The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

THE GOVERNMENT has committed $25m to the scientific and regulatory foundation for its long-promised ‘blue carbon credits’ initiative that involves monetising The Bahamas’ seagrass meadows, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

Philip Davis KC unveiled further details on the Bahamas Banks Blue Carbon programme while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, describing the initiative as a national-scale effort to protect the country’s marine ecosystems while generating investment for climate resilience and sustainable development.

“We’ve been able to map the largest seagrass meadow on Earth and realise its value as the ocean’s largest natural carbon sink,” Mr Davis said. “I’m proud to introduce the Bahamas Banks Blue Carbon Project, the world’s first market-based solution that changes the calculus of how we partner with nature on our planet.”

The initiative centres on the Bahamas’ seagrass ecosystems, which Mr Davis said store carbon in the seabed while supporting fisheries, biodiversity, food security, coastal protection and water quality.

The Government is pursuing the programme through Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement, which provides a framework for countries to co-operate in meeting their emission reduction targets through internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) such as carbon credits. Mr Davis stressed, however, that The Bahamas has not yet issued carbon credits or ITMOs for sale.

“We are not announcing issued carbon credits or mitigation outcomes for transfer,” he said. “We are presenting a country that has enacted the laws, committed substantial resources, commenced unprecedented national-scale science and a country that has chosen to lead.”

The Government has spent the past several years building the legal and scientific framework needed to eventually enter the international market. Mr Davis pointed to the Carbon Credit Trading Act 2022, and the Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Act 2022, which establish the framework for The Bahamas to govern its carbon assets, participate in international carbon markets and cooperate under Article 6.

Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of economic affairs, said those laws were critical to establishing the credibility needed to attract international investment. The legislation, he added, created a framework to “monetise, regulate” carbon credits while ensuring verification and accreditation meet international standards.

Mr Fitzgerald said the gGovernment initially considered the voluntary carbon market but eventually determined that Article 6 provided greater confidence as the scientific work progressed. “The science was the key, and so we had to be extremely patient,” Mr Fitzgerald said, adding that the Government has been working on the initiative for roughly four to five years and has committed significant capital to it.

Under the programme, The Bahamas is mapping its seagrass meadows using satellite data and LiDAR, conducting field verification and sampling, and developing a national carbon inventory and monitoring systems. Mr Davis said the work is being incorporated into the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC, under the Paris Agreement.

Subject to completion, government review and technical validation, he added that the work is expected to establish whether The Bahamas removes more greenhouse gases than it emits within the scope of its national inventory. The Government has already established an emissions registry.

Mr Davis said the $25m first phase investment is funding the scientific baseline, mapping, fieldwork, carbon inventory and systems required for implementation. “We will not move ahead of the science, and we will not compromise environmental or regulatory integrity,” he said. “Each mitigation outcome must be credibly measured, appropriately verified, transparently accounted for and protected against double counting.”

James McCall, chief executive of Laconic Global, said Article 6 represents an evolution from smaller voluntary carbon projects to conservation efforts undertaken at a sovereign level. “The Bahamas isn’t saying we can protect a piece of the seagrass,”  Mr McCall said. “They’re saying we will protect all of the seagrass.”

He said the involvement of both the sending and receiving governments in an Article 6 transaction can provide an additional level of confidence to investors because the mitigation outcomes are incorporated into national climate commitments.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which is partnering on the initiative, said its sustainable development component is expected to support infrastructure, education, healthcare, transportation, economic opportunities and climate-resilient community development. Bill O’Keefe, executive vice president for government relations at CRS, said coastal communities are particularly vulnerable because of their dependence on tourism and fisheries.

“Development finance is retreating worldwide, while the threats to communities from climate change remain, and in fact are getting worse every day,” Mr O’Keefe said. He added that CRS wants to ensure vulnerable communities benefit from Article 6 transactions as governments seek to unlock new sources of climate finance.

The Government has also said potential programme activities could include seagrass conservation and restoration, sustainable fisheries, maritime zoning, water quality improvements, pollution control, coastal resilience and community-based conservation.

Antoine W Bastian, director of Carbon Management, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up to oversee the blue carbon credits, said the programme evolved from an initial focus on raising money through carbon credits into a broader national conservation and development programme.

He said scientific data being collected for the carbon market will also help the Government identify degradation, including damage caused by pollution and illegal dumping, and determine where interventions are needed.

Antonio Navarro, managing partner of ArtCap Strategies, said the programme is being financed using a model similar to other natural-resource projects. “Many countries have oil, other countries have minerals, and The Bahamas has seagrass,” Mr Navarro said. “And, under the seagrass, you have carbon.”

He said the initial financing allows the country to establish how much of the resource exists, and how it can be developed before attempting to generate revenue from future carbon transactions.

Mr Navarro said the programme must remain “bankable” and meet the financial, technical and reputational requirements of international investors. He added that investors will also be concerned with how revenues are ultimately deployed, making the programme’s community development component important to its investment proposition.

Mr Fitzgerald said the Government intends to use the framework established through its climate legislation, emissions registry and Climate Change Unit to co-ordinate how resources generated from the programme are managed.

He said potential investments include strengthening seawalls, maintaining bridges and airports, protecting communities from rising waters and improving resilience across the Family Islands.

The scale of the programme is also expected to allow investors to monitor its environmental impact over time. Mr McCall said satellite and geospatial technology can allow investors and the Bahamian public to see whether degraded seagrass areas are recovering, and whether conservation interventions are producing measurable results.

He said the combination of measurable carbon reductions, sovereign backing and community benefits could support stronger demand for Bahamian ITMOs. Mr Davis said the Government will not begin transferring ITMOs until the scientific, technical and sovereign requirements have been satisfied.

“We are pursuing this work with urgency and discipline so that future Bahamian ITMOs earn the confidence of partner governments, international institutions and the Bahamian people,” he said.

The Government is now inviting prospective partner governments, investors and development institutions to begin discussions on Article 6 co-operation, technical assistance, capacity building and potential future purchases. Mr Davis said the ultimate objective is to establish a model that can be adapted by other ocean states.

“The programme will remain anchored in Bahamian sovereignty, transparent implementation, credible scientific measurement, environmental integrity and tangible benefits for our people,” he said.