The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian environmental advocate yesterday said there is “no way” that the $700m pledged thus far to the climate change ‘loss and damage’ fund is sufficient to even cover this nation’s needs.

Rashema Ingraham, of Waterkeepers Bahamas, told Tribune Business that “a lot more” financing from the world’s wealthiest nations, who are also the greatest polluters and contributors to the climate emergency, is required given that this sum cover just over 20 percent - or one-fifth - of the loss and damage that Hurricane Dorian is estimated to have caused in September 2019.

While the agreement to establish the ‘loss and damage’ fund was heavily lauded on the first day of COP28, the United Nations (UN) climate summit, Ms Ingraham said the $700m pledged so far “will not be” adequate and pales into insignificance compared to global needs.

“So much damage has been done already, and we’re not just talking about one country like The Bahamas,” she told this newspaper. “There are so many countries looking for compensation. There’s no way $700, raised in that first week is going to be sufficient.” When this sum was compared to Dorian damage and loss estimates, she added: “You can now see how far that commitment will go.”

Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, in delivering the 17th annual Eugene McCarthy Lecture at St John’s University in Minnesota earlier this week, agreed that while the ‘loss and damage’ fund’s creation represents a step forward far more is required to help The Bahamas and other small island developing states (SIDS) cope with climate change’s devastating fall-out.

“Just this past month, we saw progress at the UN climate change conference, COP 28, when a ‘loss and damage’ fund was finally agreed upon,” Mr Davis said. “This was a victory for countries like The Bahamas that can experience losses and damage in the billions each time another climate-driven natural disaster strikes.

“Together, the nations of the world pledged $700m to the fund – a great first step – but just a first step. As I said, a single storm can cause billions in damages. The amount pledged covers approximately 0.2 percent of the damage developing nations are facing each year.

“And just in case you wanted to know what the breakdown of the pledged amounts looks like: The host country, the United Arab Emirates, pledged $100m, which was matched by Germany and surpassed by both Italy and France. The world’s third-largest economy, Japan, pledged $10m,” he added.

“And what about the two largest economies in the world? The US pledged $17.5m while China has yet to make a commitment. Of course, every step in the right direction is appreciated. But as the world gets closer to the tipping point from which there will be no return, we have to move past taking baby steps in the right direction and begin sprinting to our destination.

“Surely, we can all do more. And is it too much to expect that the wealthiest among us do a lot more?” Separately, Ryan Pinder KC, the attorney general, yesterday told the UN’s high-level roundtable on climate change in Geneva, Switzerland, that The Bahamas planned to use climate change compensation from private and sovereign polluters to finance affordable property and casualty insurance coverage for its citizens.

“The Bahamas is taking a proactive approach. The effects of the climate crisis have caused for catastrophic property insurance to either be unavailable or beyond the reach of many in The Bahamas,” Mr Pinder said.

“The Bahamas has therefore committed to develop an insurance product that will be funded from the aforementioned liabilities of private industry and industrialized states. We are therefore not only fighting to achieve climate justice but also working to ensure that its reparations accrue to the benefit of the most vulnerable.”

As to the source of the necessary funding, Mr Pinder added: “Private industry should be held liable for their continuous and direct contribution to the generation of greenhouse gasses that cause climate change, and whose effects have directly and adversely affected countries like The Bahamas. Our tangible losses are enormous, impacted by rising sea levels and rising ocean temperatures

“We also believe industrialised countries owe an obligation to vulnerable, non-emitting states for their contribution to the climate crisis. The Bahamas supports the United Nations (UN) Resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states in respect of climate change.

“We view the resolution as a significant milestone in our decades-long struggle for climate justice. The Bahamas will be submitting a written statement in support of the advisory opinion calling for differentiated responsibilities based on proportional contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions,” the attorney general added.

“The fundamental basis of a sovereign’s advocacy on the effects of climate change on its vulnerable population is that the benefits must accrue to the people.... We also believe obligations of private industry and polluting states should contribute to schemes for the direct benefit of those whose human rights have been violated.”