Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea. The territory consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and, south of that, two-thirds of the northern part of the Grenadines, a chain of 32 smaller islands. Some of the Grenadines are inhabited—Bequia, Mustique, Union Island, Canouan, Petit Saint Vincent, Palm Island, Mayreau, Young Island—while others are not: Tobago Cays, Baliceaux, Battowia, Quatre, Petite Mustique, Savan and Petit Nevis.

Unplanned development and the unregulated use of the coastal and marine resources of the Grenadines have already led to significant degradation in many areas. Overfishing, coastal habitat destruction, sedimentation, solid waste and sewage disposal from land-based and boat sources, as well as the recreational abuse of coral reefs, have been cited as causative factors for this deterioration. Coral bleaching, as a result of global climate change, is also considered one of the greatest threats to coral reefs. The fragmentation of habitats and degradation of coastal ecosystems is making the country increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, storm surges and heavy rains, the effects of which are expected to worsen under climate change.