12.3 t CO2e
Safe-climate budget, per year2 t CO2e
Singapore return, economy3.14 t CO2e
Sydney return, economy2.92 t CO2e
Dubai return, economy2.12 t CO2e
Johannesburg return, economy1.98 t CO2e
Frankfurt return, economy1.29 t CO2e
How much CO2 does flying to Saint Barthélemy emit?
Tap where you would fly from. One return flight, economy.
AI and Data Centres in Saint Barthélemy.
Every prompt runs on a machine in a building on somebody’s grid. What that costs the planet depends less on the prompt than on what is burning to power it. Here is what would power one in Saint Barthélemy.
Data centres
1
Registered colocation and interconnection facilities, PeeringDB, 2026
Grid renewable
0.3 %
What a machine here runs on.
What powers a data centre in Saint Barthélemy?
Almost everything a machine here consumes is burned fossil fuel.
Renewable 0.3%Fossil 99.7%
Cooling water. Every one of those halls runs on the national grid, which is 0.3% renewable today (World Bank). A data centre is only as clean as the electricity behind it. Cooling water use is not separately published by facility, and no operator here reports it.
The rules. St Barths has 1 colocation and interconnection facilities on the public PeeringDB register, concentrated in Saint-Barthelemy (1), alongside 1 internet exchange (SBH-IX). Named sites include NRO de Lorient (NROL).
Where the cables land. 1 landing point · Gustavia (3 cables: Global Caribbean Network, Southern Caribbean Fiber, Saba Statia Cable System); a second, Saint Jean Bay, is planned for the CELIA cable in 2027
Economy and Tourism in Saint Barthélemy.
About 10,700 people live on 25 square kilometres (INSEE, 2023 census). The economy runs on high-end tourism, yachting and the free-port trade, with no agriculture at scale and no domestic energy resource.
A 25 km² collectivity whose economy is tourism and the port
Where does a tourist dollar actually go in Saint Barthélemy?
Play one tourist dollar around the board. Every square is a measured fact from this page.
START!
1
A visitor lands
About 10,700 residents on 25 square kilometres (INSEE, 2023 census). Tourism and yachting carry the economy.
$100 in play2
The villa
Saint-Barthélemy runs on high-end villa and hotel rental. Where the owner books the income decides whether the rate stays.
depends who owns it3
The plate
There is no agriculture at scale on 25 square kilometres, so almost everything eaten arrives by sea or air.
shipped in4
The power
One diesel station carries the island. The French regulator CRE recorded renewables at 0.27% of production.
99.7% burned5
The free port
Saint-Barthélemy levies no VAT, so the public take comes from harbour dues, licences and landing fees rather than sales tax.
no VAT6
The water
With no river and little groundwater, fresh water is desalinated, on the same diesel grid.
desalinated7
The reserve
The Réserve Naturelle Nationale, created 1996, protects seagrass, coral reef and islets across five marine sectors.
1,200 ha8
Back to the start
Everything above happens on an island smaller than most airports, which is what makes each choice count.
25 km²Land area25 km²
Residents (INSEE census)~10,700
Density~428 per km²
Renewable share of electricity0.27%
Natural materials
The tradition here is latanier palm straw, and it is now largely ceremonial. It is bound up with the island's headdresses: the quichenotte brought by settlers' wives, replaced by the calèche created in 1769, which now appears mainly at patronal festivals.
Energy
Saint-Barthélemy generates almost all of its electricity from an EDF power station running diesel engines, supplemented by a small but growing amount of rooftop solar and some wind, so the grid remains overwhelmingly fossil-based. As a wealthy, tourism-intensive island its energy demand per resident is high, driven by air-conditioning, desalination and imported goods, although no verified per-capita CO2 figure is published for the collectivity.
Who owns the biggest hotels in Saint Barthélemy?
By rooms · company records and press.
Hotel ManapanyCorporatenot published
Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa · ~44 roomsCorporatenot published
Hotel Christopher Saint-Barth · ~42 roomsOwnership not publishednot published
Salines Garden CottagesOwnership not publishednot published
How much of your money actually stays here?
Tap the holiday you are planning.
Visiting Saint Barthélemy, whoever you are.
Resort guest, villa renter, family, nomad or backpacker. The honest playbook for each, from the same sourced numbers.
Already booked a resort? · the rescue list
Five swaps that move your money back on-island
1. Eat where the country eats Nothing is farmed here at any scale, so choose the kitchen with the shortest supply chain and a vegetable-led menu. The checked list
2. Book with a local operator Never the lobby desk. The margin on a tour is the part that stays. Eco tours
3. Stay somewhere locally owned Ownership decides where the room rate books. Eco stays
4. Use the transport residents use Small island, but everything arrives via St Martin or Guadeloupe
5. Buy the craft, not the souvenir Natural-materials work made here pays the maker directly; imported gifts pay a shipping line.
Swipe
First time here
St Barths is the most honest test of what an eco index is for, because on the production side it has almost nothing. Six farms.
Best time: December to April is dry and expensive. May and June, and November, are quieter. September and October are the quietest, with many businesses closed. Sargassum has been stranding for around a decade and needs daily clearing at the busiest sites.
Getting around
Small island, but everything arrives via St Martin or Guadeloupe
Transport is where the fare either stays or leaves.
Eating here
Saint Barthelemy has no agricultural production in the official record, so almost every ingredient arrives by boat or plane. The lowest-impact plate here is the simplest one: vegetables, pulses and fruit rather than anything flown in chilled.
Eating what the country grows is the cheapest way to cut the import bill.
Good to know
Come here for the water, not the food. There are six farms on the island and 1.3 hectares of farmland, and everything else arrives by boat via Guadeloupe or Sint Maarten. We would rather tell you that than sell you a farm to table fantasy.
Inside the reserve, use the mooring buoys, keep to five knots, and do not wear gloves on a dive, because they are banned precisely so that nobody can pick anything up. No jet skis, no feeding, no touching, no collecting shells or sand. This is one of the few places where those rules are actually prosecuted.
Every drop of water was made by a desalination plant. And do not assume there is a single use plastic ban here, because we could not confirm one, and plastics are not even sorted before incineration.
Rate my hotel. Tap yours for the honest verdict.
Ownership from company records and press.
Who owns the big hotels
Hotel ManapanyCorporate
Le Barthelemy Hotel & SpaCorporate · 44 rooms
Hotel Christopher Saint-BarthOwnership not published · 42 rooms
Salines Garden CottagesOwnership not published
None of the 4 properties listed here publishes who ultimately owns it, so no claim is made either way. Ownership is what decides how much of a room rate stays in the country, which is why we show it when a listing states it.
Society and Governance in Saint Barthélemy.
How well is St Barths actually run?
No governance index covers St Barths, so here are measured answers instead. The Collectivité, which has set its own taxes since 2007, ended 2025 with an operating surplus of 57.4 million euros and spent 72.8 million euros on investment, including more than 20 million on land. Residents pay no income tax, and the main revenues are property transfer duties, a dock tax on all imported goods and the tourist tax. That matters here because every pledge on this page is only as good as the machinery meant to deliver it.
What is daily life in Saint Barthélemy really like? Measured
Getting around, breathing, throwing away, learning. The honest checklist.
TransportWaterWastePower
✓How you get around Small island, but everything arrives via St Martin or Guadeloupe
Made in Saint Barthélemy.
The tradition here is latanier palm straw, and it is now largely ceremonial. It is bound up with the island's headdresses: the quichenotte brought by settlers' wives, replaced by the calèche created in 1769, which now appears mainly at patronal festivals. Every step of processing done at home is value that stops leaving the country.
What Saint Barthélemy actually sells the world
Customs do not track St Barths' trade with countries other than France, and IEDOM says much of it is with the United States. In the 2023 national accounts, imports came to 488.4 million euros, 51 per cent of GDP, while exports came to 546.9 million euros, almost all of it visitor spending. The only goods export IEDOM reports is seafood: about 35 tonnes in 2025, 90 per cent fish and 10 per cent spiny lobster, almost all to Guadeloupe. Imports of luxury goods such as watches, jewellery and clothing peaked at about 76 million euros in 2023 and fell to about 45 million in 2024.
Made now · natural materials
Replaced by the calèche created in 1769
Worked in St Barths from local material, and still a working craft rather than a museum piece.
Could make · grown here already
Imports most of its food
Grown in St Barths and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
French-Creole cuisine on seafood (spiny lobster Sep–Feb, wahoo, mahi-mahi, snapper, conch)
Grown in St Barths and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
Could make · grown here already
Limited local pumpkin
Grown in St Barths and mostly sold raw. Processing it here would keep the margin here.
The maths for an entrepreneur. St Barths produced about 960.5 million euros in 2023, roughly 90,103 euros per resident (IEDOM). Imports were worth 51 per cent of that, and farmland covers just 0.1 per cent of the island. Almost everything eaten here is shipped in, so every product that can be grown, caught or processed locally is a business someone could build here rather than ship in. The fisheries committee has already studied a 1.4 million euro seafood processing unit at Saline, expected to create five jobs.
See the verified makersCulture in Saint Barthélemy.
Saint-Barth French patois
A French dialect is spoken on part of the island, which linguists say may resemble seventeenth century vernacular French, while the other half of the island speaks a creole.
Straw braiding and straw hats
The long tradition of straw braiding is still celebrated, and the straw hats of Corossol and Colombier and the white quichenotte headdress remain symbols of local identity.
24 AugustFête de Saint-BarthélemyThe island's patron saint day opens with a sailors' mass, then a wreath laying at the war memorial, a traditional dance show, concerts and fireworks.
since 1963Fête de la Saint-Louis in CorossolThe fishing village of Corossol honours its patron saint with a mass, young women and sailors handing out flatbreads, and a procession to the Rock of Saint-Louis where a wreath of flowers is cast into the sea.
Does Saint Barthélemy protect its heritage by law?
Partly, and the gaps say as much as the protections.
What is kept alive. Saint-Barthélemy has a distinctive but modest living heritage shaped by its unusual settlement by Norman, Breton and Poitevin fishing families and a brief Swedish period in Gustavia. Older residents still speak the local Saint-Barth patois, a French-based dialect, and the traditional craft of weaving latanier palm straw into hats and bags survives among a small number of artisans. Catholic patronal festivals, notably the Fête de Saint-Barthélemy on 24 August with its blessing of the boats, quadrille dancing and regattas, remain community touchstones.
Who it belongs to. Be unromantic about the history. There is no surviving indigenous population on St Barths. Arawak and Carib people visited and used the island, which they called Ouanalao, but the accounts describe sporadic use rather than continuous settlement, attributed to the absence of fresh water.
Only here. A 1,200 hectare marine nature reserve in place since 1996, France's 132nd, where anchoring is banned in the strictest zones and even gloves are prohibited on dives so that nothing can be collected. Designated a Mission Blue Hope Spot on 5 May 2022. Goats removed from Île Fourchue in 2003 to 2004 left plant species there 80 per cent higher fourteen years on..
UNESCO · Comité Territorial du Tourisme de Saint-Barthélemy, Discover Saint-Barth (culture and traditions) · Maher, Créole et patois à Saint-Barthélémy, Études créoles (1990) · Le Journal de Saint-Barth, Fête de la Saint-Barthélemy (2025) · Le Journal de Saint-Barth, the Saint-Louis in Corossol (2026)
The Future of Saint Barthélemy.
Three futures for Saint Barthélemy, every one run forward from measured data.
Where the making actually happens
Named cultural and craft sites on the open map: Musée du Patrimoine Le Brigantin, Musée Wall House, Fort Karl, Fort Gustave, Clocher suédois de Gustavia (the Swedish bell tower), Les Artisans art shop (Gustavia). OpenStreetMap.
Worst caseCurrent pathBest case
Worst case
Every measured decline continues at the pace already recorded. The weakest pillar, water at 1/5, is the one that gives way first.
Computed from: recorded series extended with no policy change
What the best case actually asks for
Lift water
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of St Barths's record. St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift food and farming
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of St Barths's record. The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares a decade earlier and more than 180 in 1980. That is 0.05 per cent of the territory.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Lift plant-based eating
It scores 1 out of 5 today, among the weakest parts of St Barths's record. There is a market, but be clear what it is. Le Marché de St-Barth runs on the first Sunday of each month, from 8am to noon on rue du Général de Gaulle in Gustavia, with around 40 to 45 stands, and it began in 2018 with 15 traders.
measured each year
Costs: spending and enforcement, not new technology
Government and Goals in Saint Barthélemy.
Who is in charge of Saint Barthélemy now · Office-holders from the UN Protocol and Liaison Service public list of Heads of State and Heads of Government, 8 September 2026. Legislature and election dates from IFES ElectionGuide. Constitution dates from the Constitute Project. Governance scores from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 2024.
Xavier Lédée
President of the Territorial Council
Xavier Lédée is the head of government of St Barths, in office since 3 April 2022. Every climate, protection and energy pledge on this page is delivered, or not, under this administration.
Public opinion, measured
Office and start date as published by the territory's own government. the territory's own government
Xavier LédéePresident of the Territorial Council
Territorial CouncilLegislature, unicameral
Last election20 and 27 March 2022
ConstitutionFrench Constitution of 1958
Government typeoverseas collectivity of France with its own territorial council
Saint Barthélemy national goals: what has been pledged, and how far it has got · each pledge measured against this country's own recorded delivery
2030
30% of sea protected
✕ far behindThe marine half of the same 30x30 pledge. St Barths currently protects 0% of its territorial waters, which is 0% of the way there. Source
2030
Paris Agreement pledge
on recordSt Barths has a Nationally Determined Contribution lodged with the UNFCCC. The registry holds the current text, its target year and the sectors it covers. Source
Plastic policy
not establishedUnconfirmed; neither EU nor French national plastics law applies automatically.
Plain Answers About Saint Barthélemy.
The questions people actually type, answered in full sentences from the sourced data above.
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Is St Barths sustainable?
St Barths scores 38 out of 100 on the Throne Eco Index, across twelve equally weighted pillars. St Barths is the most honest test of what an eco index is for, because on the production side it has almost nothing. Six farms. One point three hectares of farmland on the whole island.
Is the water in St Barths safe and plentiful?
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater. So it is manufactured.
Can St Barths feed itself?
The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares a decade earlier and more than 180 in 1980. That is 0.05 per cent of the territory. Two thirds of those holdings are flowers and horticulture rather than food, and the primary sector is 0.1 per cent of salaried employment.
Is it easy to eat plant-based in St Barths?
There is a market, but be clear what it is. Le Marché de St-Barth runs on the first Sunday of each month, from 8am to noon on rue du Général de Gaulle in Gustavia, with around 40 to 45 stands, and it began in 2018 with 15 traders. With 1.3 hectares of farmland on the island, there is no meaningful volume of local produce to sell there.
How much of St Barths is actually protected?
This is why St Barths is on the site at all, and it is genuinely exceptional. The Réserve Naturelle Nationale was created by decree on 10 October 1996, the 132nd national nature reserve of France. It covers 1,200 hectares across five marine sectors around Gros Îlets and Pain de Sucre, Île Fourchue, Frégate, Île Toc Vers and part of Colombier bay.
What wildlife is left in St Barths?
Be careful here, because the marketing outruns the evidence. The environment agency says some of the island's species are strictly endemic to Saint-Barthelemy and others are sub-endemic to the Anguilla Bank, and its public species pages name none of them, the full list sitting behind a request form. The named strict endemic on record is the tarantula Cyrtopholis antillana, described in 2024 as known only from Saint-Barthelemy. The anole most often cited, Anolis gingivinus, is an Anguilla Bank species shared with Anguilla, Saint-Martin and Sint Maarten rather than one unique to St Barths. Call it an Anguilla Bank endemic, never a St Barths endemic.
Is St Barths on clean energy?
Saint-Barthélemy generates almost all of its electricity from an EDF power station running diesel engines, supplemented by a small but growing amount of rooftop solar and some wind, so the grid remains overwhelmingly fossil-based. As a wealthy, tourism-intensive island its energy demand per resident is high, driven by air-conditioning, desalination and imported goods, although no verified per-capita CO2 figure is published for the collectivity. The territory has adopted a multi-year energy plan (Programmation Pluriannuelle de l'Energie) targeting a 100% renewable mix and is rolling out electric-vehicle charging.
How polluted is St Barths?
The legal position is the opposite of what most people assume, so get it right. St Barths has been an EU Overseas Country and Territory since 1 January 2012, outside the EU customs territory, and it cancelled the application of the French national environmental code on its territory in 2009 in favour of its own. So neither the EU Single Use Plastics Directive nor the French loi AGEC applies here automatically.
Does recycling work in St Barths?
Genuinely mixed, and more interesting than it first looks. Volumes are high: 684 kg of household waste per inhabitant, with residual household waste at double the French national average, which is what luxury tourism does to a small island.
Is the farming in St Barths organic?
There is almost nothing to certify. The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, which is 0.05 per cent of the territory, and two thirds of those holdings are flowers and horticulture rather than food. An association of growers formed in 2022 with the stated aim of relocalising agriculture and food, and its priority list is land and the price of water, which tells you the size of the problem.
Are there natural materials and craft in St Barths?
The tradition here is latanier palm straw, and it is now largely ceremonial. It is bound up with the island's headdresses: the quichenotte brought by settlers' wives, replaced by the calèche created in 1769, which now appears mainly at patronal festivals. In Corossol and Colombier the boned calèche was replaced by a straw hat woven from latanier leaves, with panama weaving techniques taught on the island from around 1925.
Is there living culture in St Barths?
Be unromantic about the history. There is no surviving indigenous population on St Barths. Arawak and Carib people visited and used the island, which they called Ouanalao, but the accounts describe sporadic use rather than continuous settlement, attributed to the absence of fresh water.
What heritage does St Barths keep alive?
Saint-Barthélemy has a distinctive but modest living heritage shaped by its unusual settlement by Norman, Breton and Poitevin fishing families and a brief Swedish period in Gustavia. Older residents still speak the local Saint-Barth patois, a French-based dialect, and the traditional craft of weaving latanier palm straw into hats and bags survives among a small number of artisans. Catholic patronal festivals, notably the Fête de Saint-Barthélemy on 24 August with its blessing of the boats, quadrille dancing and regattas, remain community touchstones.
So is St Barths actually green? The measured answer
What is working: the marine reserve shows more fish and more species than unprotected water, electricity use fell 2.4 per cent in 2025, and efficiency grants save about 8 GWh a year, close to 7 per cent of the island's energy use.
What is not: renewable electricity close to 0 per cent against an energy plan target of 60 MW from waste and biomass by 2033, emissions of 12.3 tonnes of CO2 per person against 4 in mainland France, and corals still declining.
How Saint Barthélemy Ranks, region and world.
Where Saint Barthélemy sits on the Eco Index, against its Caribbean neighbours and the 77 destinations scored worldwide.
How does Saint Barthélemy compare in Caribbean?
1Dominica72
2Belize70
4Jamaica67
5Grenada62
Scored Caribbean destinations, Eco Index.
The global top 10 of the 77 destinations scored
1Switzerland78
2France78
3Finland77
4Slovenia77
5Australia77
6Portugal75
7Germany75
8New Zealand75
9Italy73
10Spain73
Saint Barthélemy sits 77 of 77 at 38/100. Every name links to its own destination page, built exactly like this one. The full ranking
What is Saint Barthélemy particularly good at?
✓ Wildlife, scored 3/5. Be careful here, because the marketing outruns the evidence. The environment agency says some of the island's species are strictly endemic to Saint-Barthelemy and others are sub-endemic to the Anguilla Bank, and its public species pages name none of them, the full list sitting behind a request form. The named strict endemic on record is the tarantula Cyrtopholis antillana, described in 2024 as known only from Saint-Barthelemy. The anole most often cited, Anolis gingivinus, is an Anguilla Bank species shared with Anguilla, Saint-Martin and Sint Maarten rather than one unique to St Barths. Call it an Anguilla Bank endemic, never a St Barths endemic.
✓ Pollution, scored 3/5. The legal position is the opposite of what most people assume, so get it right. St Barths has been an EU Overseas Country and Territory since 1 January 2012, outside the EU customs territory, and it cancelled the application of the French national environmental code on its territory in 2009 in favour of its own. So neither the EU Single Use Plastics Directive nor the French loi AGEC applies here automatically.
✓ Recycling, scored 3/5. Genuinely mixed, and more interesting than it first looks. Volumes are high: 684 kg of household waste per inhabitant, with residual household waste at double the French national average, which is what luxury tourism does to a small island.
Where does Saint Barthélemy score worst?
✕ Water, scored 1/5. St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
✕ Food and farming, scored 1/5. The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares a decade earlier and more than 180 in 1980. That is 0.05 per cent of the territory. Two thirds of those holdings are flowers and horticulture rather than food, and the primary sector is 0.1 per cent of salaried employment.
✕ Plant-based eating, scored 1/5. There is a market, but be clear what it is. Le Marché de St-Barth runs on the first Sunday of each month, from 8am to noon on rue du Général de Gaulle in Gustavia, with around 40 to 45 stands, and it began in 2018 with 15 traders.
A note from the lens of mother natureSwipe
Water, 1/5
St Barths suffers a chronic water deficit from low rainfall and an absence of natural drinking water resources, in the words of the French central bank's overseas institute. There are no springs and no useful groundwater.
Consequence: It is the lowest-scoring part of St Barths's record, so it is where the score moves first.
Food and farming, 1/5
The agricultural census recorded six farms on the entire island, with a total utilised agricultural area of 1.3 hectares, down from 25 hectares a decade earlier and more than 180 in 1980. That is 0.05 per cent of the territory.
Plant-based eating, 1/5
There is a market, but be clear what it is. Le Marché de St-Barth runs on the first Sunday of each month, from 8am to noon on rue du Général de Gaulle in Gustavia, with around 40 to 45 stands, and it began in 2018 with 15 traders.
The Saint Barthélemy Directory.
Everything on Hold The Throne that sits in Saint Barthélemy, checked and listed.
How the rest of the world scores Saint Barthélemy
Independent global indices, for calibration.
Protected sea
0
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
Renewable grid
0.27
Recorded figure, sourced on this page.
How Saint Barthélemy Is Scored. The Throne Standard.
Every destination on the index is scored the same way, so a 4 in Barbados means exactly what a 4 means in Iceland. No self-declared data and no brochure claims are accepted. Seven pillars are scored from published measurements with the same fixed thresholds everywhere: energy (low-carbon share of electricity, 90% or more scores 5, 70% 4, 50% 3, 25% 2), conservation (land and sea protected), water (safe drinking water, wastewater treated, water stress), organic farmland, recycling, food import dependence and air quality. Where a measurement is not published for a place, that pillar keeps its source-assessed score and is labelled as such. Wildlife, culture, heritage, materials and plant-based eating have no comparable measurement and are assessed from the named sources. The Eco Index is the average of the twelve pillar scores multiplied by 20. Every figure on this page carries its named source and year, and the history on each page names what empire took as plainly as it scores the present.
The 12 pillars every destination is scored on, equally weighted
01
Water
Safe drinking water, wastewater treated and water stress. Measured.
02
Food & farming
How much of the import bill is food: whether the place feeds itself. Measured.
03
Plant-based
How easy it is to eat plant-based, from documented sources.
04
Organic
Certified organic share of farmland. Measured.
05
Conservation
Land and sea legally protected, against the 30 by 30 goal. Measured.
06
Wildlife
What survives, what is endemic, what is lost, from documented sources.
07
Materials
Local natural fibres and craft, from documented sources.
08
Pollution
Air quality (PM2.5, measured) and plastics and waste policy.
09
Recycling
Share of municipal waste recycled. Measured.
10
Energy
Low-carbon share of electricity, nuclear included. Measured.
11
Culture
Living culture and community-led visits, from documented sources.
12
Heritage
What the law keeps standing, from documented sources.
What each 0 to 5 pillar score means, in plain words
0
Absent
nothing verifiable exists
1
Failing
measurably going the wrong way
2
Weak
claims outrun delivery
3
Fair
real effort, mixed results
4
Strong
genuinely good, evidence named
5
Leading
world class, and the trend holds
Where the numbers come from.
The institutions above are the ones cited on this page, ranked by how many of its figures they carry. This same sectioned page renders for all 77 scored destinations, each with its own researched history, comparison charts and three-way future. Read the full methodology
Every figure on this page, and where it came from: 52 sources across 33 institutions
Le Journal de Saint-Barth6 FIGURES
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche', Le Marché de St-Barth runs on the first Sunday of each month, from 8am to noon on rue du Général de Gaulle in check
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche' corroboration check
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche' corroboration check
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche' corroboration check
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche' corroboration check
- 'Le marche fete son premier anniversaire dimanche' corroboration check
Other published sources5 FIGURES
- Decret n 96-885 du 10 octobre 1996 portant creation de la reserve naturelle de Saint-Barthelemy check
- Banned 9 August 2018 and lifted 3 October 2019; readings of 49.6 to 161 micrograms per litre were still being recorded in July 2019 check
- Both figures dated 2020; Guadeloupe was down to 60 per cent by 2023 check
- Superlative and the 1997 speaker count traced only to Wikipedia, so removed; the scholarly source says only that it may resemble seventeenth century vernacular French check
- Attributed to the IEDOM and qualified: Martinique's UTVD at Le Robert has incinerated since February 2002, capacity 115,000 tonnes a year check
Conseil economique4 FIGURES
- social, culturel et environnemental de Saint-Barthelemy (CESCE), 'Approvisionnement en produits alimentaires', In 2024, 26 tonnes of food were the subject of destruction requests after delivery delays, and in the first qu check
- social, culturel et environnemental de Saint-Barthelemy (CESCE), 'Approvisionnement en produits alimentaires' corroboration check
- social, culturel et environnemental de Saint-Barthelemy (CESCE), 'Approvisionnement en produits alimentaires' corroboration check
- social, culturel et environnemental de Saint-Barthelemy (CESCE), 'Approvisionnement en produits alimentaires' corroboration check
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment3 FIGURES
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area (% of land area) AG_LND_FRST, St Barths, 2025 (8.5%), modelled estimate check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area under a long-term management plan (%) AG_LND_FRSTMGT, St Barths, 2025 (0%), modelled estimate check
- UN SDG Global Database, forest area inside legally established protected areas (%) AG_LND_FRSTPRCT, St Barths, 2025 (0%), modelled estimate check
Agence Territoriale de l'Environnement2 FIGURES
BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC2 FIGURES
Journal de Saint-Barth2 FIGURES
Mission Blue2 FIGURES
The Reptile Database2 FIGURES
66 was the number of fishing inspections1 FIGURE
- not offences; the 2025 figures are 76 checks and 15 non compliant check
Actu-Environnement1 FIGURE
- St Barth adopte son propre code de l'environnement check
Agence Territoriale de l'Environnement de Saint-Barthelemy1 FIGURE
- Zones de reglementation (the body that manages the reserve) corroboration check
CBD1 FIGURE
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 check
Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy1 FIGURE
- Conseil territorial check
CRE (Commission de régulation de l'énergie)1 FIGURE
- analyse de la PPE de Saint-Barthélemy, 2024 check
Green Overseas1 FIGURE
- Saint-Barthélemy energy and EV charging feasibility (EDF diesel plant, 100% renewable programming) check
Gustavia Harbor1 FIGURE
- natural phenomena
Hotel Manapany culinary guide1 FIGURE
- local staples
IEDOM1 FIGURE
- Rapport annuel economique 2023, Saint-Barthelemy check
INSEE1 FIGURE
- Populations légales des collectivités d'outre-mer, Saint-Barthélemy (COM 977) check
Isle Blue and Foodland St Barth1 FIGURE
- market days
Magazine Maisons Creoles1 FIGURE
- coiffe traditionnelle de Saint-Barth check
OCTA1 FIGURE
- Saint-Barthelemy territoire europeen d'outre-mer check
Our World in Data1 FIGURE
- Saint Barthelemy energy country profile check
Reserves Naturelles de France1 FIGURE
- Saint-Barthelemy check
Resumed in 16591 FIGURE
- the year peace was made with the Caribs, per the transcribed colonial archives check
Réserves Naturelles de France1 FIGURE
- Réserve Naturelle Nationale de Saint-Barthélemy check
Saint-Barth Bois Gratte1 FIGURE
- la ferme verticale fait chou blanc check
Saint-Barths.com1 FIGURE
- Le Marche de St-Barth check
UN Protocol and Liaison Service1 FIGURE
- Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs, public list dated 20 October 2026 check
UN Statistics Division, Energy Balances1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, renewable share of total final energy consumption (%) EG_FEC_RNEW, St Barths, 2024 (1.0%), modelled estimate check
UNFCCC1 FIGURE
- NDC Registry check
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme1 FIGURE
- UN SDG Global Database, population using safely managed drinking water (%) SH_H2O_SAFE, St Barths, 2024 (100.0%), modelled estimate check