The goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees is on life support, says The Bahamas Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis

Prime Minister Davis Calls on World Leaders to ‘Get Real’ on Addressing Climate Change Issues

“We are entering a new climate era that will drive extreme geopolitical and economic instability.”

By Eric Rose

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- During his National Statement at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) World Leaders Summit, on November 8, 2022, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis highlighted reasons to attend the event, including because his country has to believe that “a safer, better future is possible.”

“I say that we have come, because we believe that action -- real, concerted, action -- can save the planet, and save our human race,” Prime Minister Davis said, at the Summit, being held in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt.  “And I say that we have come, because each nation here, acting in its own, enlightened self-interest, knows, in a most profound way, that we need each other to make this work.”

“I live in the most beautiful country on earth,” he added.  “But right now, even as I speak, Bahamians are mobilizing to prepare for the impact of yet another powerful storm, a Tropical Storm Nicole.

“So I come here with a simple request:  Let's get real.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that what was needed most at that conference was to confront “the radical truth.”

“Big, ambitious goals are important - but not if we use aspirations to obscure reality,” he said.  “The goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees is on life support.”

“This is a hard truth for many to admit because even the best-case scenarios will mean almost unimaginable upheaval and tragedy,” he added.

Prime Minister Davis stated that the realities of war, economic headwinds, the hangover from the pandemic, and competition among world powers, cannot be used as justification not to confront these imminent dangers.

“Let's get real: it's only going to get worse,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “We are entering a new climate era that will drive extreme geopolitical and economic instability.”

“Statements without binding commitments or enforcement mechanisms have been used again and again as a way to postpone real action,” he added.  

“Yes, the world's wealthiest carbon polluters should pay for the very extensive loss and damage caused by their emissions.

“But 'getting real' means understanding that it will be self-interest that drives decision- makers.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that he was not there to ask any of those in attendance to love the people of The Bahamas with the same passion as he does, or even to act on behalf of future generations in their own countries.

“I'm asking: what is it worth to you, to prevent millions of climate refugees, from turning into tens of millions, and then hundreds of millions, putting pressure on borders and security and political systems across the world?” he asked.

He added that he was not telling those in attendance to overhaul the World Bank for that “new climate era” because it was the right thing to do.

“I'm telling you to get smart and act quickly to address the systemic risk of climate change,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “Multilateral banks must play a crucial role in scaling up financing options that will provide real solutions.”

“I'm not here to tell the private sector to give up caring about profits,” he added.  “I'm here to say that in a world of profound instability, your profits are very much in danger.  So, we need to work together to transition the world to clean energy.

“Let's get real about what's coming. Let's get real about what we need to do next.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that most Bahamians were descended from people who were forcibly removed from their homes, shackled in the bottom of boats, and shipped across the Atlantic.

“We are the children of the survivors of that man-made tragedy,” he stated.  “We inherit their moral imperative.”

“We have a duty to fight for our survival, as they fought so desperately for theirs,” Prime Minister Davis added.  “So, even as we have urged the world to act, we have not waited.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that Bahamians knew that they “have what it takes” to provide the kind of leadership and innovation that contributed to meaningful solutions.

He noted that The Bahamas’ mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes were a critical carbon sink.

“While others were talking, we took action, and passed innovative new legislation to deal with Blue Carbon,” Prime Minister Davis pointed out.  “We created a regulatory framework for dealing and trading in carbon credits.  Other countries are already considering adopting our model.

“And just this past Sunday, we agreed in principle with the IMF, to partner together, among other things, to determine how carbon credits can be used productively, as a new asset class,” he added.  “Yes, this is what real, life-changing action looks like.  We in The Bahamas are not sitting still.

“We will not flinch from confronting the hard truth.”

Prime Minister Davis stated that The Bahamas would also continue to offer its leadership, and its drive for innovation and ingenuity.”

“Whoever you are, wherever you are, bring your climate solutions to The Bahamas,” he said.  “Help us convert our front-line vulnerabilities into cutting-edge solutions for all.

“Because we refuse to lose hope,” he added. “We will not give up.

“We have no other choice.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that the alternative compels Bahamians to present themselves at their borders as refugees.

He added: “The alternative consigns us to a watery grave.  The alternative will erase us from history.  This is why we fight.  We will continue to lift up our heads toward the rising sun.  We will continue to march on.  We will continue to believe that a safer, better future is possible.

“Because all our lives – all our lives – depend on it.”

Source

Rising sea levels threaten Caribbean

By Chris Kraul:


The Colombian city of Cartagena is trying to plan ahead as scientists say cities nearer the equator, where temperatures are already higher, are at greater risk if global warming isn't checked.

Reporting from Cartagena, Colombia - The effect of climate change is anything but hypothetical to retired Colombian naval officer German Alfonso. Just ask him about the time his neighborhood in this historic coastal city became an island.

For five years, Alfonso, 74, has watched tides rise higher and higher in the Boca Grande section of Cartagena. This month, tides briefly inundated the only mainland connection to his neighborhood, a converted sandbar where about 60 high-rise condo and hotel towers have been built in the last decade or so.

"Before, people thought it a normal phenomenon. But we're becoming more conscious that something is going on," Alfonso said. "If the sea keeps rising, traffic could just collapse."

According to a recently updated World Bank study on climate change in Latam, Alfonso and his neighbors have reason to be concerned. Not only are the effects of global warming more evident in Latin American coastal cities, the report says, but the phenomenon could worsen in coming decades because sea levels will rise highest near the equator.

Colombian naval Capt. Julian Reyna, a member of a government task force monitoring climate change, said the sea level around Cartagena, renowned for its Spanish colonial fortifications and beaches, has risen as much as one-eighth of an inch each year over the last decade, an increase that scientists expect to accelerate in coming years.

According to some scenarios that the authors of the World Bank study say are not that far-fetched, Cartagena and the rest of the Caribbean coastal zone could see sea levels rising as much as 2 feet, possible more, by the end of the century. Even at the lower end of projections, parts of this city would be knee-deep in sea water.

One of the authors, climatologist Walter Vergara, cautions that the projections are based on trends and factors that could change, buthe is worried that Colombia's entire Caribbean coastal zone could see relocations of urban centers. Other Latin and Caribbean cities especially at risk include Veracruz, Mexico; Georgetown, Guyana; and Guayaquil, Ecuador, he said.

"The projections are based on assumptions generally accepted by the scientific community and do not include the cataclysmic effects of possible advanced ice melting in the Antarctic or Greenland," said co-author economist John Nash.

Even under the most benign of scenarios, Vergara and other scientists are concerned for Colombia's Cienaga Grande, a mangrove marsh covering hundreds of square miles whose ecosystem could die because of increased salinity from higher tides. The forests could disappear and thousands of fishermen may be displaced.

Agriculture in Colombia and other tropical countries is at greater risk than in the United States, Canada and Europe because temperatures are already relatively high in countries near the equator, and increases will be more damaging to growing conditions, Nash said.

Cartagena's chief city planner, Javier Mouthon, said the local government is aware of what could be in store and is making plans beyond immediate effects that include a long-term "adaptation process." That includes new roads and relocating city facilities to avoid permanently flooded zones.

Cartagena is already studying the feasibility of building dikes or collection pools and possibly requiring all construction to have foundations 20 inches higher than currently specified.

"We are quite concerned," Mouthon said. "It's a problem that grows year by year."

Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos has begun convening workshops of coastal governors and mayors to hammer home the possible repercussions of climate change and the need to adjust urban and regional planning accordingly.

Many residents here seem to be only vaguely aware of global warming and its effects. At a new condo tower development called Bahia Grande being built near Alfonso's house, saleswoman Rocio Buelvas said few prospective buyers raise the issue.

"They see it as a problem only for a couple of months of the year," Buelvas said. "I think it will get better once they fix the drainage."

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