COP26: Davis and Mottley Tell Rich Countries to Deliver on Climate Change Promises

Small island nations like the Bahamas are “out of time” in battling climate change and Prime Minister Philip Davis urged rich countries to take urgent action.

Speaking at the climate change summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, Davis reminded developed countries that the Bahamas, like other island nations, is threatened with hurricanes that are increasing with intensity and frequency.

He reminded attendants of Hurricane Dorian’s devastating effect on the Bahamas, requesting funding and technology to rebuild “resiliently.”

“Our hurricanes are your fires and floods. Our hurricanes are your landslides and droughts.

“Please do what is needed, not what you can get away with. Turn promises and agreements into action,” he said.

“Don’t hide behind buzz words and hazy promises.

“Don’t let the failures of the past limit our ambitions for the present. Failure today can lead to destruction tomorrow.”

G20 leaders met in Rome lastweek to discuss climate change and agreed that 1.5 degrees celsius will be their target by 2030.

On Monday, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley urged delegates that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature would be a “death sentence” for island and coastal countries.

“We do not want that dreaded death sentence, and we have come here today to say, ‘Try harder.’ ”

Mottley warned that failure to provide enough funding to small island nations on the frontlines of climate change is “measured in lives and livelihoods.”

“This is immoral, and it is unjust,” she said.

Countries like China, the United States of America, India, and Germany are the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases, accounting for 80% of gas emissions.