By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

Lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis delivered a keynote address at the University of Virginia, emphasising the urgent need for international cooperation to combat climate change and address public health crises affecting small island nations like The Bahamas.

Dr Minnis underscored the urgency of collaborative solutions to tackle climate and health crises and protect vulnerable small island states like The Bahamas from future transnational threats.

He highlighted the critical vulnerability of The Bahamas to climate-related disasters and stressed the necessity of global action.

“Small island countries in the Caribbean, in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, and in the Indian Ocean and around the world, are on the frontlines of being swallowed into an abyss, created initially by human activity and increasingly by inaction,” he said.

He noted The Bahamas’ support for the United Nations’ climate strategy, adding: “The Bahamas fully supports the United Nations’ comprehensive strategy to address a global climate emergency.”

Addressing the country’s reliance on tourism, Dr Minnis explained the economic risks posed by natural disasters and pandemics, given that tourism accounts for the majority of The Bahamas’ GDP.

“Without tourism, The Bahamas would collapse economically,” he said. “Imagine therefore the huge and potentially crippling impact of hurricanes or a pandemic on our tourism industry and broader economy.”

Reflecting on his experiences leading The Bahamas through Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Minnis described the severe impacts on infrastructure, health systems, and the economy. He recalled the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, describing it as “an unprecedented destructive force” that nearly destroyed parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Dr Minnis also discussed the unique challenges of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in an archipelagic nation with limited healthcare infrastructure.

“In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the great historic pandemics, shattered then shuttered the global and national economies. International tourism came to a dramatic and unprecedented halt. Much worse than in the 2008 Great Recession, The Bahamas economy collapsed within months.” he said.

“We experienced tremendous loss in GDP, tourism numbers, government revenue, savings, and other chilling statistical declines. Our losses were equally measured in increased unemployment, greater personal and business debt, and food insecurity for tens of thousands of Bahamians.

“Because we are a far-flung archipelago, our challenges in responding to both Dorian and COVID-19 at the same time were made greater. This was especially so because many of our more rural areas in our Family of Islands have limited healthcare facilities, medical supplies and personnel.”

He spoke on crisis leadership, drawing inspiration from former US President Teddy Roosevelt’s approach to decision-making and emphasised the importance of first-hand knowledge in crisis management.

Reflecting on the government’s pandemic response, he said, “As in every jurisdiction, there was considerable criticism of the government’s pandemic response, some of it justified, but some of it also ill-informed. No government got everything right. In hindsight, various governments may have made a number of different decisions. However, I truly believe in my heart, and as some international observers stated, The Bahamas did many things right given the circumstance.”