By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said Prime Minister Philip Davis has indicated that climate change is the number one policy issue for The Bahamas.

He stressed the urgent need for the country to address climate change during the opening of Diplomatic Week in Grand Bahama, warning that severe sea level rise could leave 70 percent of New Providence underwater by 2100.

He said the government plans to make its case at the upcoming COP29 this month.

“If we are to protect what we have, we must get to work in an open transparent way to address climate change,” he said.

“It’s existential for us. With 80 percent of our land mass within a meter of the sea, and here on Grand Bahama, the highest point on this island is 48 ft above sea level. So we are headed to COP29 to make the case.”

Mr Mitchell recalled a presentation shown at the Explorer’s Club in New York last year, which forecast that by 2037, 30 percent of New Providence would be submerged, and by 2100, that figure would rise to a staggering 70 percent.

“We just come from the Pacific Islands and the predictions there are equally as dire,” he said.

“Freeport is a favourite city of mine in The Bahamas. It is our second city and it is where you heard Hurricane Dorian hit five years ago in September 2019. It is a city in recovery, and I am proud of the people here and their resilience.’

He noted his desire to support Freeport, hosting the international community and bringing visitors on two previous occasions in June 2005 and April 2016.

“We welcome you as we begin our work and we hope you leave here understanding The Bahamas and its people a little better,” he told the diplomats.

“I have been foreign minister three times; lightning does not strike in the same place twice, they say. So judge three times, and I know it won’t strike a fourth time.”