BAKU, Azerbaijan, CMC—Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis has warned the international community that the world is “dangerously close to a line beyond which there is no return” and that “for the first time, for more than 12 months, global temperatures have exceeded the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Addressing the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), that this past year has been the hottest in recorded history and that “we are dangerously close to a line beyond which there is no return, a line that separates the world as we know it from a world unrecognizable.
“Our choice today will be remembered as the moment we stepped forward together or the instant we allowed the world to slip from our grasp. How will they judge us? Will they say we were too timid and divided to save what we had the power to protect?”
Davis told world leaders and others attending COP 29, which ends on November 22 that catastrophic climate events witnessed around the world have already led to major losses of life, property, and infrastructure.
“And yet we persist in responding to these events as though they are merely unfortunate, isolated, and national,” he said, adding, “I ask you to look beyond borders, beyond flags.
“The fires that devour your forests, the hurricanes that shatter our homes are not distant misfortunes but shared tragedies. What we endure, you endure; what we lose, you lose.
And if we fail to act, our children and grandchildren will bear the burden, their dreams reduced to memories of what we could have saved.”
Davis said that this is the fundamental principle underpinning this United Nations Framework, adding that “none of us can achieve a solution by acting alone.
“And none of us can escape the obligation to act in the best interests of ourselves and each other. Our survival is in our hands, and hope lies not in waiting but in moving forward with the fierce determination to secure a future that gives humanity the best chance.”
The Bahamian leader said that to protect that shared interest, now and into the future, urgent, serious action is needed to reduce carbon emissions and that continuing current practices will lead to a catastrophic rise in temperature of up to 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Davis said that the current Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) made for 2030 are not being met, and even if they were, “we would still face a rise in temperature of 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celsius.
“It is still technically possible to meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, but only if there is a G20-led massive global mobilization to cut all greenhouse gas emissions. It is possible as they are responsible for 80 percent of all carbon emissions.
“But they would need to act dramatically and decisively. And action would need to start today. In the face of all this, we still refuse to give up, refuse to lose hope. We do not, cannot, accept that our survival is merely an option.”
He told the conference that the Bahamas continues to play its part in preserving and protecting the forests of grasses in the seas, which are estimated to absorb more carbon than the Amazon Rainforest.
“If the Amazon provides the lungs to the planet, our seagrasses are its “hidden blue heart.”
We will continue our transition to sources of renewable energy. And we will continue to pioneer the use of blue carbon credits to support the architecture of international climate finance,” he said, adding, “We want to play our part”.
But Davis said that the Bahamas cannot succeed alone, adding, “We simply do not have the resources, and each hurricane, each climate disaster, leaves us with even less.”
He said that the world must not forget the historic achievement of the Paris Agreement, noting that Article 9 addressed the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDC) in its climate finance provisions.
“The numbers paint a clear picture. Small Island States have spent 18 times more in debt repayments than they have received in climate finance. Our ‘special circumstances’ require more action, not less.
“These provisions must urgently be fully operationalized, along with the other funding commitments previously made. Merely describing the particular circumstances is not enough.
And even as we now approach the eleventh hour of an agreement, we are deeply concerned that some of the Parties now systematically seek to erase these fundamental provisions of the Paris Agreement.”
Davis said that the most significant challenge facing all stakeholders isn’t just political will but political change.
“We’re witnessing governments come to power that are retreating from climate commitments, dismissing the Paris Agreement, and turning inward. This isn’t a crisis we can afford to address sporadically, nor a battle that can be won in isolated chapters, written and erased with every election.
“If we leave climate action to the whims of political cycles, our planet’s future becomes precarious. The climate crisis does not pause for elections or accommodate the sway of changing political tides. It demands continuity, commitment, and, most of all, solidarity.”
Prime Minister Davis said the world had found the ability to finance wars, the ability to mobilize against pandemics, “yet when it comes to addressing the most profound crisis of our time, the very survival of nations, where is that same ability?
“It is time to turn ambition into action, promises into plans, and plans into survival,” he added.