The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Attorney General yesterday warned that climate change threatens to make The Bahamas “uninhabitable” with this nation projected to lose “nearly 60 percent of its shoreline” to rising seas by mid-century.

Ryan Pinder KC, spearheading The Bahamas’ legal arguments before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the climate change obligations that should apply to all nations, sought to illustrate the threat global warming poses to this low-lying nation by asserting that Nassau and New Providence will be left almost entirely under water should a Category Five strength, Hurricane Dorian-style storm strike.

Reiterating that The Bahamas and other small island developing states (SIDS) “need action now”, he repeated calls by this nation and others that major industrial countries have for decades neglected their climate change obligations to others “in the interest of profits” and “it’s time for these polluters to pay”.

And, combining the dire economic and environmental consequences for The Bahamas, Mr Pinder told The Hague-based court that the very seagrass meadows upon which this nation is relying to generate hundreds of millions of dollars from carbon credits are being “destroyed at an alarming rate” of 1-2 percent every year.

“Sea levels are rising, and will continue to rise, presenting an unprecedented challenge to the very survival of our nation,” he told the ICJ’s panel of judges. “We are experiencing the effects due to decades of neglect by the industrialised countries.

“But long before our territory is submerged, we will feel the impact: Coastal erosion, flooding, salinisation of freshwater resources and displacement of vulnerable communities. By 2050, The Bahamas is projected to lose nearly 60 percent of its shoreline, the largest loss of land in the Caribbean region. By 2100, we will lose all our sandy beaches. All because warning signs were ignored for generations.”

Presenting slides that showed the projected impact of flooding from storm surges and heavy rainfall on New Providence, Mr Pinder added: “The slides show the grave impact of flooding that would be caused by storm surge with one metre of sea level rise because of the impact of a hurricane.

“In a Category Three storm, more than 50 percent of the island will be flooded. A Category Five hurricane on our nation’s capital will result in nearly the entire island under water. This is our reality. We need action now. The Bahamas is at risk of being uninhabitable due to the severe impacts caused by the historical and present neglect of regulatory enforcement.

“The world knows exactly what needs to be done and the industrial countries have neglected it for decades in the interest of profits. It’s time for these polluters to pay. The IPCC (Intergovernmental panel on climate change) has been telling us for years that the only way to stop the warming of the planet is to make deep, rapid and sustained cuts in global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions,” he added.

“The world needs to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which requires that we cut GHG emissions by at least 43 percent in the next five years. Industrial states need to take urgent action now and provide reparations for their decades of neglect.” However, that goal appears even more open to question given Donald Trump’s election, his focus on renewed fossil fuel production, and the climate deniers nominated for his administration.

Mr Pinder, though, reiterated that The Bahamas is particularly vulnerable to the more frequent and powerful hurricanes being fuelled by hotter seas and general global warming. “In 2021, the Climate Risk Index ranked The Bahamas third in the world for most affected by weather-related events. All of our islands, all of my people are at risk,” he warned.

Recalling the $3.4bn in estimated economic losses and damages inflicted by Hurricane Dorian, a sum equal to about 25 percent of annual Bahamian economic output, the Attorney General added: “Our more populated islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama were particularly hard hit. Seventy-five percent of dwellings on Abaco were damaged, and nearly one-third were completely destroyed....

“Second, The Bahamas is a big ocean state which relies heavily on the resources of the ocean [that] have been under acute threat from climate change. The ‘blue economy’ accounts for over 40 percent of our economy. Oceans are absorbing a large amount of GHG emissions from the atmosphere, becoming warmer and more acidic.

“This leads to the destruction of critical ecosystems including coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass and fish stock. That, in turn, affects our peoples’ livelihoods, reduces biodiversity and has ripple effects throughout ecosystems which lose their protective properties. Who is going to retrain our fishermen when the fish are gone? What is going to replace our tourism industry when the reefs and beaches are gone?” he asked.

“The Bahamas’ seagrass and mangroves are critical carbon sinks, mitigating the impacts of a warming planet. The Bahamas has 40 percent of the world’s seagrass. These vital climate mitigation assets are being destroyed at an alarming rate.

“Seagrass in The Bahamas has declined by 1-2 percent each year, and extreme weather events have destroyed over 90 percent of viable mangroves, all because industrial countries have ignored their obligations. We are currently witnessing the largest ever recorded mass coral bleaching event. The Bahamas is home to 5 percent of the world’s coral reefs and the world’s third-longest barrier reef.”

Mr Pinder demanded that every country “do everything possible to stabilise our climate system” with all major emitters of greenhouse gases slashing their output. “Otherwise my people’s suffering will continue to increase,” he added.

“The devastation is undeniable. If we continue our current path, my country will cease to exist. And then, I ask you: Who will take my people? We are not just speaking of numbers or projections; we are speaking of lives, cultures and histories at risk of being erased. Let us act boldly and decisively - for my people, and for all people.”

Arguing that developed countries have an obligation to provide financial and technical assistance to climate-vulnerable states such as The Bahamas, the Attorney General added of the fall-out: “In The Bahamas we see it in the mental health of our citizens. We see it in the repairing of roads, utilities and infrastructure. We see it in the lost work days, learning loss among our children, and it is a revolving door of preparation, impact and recovery.”