The Bahamas
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS
1. The breakdown and collapse of the Earth’s climate system may have already commenced, and The Bahamas face a wide range of intersectional and grave climate risks. The Bahamas is in the North Atlantic Ocean and comprises an archipelago of more than 700 islands, though no more than 30 are inhabited. The islands of The Bahamas have low relief and generally flat terrain, and contain significant wetlands and mangrove forests, with the majority of the population on or near the coast. In fact, 80% of the land lies less than 1-1.5 m above sea level and, as such, is vulnerable to inundation caused by sea level rise and storm surges due to hurricanes. The Bahamas is home to five percent of the world’s coral as well as the world’s third longest barrier reef. The major economic contributor is the services industry, largely based in tourism, which accounts for 90% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The reliance of the country’s economy on tourism, an industry supported and reliant on the natural environment, marine resources and coastal infrastructure, makes the country highly vulnerable to climate change and associated natural hazards.
2. JAI commends The Bahamas for implementing national and community-level projects independently and in collaboration with local and global NGOs and stakeholders. The Bahamas is helping to develop web-based tools to monitor the impact of changing sea levels and is revising building codes in preparation for more intense weather. Additionally, there are projects focused on improving agricultural practices, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and addressing the health impacts of climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Impacts of Climate Change
3. The Bahamas is particularly susceptible to climate change. The Bahamas is at great risk and vulnerability given its geographical features as a low-lying, sea encircled country. If projected sea level rise is reached by 2050, between 10-12% of territory will be lost, especially in coastal zones where the main tourism assets are located. The population of The Bahamas thus faces a disproportionate threat to their right to life from climate change. The self-determination of the Bahamian peoples is also at grave risk from sea-level rise. This is because self-determination protects the rights of peoples to permanent access over their resources, their territorial integrity, and their economic and cultural ways of life. JAI encourages and urges The Bahamas to explore the impacts of climate change on their self-determination and to consider remedies based on self-determination against any and all duty holders with an obligation to support, enforce, and sustain this erga omnes norm.
Natural Disasters
4. The location of The Bahamas in the Atlantic hurricane belt means that the islands are subject to regular hydro-meteorological disasters including hurricanes, storms and cyclones which are all made more severe and hazardous by climate change. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian pummeled the Grand Bahama and Abaco islands with heavy winds and storm surges, killing many people and damaging the homes and property of some 30,000 residents, according to a 2019 Inter-American Development Bank report. The damage Dorian inflicted on The Bahamas was estimated at $3.4 billion — about one-fourth of the country’s 2019 gross domestic product, and almost six times the damage of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, formerly the costliest storm the country had faced in the past 30 years. Historically, hurricanes kill very few people in The Bahamas, but Dorian officially killed nearly 100, and hundreds more remain missing.
5. The impact of natural disasters is exacerbated by inadequate construction and infrastructure located in vulnerable areas. Storm surges can result in flooding, to which The Bahamas islands are extremely prone due to their low relief. Coastal flooding may also be a consequence of sea level rise, to which the dense tourism development along the coast is highly vulnerable. Most of the infrastructure and settlements of the islands are located along or near to the coast where they are particularly vulnerable to flooding and sea level rise which will have serious economic and social implications for residents and for the tourism sector.
Tourism
6. Climate change negatively impacts The Bahamas’ tourism industry. The impact of climate change on tourism demand variables will cause losses to the country’s income and government revenues. This would be acting conjointly with some local threats to tourism assets and trends in future global tourism demand.
Rising Sea Levels
7. The Bahamas faces unique susceptibility to sea level rise. The Bahamas is very geographically shallow. The majority of the population lives in Nassau, the capital. The city is mostly under 10m above sea level and is populated by more than half of the nation. Nassau is very vulnerable to sea level rise. Because The Bahamas sits in the middle of the warm Gulf Stream, it is highly vulnerable to sea level rise.
8. Rising sea levels pose a serious threat to the economic stability of The Bahamas. The economic hub of The Bahamas, Nassau, is no more than 10m above sea level, with the lucrative resorts being directly on the coastline. The two largest resorts, Sandals Royal Bahamian and The Cove Atlantis, are on their own private islands which rarely reach even 5m above sea level. 60% of the Bahamian GDP comes from tourism, so a loss of this industry would be detrimental let alone all of the jobs that would be lost. Outside of the capital, the main economic risk to The Bahamas is the loss of fisheries.
9. Rising sea levels would create and exacerbate social issues in The Bahamas. More than 80% of the Bahamian land is less than a meter above sea level, and more than 50% of the population lives less than 5m above sea level. A significant rise in sea level would displace tens of thousands of Bahamians and would cause countless citizens to lose thousands of jobs. More than 50% of the jobs in The Bahamas are directly employed by tourism, and when the sea level rises the tourism will dry up because the industry is located directly on the shoreline.
Human Rights Violations
Gender Inequality and LGBTQ+ Persecution
10. Gender inequality and gender-based violence are pervasive problems in The Bahamas, amplifying women and girls’ risk and vulnerability to extreme weather events and climate change. Certain groups, including LGBTQ+ persons and Haitian women and girls, are among the most marginalized and vulnerable to violence due to the intersection of their gender, nationality and/or sexual orientation. In disaster situations, these groups experience the most challenges in the response to their recovery, reconstruction and livelihood needs.
11. Meaningful and active participation of women in planning and decisions affecting their lives is essential for gender-responsive preparation for and recovery from disasters. However, entrenched gender stereotypes hinder women’s ability to participate in political and public life in The Bahamas. Participation of women in politics is generally low, with women holding only 12.8 per cent of the positions in the lower house in 2017 (IPU, 2018). However, there is room for some optimism as the number of women appointed to the Upper Chamber increased from four to seven in 2017 (representing 43.8 percent of positions).
Asylum Seekers
12. The Bahamas has attempted to deport a group of asylum seekers to Haiti amid a natural disaster. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian devastated The Bahamas. Informal settlements of Haitian migrants were hit the hardest. According to human rights advocates, government officials have confiscated survivors’ land, refused them aid at shelters, and deported hundreds to crisis-stricken Haiti. No legal infrastructure on the international or national level facilitates the migration of those displaced by the climate crisis.
The Bahamas’ Contribution to Climate Change
13. The Bahamas is not a major contributor to anthropogenic climate change; however, it is at the front lines of its catastrophic impacts. The Bahamas will not be able to manage the impacts of climate change without significant collaboration and assistance from global partners, as well as compensation or reparations from losses and damages suffered by The Bahamas.
The Bahamas’ Climate Change Policies
14. Currently, The Bahamas has institutions and organizations that deal with climate change-related issues and an important number of measures and courses of action have been set up by the government. Nevertheless, more coordination among them is needed and should include international institutions. This coordination is essential even for first steps, i.e., conducting studies with a bottom-up approach in order to draw more accurate programs on adaptation and mitigation.
Recommendations
15. The self-determination of The Bahamas, including the economic self-determination of The Bahamas is at grave risk from climate impacts, including potential losses in tourist revenue related to correspondent losses in biodiversity, water resources, and coastal erosion. We thus recommend that The Bahamas take action to adapt to climate change impacts and to coordinate with similarly situated States on obtaining reparations or compensation for losses and damage sustained by climate change.
16. Flooding will likely recur in The Bahamas in the coming rainy seasons, so The Bahamas must prioritize establishing early warning mechanisms and preparedness activities. This includes replenishing emergency stockpiles to provide immediate response in the event of a large-scale natural disaster. Flooding will impact the right to health and the right to life.
17. The Bahamas should assess health vulnerability, impacts and adaptive capacity to climate change. We recommend that The Bahamas conduct a national assessment of climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation for health. We recommend that The Bahamas ensure that results of the assessment are used for policy prioritization and the allocation of human and financial resources in the health sector.
18. The Bahamas should implement a climate change and health strategic action plan, which would help The Bahamas reduce its vulnerability to climate change. Ensuring that adaptation priorities are specified, health co-benefits from mitigation and adaptation measures are considered, necessary budget requirements are allocated and regular monitoring and review of progress will support its full implementation.
19. The Bahamas should strengthen integrated risk surveillance and early warning systems related to extreme events and public health. The Bahamas is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events. The Bahamas should establish integrated risk surveillance for health risks, such as heat stress, vector-borne, waterborne and foodborne diseases, which include meteorological information.
20. The Bahamas should address threats to self-determination of the Bahamian peoples, including through regional or international mechanisms, including the General Assembly of the United Nations. The self-determination of peoples of The Bahamas is at grave risk from climate change.