NASSAU, The Bahamas — Opposition Leader Michael Pintard says the Bahamas’ carbon credit framework, touted as a major new revenue stream since 2022, has yet to deliver tangible financial returns for the country, despite repeated public assurances from the government.
“We believe that carbon credits hold tremendous potential,” Pintard said, noting that “some very smart Bahamians—both in the private sector and the government—are working on doing proper valuations and monetizing.” While supporting those efforts, he said the broader policy execution has fallen short of expectations.
Pintard pointed to the Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Act and the Carbon Credit Trading Act passed in 2022, which he said were accompanied by promises of a world-class carbon market, government ownership of blue carbon assets, a national emissions registry, safeguards against double counting, and a pipeline of rigorously verified projects capable of generating revenue for Bahamians.
“Let us be fair. Some of these items can be ticked off,” Pintard acknowledged, citing the appointment of a registrar, the establishment of a registry, and the hiring of several talented Bahamians in both the public and private sectors.
However, Pintard said the government’s repeated public promotion of carbon trading has not translated into the outcomes initially projected.
“What has not happened over time is that the regular overselling… has not translated into what they then said would be the outcomes we would experience in terms of revenue generation,” he said, adding that Bahamians have not been given sufficient updates on progress since 2022 and 2023.
He also referenced earlier claims that the Bahamas would become a regional hub for carbon credit trading, with a fully regulated marketplace under the Securities Commission, enhanced investor protections, and transparent registries and exchanges.
Four years after the legislation was enacted, Pintard said the country is still seeing more projections than results.
“The press releases are full of talk about tens of billions in blue carbon value, but the core promises remain largely unfulfilled,” he said.
While emphasizing a willingness to cooperate with the government on initiatives that could benefit the country, Pintard said the lack of delivery within projected timelines remains a concern.
“There’s still no mature, publicly facing national emissions registry in the way we thought it would be,” he said, adding that further progress depends on whether the initiative is being treated as a serious national priority.
He also pointed to the absence of a clearly published and enforceable benefit-sharing scheme.
“There’s no clearly published, enforceable benefit-sharing scheme that tells communities when, how, or even if they will be paid and in what form,” Pintard said.
Instead of a fully functioning carbon market, he said Bahamians are left with “a framework on paper,” with only sporadic announcements and limited evidence of returns reaching citizens.
Pintard stressed that his criticism was not aimed at civil servants or private-sector participants involved in the process, but at the government’s overall execution.
“The clearest test of any policy is not intention, but outcome,” he said, noting that “to date not a single cent from carbon trading has entered the Treasury.”
“Not a dime, not a dollar, not a nickel,” he added.
Pintard said the country is effectively building a permanent authority around a concept that has yet to generate measurable revenue, cautioning that potential alone does not justify the current approach without clearer results for the Bahamian people.
