FREEPORT, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas — A focus on Climate Change, Climate Change Diplomacy, and A Sustainable Development Agenda for Climate Vulnerable States are among agenda items to be addressed during 2024 Diplomatic Week.
The setting for the focus on Climate Change and its impacts on Small-Island Developing States (SIDS) such as The Bahamas could not have come at a more ideal location or at a more opportune time, as Grand Bahama is one of those areas of The Bahamas said to reside in ‘hurricane alley,” making it susceptible to hurricanes. November marks the final month of the Atlantic Hurricane Season which annually runs June 1 through November 30.
(The Week got underway Sunday [November 3] with a Church Service at First Baptist Church. Diplomats from across the Bahamian Diplomatic Diaspora are in Freeport attending to participate in the Week. Representation is from USA, Canada, CARICOM, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Geneva, London, and China, in addition to visiting ambassadors and high commissioners accredited by The Bahamas.)
Early records indicate that Grand Bahama has been impacted by storms and/or hurricanes since official records were undertaken in 1871. Some of the more memorable storms to impact the area include Betsy, Inez, David, Isidore, Floyd, Erin, Bertha, Mitch, Frances, Jeanne, Katrina, Wilma, Irene, Matthew, Irma, Isaias, and more recently Milton and Nicole.
The list also includes the monster, Category 5 Hurricane Dorian. An extremely powerful, deadly, and catastrophic tropical cyclone, Dorian became the most intense hurricane on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in terms of maximum sustained winds.
Meteorologists and Forecasters at the Bahamas Department of Meteorology say Hurricane Dorian has been among the most devastating natural disasters ever to hit The Bahamas. The estimated damages and losses from it amount to $3.4 billion (IDB, 2019), a number equivalent to a quarter of the country’s GDP.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Frederick A. Mitchell, during his opening address to diplomats Monday, said Climate Change has become the “number one” Foreign Policy Issue for The Bahamas.
“It is important to our citizens that we make sure that we hold up the flag overseas and you know that the Prime Minister has charged us with the number one Foreign Policy issue which is climate change and so all of our resources in the Foreign Service are being directed towards fighting this issue of climate change,” Mr. Mitchell said.
The focus on climate change was also part of Minister Mitchell’s address during Sunday’s Church Service that launched Diplomatic Week. Part of that focus also centres on climate justice, a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of climate change and the efforts to mitigate climate change.
It seeks solutions that address the root causes of climate change and in doing so, simultaneously address a broad range of social, racial, and environmental injustices.
Diplomatic Week opened “in earnest” in Freeport, Monday (November 4) with a charge from Minister Mitchell.
Diplomats from across the Bahamian diplomatic diaspora are attending the annual Bahamian Heads of Missions Retreat (also known as Diplomatic Week), being held at the Grand Lucayan Convention Centre. It marks the third time Freeport has hosted an event of this nature, following on the successes of the 8th COFCOR Conference (June, 2005), and the 9th UK-Caribbean Forum — both under Mr. Mitchell’s watch as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) determines relations between the Community and international organizations and third states, and promotes the development of friendly and mutually beneficial relations among member states.
The UK-Caribbean Forum brings together ministers from the UK and the Caribbean, including representatives of the Overseas Territories. The forum provides the opportunity to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues at ministerial level.
Minister Mitchell said the decision to host Diplomatic Week in Freeport was part and parcel of the government’s commitment and willingness to “show the Flag so to speak.”
