By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip Davis says he’s an optimist and hopes the COP26 summit is fruitful in the fight against climate change even though the cynicism of critics is warranted.

Mr Davis said officials are uncertain about whether the summit will produce “the kind of action coming out of it that The Bahamas and other countries were calling for.”

He spoke to reporters Friday afternoon after his delegation arrived at the Lynden Pindling Airport from Europe where they attended the summit in Scotland and participated in other meetings in the United Kingdom.

He nonetheless highlighted the scope of the event.

“In the wider conference there were approximately 25,000 delegates,” he said. “To fully appreciate the scale, understand that it took about 20-25 minutes just to walk to some meetings, because they were in another part of the complex. Once you appreciate the scale, hopefully that gives you an idea how busy we have been on your behalf.

“We had formal and informal discussions with leaders and representatives from virtually every continent. There were meetings with many of our CARICOM friends in the region: Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Surinam, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, just to name a few. I met for the first time the African leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Togo and Niger as well as the Secretary General of The African Association.

“There were informal meetings with our North American friends, President Biden of the United States and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, and some of our European friends from the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Luxembourg and others. There was also a formal meeting with the Special Envoy from China, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and others.

“Apart from meetings with leaders, there were some significant meetings with prominent organisations such as The Nature Conservancy, The Green Climate Fund and IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency.

“Outside of COP, in Glasgow and London, we also held conversations with financial and legal bodies to discuss the challenges we are currently facing and to pursue opportunities to support our national developments. We explored ways of securing financial support to help with our current fiscal situation, especially in relation to the management of debt and driving economic growth, technology and other support, and the need to improve our infrastructure and defences against the adverse effects of climate change.

“It would not be appropriate for me just yet to provide details of those conversations. We don’t want to be premature in any way and embarrass partners with whom discussions are ongoing, and promises not yet concretised.

“Some of the meetings had more specific purposes, such as the workshop on ‘Gender and Climate Change’ which were attended by my wife and the wife of the Minister of The Environment. I am happy to report that the ‘Office of the Spouse’ will be incorporating issues on climate as a top priority. This will support the urgent work we need to do to sensitise Bahamians to the actions that are needed to make our country more resilient.

“Just before leaving, I signed a key document called a ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ which now allows The Bahamas to sit around the table when critical decisions are being made. For example, The Bahamas can now sit at the table when the Ministers of Finance meet to discuss the issues of COP 26.”

Mr Davis said it is regrettable that such opportunities were lost under his predecessor.

“Whether through ignorance or neglect, it means that The Bahamas lost out on a number of potential benefits, especially in terms of financial support, which will only now become available,” he said.

Mr Davis added that he invited a number of world leaders to attend next year’s 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations.

“Among those to say yes, I was pleased that Prince Charles was very enthusiastic, as was Prince William at another event,” he said. “As Prince Charles represented the Queen at the original Independence Ceremony in 1973, this was a wonderful gesture,” he said.