The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Prime Minister yesterday appeared to push back against Donald Trump’s renewable energy criticisms as he urged “decision-makers everywhere” to understand its roll-out will not undermine prosperity.

Philip Davis KC, addressing the Global Renewables Summit in New York, argued that embracing energy reform and cleaner technologies such as solar and the wind “will expand our possibilities, not limit them”.

Then, in what appeared to be a gentle rebuke to the US president’s much-publicised scepticism towards renewable energy and climate change, he added: “We need decision-makers everywhere to understand that replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy will not come at the expense of prosperity. In fact, climate progress is a pre-requisite for future prosperity.

“We will never unlock the full potential of clean energy abundance if the stories we tell focus on scarcity and sacrifice. Instead, let’s do a better job at painting a vivid picture – for your citizens, and for mine – of a future in which clean energy generates prosperity that is broadly shared. Climate justice maintains its moral force; the clarity of who is responsible should never be left behind.”

Mr Davis, continuing his advocacy for ‘climate justice’ for The Bahamas and other small island developing states (SIDS), which have contributed the least to climate change but enduring - and facing - the greatest impacts, added: “We have seen the limits of what can be achieved when the climate story is focused too narrowly on blame.

“Zero-sum moralising, in which for me to win, you must lose, is counter-productive in a world in which citizens of even the wealthiest nations feel that the social contract is broken, and rising costs and diminishing opportunities are fueling a politics of rage. If calls for climate justice are only demands for accountability about past wrongs, we will find it very difficult to create a more just future.

“If we’re serious about unlocking trillions in public and private investment, we need to make sure ordinary people everywhere understand that a cleaner, healthier less expensive future is within reach. We can build a future with cleaner air and water, lower energy bills, health improvements, reduced climate migration, reduced dependence on imported fuels, food and water security.”

The Prime Minister continued: “When enough citizens in enough countries understand this, we make far more likely the policy and regulatory continuity that investors rightly seek. We can make the political costs of cancelling or unwinding renewable energy gains so unpalatable as to be unthinkable.

“If we invest in stories and get the message out - just a fraction of what we invest in solar panels and turbines and batteries - we can bend the arc of history towards a time of renewable energy abundance.”

Highlighting the urgency associated with energy reforms, Mr Davis added: “We know a failure to create renewable energy abundance in the coming years could easily be catastrophic, but we see also that a future characterised by energy abundance can be one of great flourishing; a new era of progress in which we can all move forward together.

Noting that the “competitiveness and economics of renewables are improving, too”, the Prime Minister continued: “We are confident that energy reform will transform communities and our economy, but the path is not an easy one, and like everyone else, we will continue to navigate technical and supply chain challenges.

“The biggest challenges for countries like ours, though, are financial – four Category four and five hurricanes over the course of less than a single decade took billions out of our economy, making it difficult – ironically - to invest in our energy transition and in climate resilience.

“We are carrying the burden of storms already endured while also paying for those yet to come. The toll is not only measured in billions of dollars in damages, but also in the higher interest rates and insurance premiums that reflect the risk we live with every day,” he added.

“These challenges are playing out in many nations. So how can we accelerate a global transition to renewable energy abundance? I want to suggest one important piece of the puzzle, which is to reframe climate debates.”