PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis speaks at COP26.
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has urged world leaders to show courage in the fight against climate change, warning that the world is running out of time to prevent disaster.
His comments came during yesterday’s COP26 summit in Scotland where as many as 130 world leaders and thousands of diplomats, experts and activists have gathered to discuss climate change and to negotiate steps to slow the rise of global temperatures.
Scientists warn that if temperature rise isn’t kept beneath 1.5 degrees Celsius, the planet will experience devastating effects like more deadly floods and more intense droughts.
Mr Davis said more must be done to ensure meetings like the latest summit are more successful than they have been in the past.
“We in The Bahamas will do what we can,” he said, “but the limits of what our nation’s effort can accomplish are stark: we cannot out-run your carbon emissions, we cannot out-run the hurricanes which are growing more powerful and we cannot out-run rising sea levels, as our islands disappear beneath the seas.
“Hurricane Dorian, that monster Category 5 hurricane which devastated two of our main islands, feels like it descended upon us just yesterday. We still don’t know exactly how many died. And some people still tremble at the first drop of rain.
“We are out of time, colleagues. A recent study declared that The Bahamas had the cleanest air in the world. Other studies have shown that our distinctive, beautiful, aquamarine seas are a magnificent carbon sink. Our seas reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. The Bahamas is not now and never has been the problem. But yet we are forced to pay the price.
“We are among the ‘Top 10 Most-Vulnerable-Island-Nation States’ in the world. And the question I have for my colleagues today is: are we brave enough for this moment? Are we braver than our predecessors who led our nations at the previous 25 climate change meetings? Can we summon the courage and ingenuity and determination to succeed, where they did not? Promises and agreements are easy. Action – specific and concrete policy changes – is a lot harder.
Action requires courage. Every leader before us has postponed until tomorrow what needed to happen yesterday. And now tomorrow is here, today, and countries like mine are out of time.”
It is hoped that during the summit countries will set new targets for cutting emissions on the fossil fuels that are heating the planet. The latest United Nations-hosted conference is considered crucial because scientists believe the world is running out of time to keep temperatures from rising above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold.
Mr Davis said countries like The Bahamas need support through financing and technology-transfers to “rebuild for resilience.”
He said: “Without change - if we are lucky - we will become refugees. Without change - if we are unlucky - then we will be left to the mercy of future Hurricane Dorians. More of my people will die. More will be left traumatised and homeless.
People will be forced to flee... but flee to where? These are my neighbours, my family, my friends. My plea is both urgent and deeply personal. And I make it on behalf of all humanity.”
Other world leaders have sounded the alarm over climate change during the conference. On Monday, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley warned that a two degree Celsius rise in global temperatures would be a “death sentence” for island and coastal communities.
“We do not want that dreaded death sentence and we have come here to say, try harder,” she said.
“This is immoral, and it is unjust.
“Are we so blinded and hardened that we can no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?
“If our existence is to mean anything, then we must act in the interest of all of our people who are dependent on us.
“And if we don’t, we will allow the path of greed and selfishness to sow the seeds of our common destruction,” Ms Mottley said.
Comments
joeblow 2 years, 5 months ago
...John Kerry, the climate 'czar' continues to jet set around the world on private planes on his "climate change" mission, while investing heavily in oil! Rather than sell his beach house, Biden is having taxpayers erect a fence around it. After talking about the dangers of "climate change", Obama bought a waterfront property! While discouraging use of fossil fuels, world leaders made major contributions to CO2 emissions by travelling to Glasgow instead of teleconferencing! Anyone see the hypocrisy?
If "climate change" was a real issue, high elevations of property would have far greater value than water front!
happyfly 2 years, 5 months ago
They should come up with some kind of fake pandemic that scares everyone into staying locked up in their homes for months on end, stops them from moving around freely and also make up all other kinds of other reasons to stop them from being able to earn a living so they cant actually afford to do anything that creates CO2. Then after that, you could convince and force them all to take a vaccine that .....................
zemilou 2 years, 5 months ago
Yes, because of our small population, The Bahamas is not a major overall contributor to global warming. However, our leaders must pause before blaming other countries and consider our per person carbon footprint. Where available, data places The Bahamas in the top 25% of global carbon dioxide emitters per person. The World Bank has no data between 1980 and 2020, except for 2009, when CO2 emissions were 17 metric tons per person. Statista has 7.6 metric tons per person for 2017. For 2016, WorldOMeters has, 11.7 tons per capita. Wikipedia whose data is from Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), shows 7.7 tons per person in 2018.
Who knows what the true figures are but, if we use 7.7 tons as a reasonable figure, we are responsible for a lot of CO2 per person. The number is by no means comparable to that of oil producing countries and nations such as the USA, Canada, and South Korea, but it’s almost the same as China’s and far more than India’s. We are a carbon-based economy — our electricity production, our transportation, our tourism-based economy, and our consumption patterns.
So, Mr. Prime Minister. What is the nation’s plan to reduce CO2 emissions? While each of us can reduce our carbon footprint, only policies can bring about meaningful, sustained change. More concrete action, sir; less rhetoric and finger-pointing.
ColumbusPillow 2 years, 5 months ago
WHAT CLIMATE CHANGE, WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?. NO MORE FAKE NEWS PLEASE!
POTCAKE 2 years, 5 months ago
AMEN AMEN
truetruebahamian 2 years, 5 months ago
Rubbish!
carltonr61 2 years, 5 months ago
Sounds like Brave is well aware of that climate change is monetized. Hybrid cars battery may cost in the thousands to replace shipping included. Our climate footprint is miniscule but we suffer already by not being able to import certain cars with so called pollution effects and crazy Custom taxes on 3lt engines. I know The Bahamas was listed in 2020 as world cleanest air quality because sea air constantly breeze over but seems Bahamas was taken from many surveys. Volcanoes spew out more carbon dioxide than 20 years of human activity. Many call this meeting a profit driven entity with many expensive drawbacks and unproven science.
benniesun 2 years, 5 months ago
The deceptions of 'Global Warming' and 'Climate Change' are being used to distract us from actual changes that are taking place with mother earth (Gaia). Chem-trails are hiding sky phenomena and climate change veils weather pattern changes and other anomalies. The ruling system is compartmentalized and information is on a need to know basis only. So, even the elites who smugly believe that they are not in the cross-hairs of the global rewilding and cull have been deceived.
ted4bz 2 years, 5 months ago
These meeting all the way up to COP25 have been nothing but juicy talks. But now, finally they found usefulness to bri ng it to life (literally). Here we go. This is going to lead to lockdowns, restrictions and shortages never seen before. It is going to be bigger and deeper than this current crisis.
jus2cents 2 years, 5 months ago
Actions speak louder than words, Bahamians also have a responsibility to protect the earth we share and the environment we are blessed to calm home.
We must say a categorical NO to Oil drilling, No to Cruise Industry harm, implement better more sustainable fishing practices, embrace Solar and other alternative energy & NO MORE BUNKER C FUEL, zero taxes for electric vehicles, Less vehicles for government workers, better public transport system, build hurricane resistant homes, stop wasting so many resources, the list is long.. Do Better Bahamas. And stop begging others to do it for you!
birdiestrachan 2 years, 5 months ago
Quote "If you can walk with kings nor lose the common touch": You are a man"
Mr: Davis I am confident that you will not lose the common touch, the Bahamian people especially those who are most in need of help
Proguing 2 years, 5 months ago
Yep especially those that rely on breadbasket items, right?
Twocent 2 years, 5 months ago
If we look close enough and patiently enough at our world we will see that there is change. Man has helped push that. Industrial revolution and agricultural revolution…and then big, trans continental corps have exploited the planet beyond sustainability for profits….where is there accountability ??????
hrysippus 2 years, 5 months ago
To suggest that the rest of the world's industrialized nations are responsible for the rising CO2 levels and the consequent rise in atmospheric temperature, climate change, and sea level rises, while the Bahamas is not is just silly. We have maybe over 100,000 vehicles , and power geration based on bunker C fuel for decades, tens of thousands of homes burn AC, hundreds of thousands of us possess cellphones. We contribute to climate change in a bog way when measured per capita. To believe anything else is to simply deceive yourself.
Proguing 2 years, 5 months ago
Exactly, and if we were serious about protecting our environment we would also ban cruise ships and oil drilling...
tribanon 2 years, 5 months ago
LMAO. We have much more to fear from the corrupt political elite (like Davis) and the globalist billionaire oligarchs.
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