By Malcolm Strachan

FOR all the talk of climate change as a global threat, the UN Climate Conference that wrapped up over the weekend in Brazil showed little sign that the world is ready to respond.

Climate change has been a calling card issue for this government – Prime Minister Philip Davis drew international headlines early in his tenure at an earlier version of this conference held in Glasgow in 2021. He spoke then of how “we cannot outrun your carbon emissions; we cannot outrun the hurricanes which are becoming more powerful; and we cannot outrun the rising sea levels as our lands disappear beneath the seas.”

This time around, he gave a pre-recorded address on existential threats posed by rising seas. While the words were fine, there is a genuine question about whether anyone is listening.

“We continue to be one of the most outspoken voices on climate change in the developing world,” said Mr Davis, “and I certainly intend to keep it that way.”

“For The Bahamas,” he continued, “sea-level rise is not an abstract concern – it is our daily reality. Our islands, our people and our livelihoods stand on the frontlines of this crisis.”

If that is the case, you would think our front lines would see more preparation. But for all the words, there is little to see here at home in terms of how we intend to deal with rising sea levels.

Where are the plans for sea walls or flood plain zoning to prevent construction?

PM Davis also talked of how “our shorelines recede year after year,” which would be a strong line if it was backed up by photographs of that change. Strangely, there are none to be shown.

Mr Davis’ administration seems focused on funding to pay for the damage caused by climate change--a form of reparations from the countries with the biggest emissions--while opening the door to climate financing through such things as carbon credits.

All well and good, but the big guns are not at the party.

The end of the COP30 meeting in Brazil came with a compromise. It pledged more money to help countries adapt to climate change, but no agreement could be found that would properly tackle, or even mention, fossil fuels.

Fuels such as oil, coal and gas are a fundamental part of what is heating our planet. With global warming comes the ice melt at the poles that pushes up sea levels around the globe.

That warming also has other effects, such as the bleaching we see of our coral reefs that lead to their destruction, and the destruction of the marine life that calls such underwater environments home.

There was a distinct lack of energy at this conference, or at least a lack of determination that anything meaningful was going to happen. Ahead of the conference, every country was given some homework to do: they each had to write up their individual climate plans and then compare to see whether it was enough or not. Some countries, such as India, did not even do that homework, which delayed its climate pledge. Although India has a growing solar energy sector--125 gigawatts in September, up from 5.7 gigawatts 10 years before—the country still relies heavily on coal. India was not alone. More than 70 countries failed to file those plans. Of those that did, they generally were not enough to do the job. Collectively, the plans received would still see global temperatures rise by 2.5 degrees C, far above the 1.5 degree C target.

The agreement reached in Brazil has promised more money, tripling the amount promised to help vulnerable countries, but delaying the deadline for that by five more years, until 2035. That amount of money falls short too. The $120bn pledged is a long way shy of the $360bn that is said to be needed.

The elephant in the room – or more pointedly out of the room – was the United States. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, climate science has been rubbished and there has been a lack of commitment to help. China has also not stepped up to fill the gap as some had hoped, though, frankly, it’s a big gap to fill.

The frustration was evident from some delegates. “I will be brutally honest: The COP and the UN systems are not working for you. They have never really worked for you. And today, they are failing you at a historic scale,” said a negotiator for Panama, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez.

And others voiced similar frustrations. “Our coral reefs, the lifeblood of our islands’ food systems, culture and economies are at a tipping point in dieback. Forest ecosystems are at a tipping point. The window to protect lives and economies is closing… we are dangerously close to a 1.5C global warming overshoot, driven by the actions of bigger countries. Unless we choose the path of course correction right here and now, leaders are dooming our world to disaster,” warned the environment minister of Palau, Steven Victor.

If you listen to the words, we are talking about doom and disaster, land being swallowed up, nations being hit by ever-greater storms, and a challenge for nations to survive or continue to exist.

If you look at the actions, it is all too little, too late, not enough. And yet everyone seemed to avoid the big subjects and put a smiling face on an agreement that falls short in every major way, just so people can say that at least there was progress.

It’s like showing up at a blazing house fire and throwing a single bucket of water on it, then saying “Well, at least we helped.” It is just not enough.

In defence of the delegates from the many smaller nations, the ones who feel the biggest effects from climate change, they have a limited amount they can do when the big players are either not showing up or controlling the narrative when it comes to issues such as fossil fuels.

At the same time, though, there is little merit in talking up how bold you are by saying words that no one listens to.

The next of these conferences is in Turkey next year. Unless something fundamentally changes, it is hard to have confidence that it will amount to anything other than more of the same. Minor progress, a few agreements, while the world continues to burn.

If we really mean it when we say that climate change is an existential threat to our nation, we cannot be satisfied with that. It is not enough to raise our voice, we need to scream and shout and demand to be heard, not simply show up at a conference, give a speech, and move on. This needs to be the number one item on every agenda in every meeting around the world – if we truly mean it.

Otherwise, it is just sound bites. Nice to listen to, but meaningless without being backed up.