Barbados firm wins top prize at Climate Smart Summit Investor forum

Barbadian entrepreneur Dr. Legena Henry secured the US$5,000 top prize at the 2026 Climate Smart Summit Investor Forum in Bridgetown for her innovative company, Rum and Sargassum Incorporated. The climate infrastructure firm focuses on transforming sargassum seaweed and rum distillery wastewater into renewable natural gas, addressing a regional crisis of seaweed blooms that threaten marine ecosystems and tourism.

“

I’m a mechanical engineer, all my three degrees are in mechanical engineering and I thought I’m not hearing a lot about how transport is going to transition, the transport sector. So I called these students and said let’s look at what Barbados transport could look like and that’s where it came from.

Henry, a mechanical engineer and renewable energy lecturer at the University of the West Indies, explained that her project began in 2019 with students exploring a fossil-fuel-free transportation sector for Barbados. She highlighted the urgent need for Caribbean nations to develop independent energy solutions, citing global energy price fluctuations and conflicts impacting oil and gas.

“

If you think about the Straits of Hormuz, if you think about what’s happening globally with energy right now. We need local energy products in our region.

"We need local energy products in our region," Henry stated. "We need to figure out our energy story because nobody's coming to rescue us." She noted that countries are facing water and electricity shortages due to the instability of the fossil fuel industry.

“

We need to figure out our energy story because nobody's coming to rescue us.

The prize money will aid in completing the company's pilot gas station project in Barbados. Rum and Sargassum's innovative approach not only tackles environmental challenges but also aims to bolster energy security within the Caribbean. Grenada's Dr. Judlyn Telesford-Checkley and Jamaica's Teka Smith also received prizes for their climate-focused ventures.

“

Countries are running out of water, running out of electricity right now because of the conflicts around oil and gas and that industry. Even the price of plastic is going up because it’s tied to the fossil fuel industry.