“Promises and agreements are easy; action requires courage”
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis yesterday urged world leaders attending the United Nations (UN) COP26 conference to support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like The Bahamas with financing and technology to better combat climate change.
In a televised speech in which he issued a strong call for the world’s superpowers to take action immediately, Davis said: “Morally and ethically, it has to be beyond imagination and conscience that we do so little until it becomes too late.”
He added: “Promises and agreements are easy. Action — specific and concrete policy changes — is a lot harder. Action requires courage.”
The prime minister noted that large nations contribute the most to the world’s carbon emissions while smaller nations like The Bahamas bear the brunt of its effects.
“The Bahamas is not now and never has been the problem, but yet we are forced to pay the price,” Davis said.
He added: “We in The Bahamas will do what we can, 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.”
The prime minister pointed to Hurricane Dorian as a prime example of the kind of devastating impact climate change can have in The Bahamas, noting that “we still don’t know exactly how many died and some people still tremble at the first drop of rain”.
He emphasized the need for action to be taken now, asserting that “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”.
“Your support by financing and technology transfer are needed urgently so we can 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 traumatized and homeless. People will be forced to flee, but flee to where?
“These are my neighbors, my family [and] my friends. My plea is both urgent and deeply personal, and I make it on behalf of all humanity.”
As he cautioned world leaders to “have the courage to acknowledge that failure today will lead directly to destruction” around the globe, Davis pleaded: “Do what is needed, not what you can get away with.
“Turn promises to Small Island Developing States into action. Don’t hide behind buzzwords and hazy assurances. Don’t let the failures of the past limit our ambition for the present.”
He added: “As I said to the General Assembly of the United Nations in September — you will only be safe when we are all safe.
“We are out of time, colleagues.”
