Madame Speaker,
Last week, the world paused to listen to the International Court of Justice. And for the first time in a very long time, the world heard with clarity what they have been hoping, asking, and demanding.
We can all agree, whatever our politics, our profession, or our standing, that The Bahamas has a God-giving human right to survive. To live in safety. To fully enjoy the earth we occupy. To raise children without fear that the next storm, the next flood, the next silent rise in sea level will erase what generations have built.
The Court confirmed that this is not simply an emotional claim. It is a legal one. And that matters.
It matters to the family in Moore’s Island still recovering from Hurricane Dorian.
It matters to the children in Mayaguana learning about climate change not from textbooks, but from their own lived experiences.
And it matters to us here in this chamber, tasked with the highest responsibility of all, to defend the right of our people to exist.
Madame Speaker,
The Court’s ruling confirms that states have legal obligations under international law to protect the environment. That failure to reduce emissions, failure to regulate polluters, and failure to assist those harmed by the climate crisis are not acts of omission. They are breaches of law.
This was not just a scientific judgment, although the science is clear. It was not just a moral appeal, although the moral case is overwhelming. It was a legal finding, built on decades of treaties, legal principles, and growing recognition that the damage done to small island states like ours is not theoretical. It is real, and it is unjust.
Madame Speaker,
I would ask the House to reflect on what this means for a country like The Bahamas.
We are a nation built on coastlines, on low-lying land, and on fragile ecosystems. Every flood, every storm surge, and every piece of coral lost to warming seas, chips away at the physical foundations of our country. But it also chips away at something deeper, our confidence that we will be able to hand this place, these islands, to our children as our parents handed them to us.
We were hit by four major storms – Category 4 and Category 5 – within just one decade. Every hurricane leaves us less fiscal space to invest in our people, our economy, and our future.
Think about what happens when these massive storms wipe out homes, and schools, and roads, and businesses, and hospitals, and electricity lines. The impact to our economy lasts for a long time. We lose revenue.
Then we have to borrow to recover and rebuild – which increases our debt burden.
At least 40% of our national debt is directly attributed to the loss and damage resulting from these hurricanes.
Then as the size of our debt grows, we pay higher interest rates. And the risk of future hurricanes is priced in as well.
Insurance premiums are higher, and our interest rates would be lower if those who hold our debt were not worried about the most intense storms coming our way.
We are paying for storms we’ve suffered through, and we are paying for the storms of the future as well.
As an administration, we have worked so hard for fair climate finance because we want to exit this climate debt trap. We want to use our resources to invest in our people, and our future.
That is why this ruling matters. Because for once, the law sees what we see. For once, the law speaks the truth we live with every day.
Madame Speaker,
I must take a moment to recognise the efforts of the Honourable Attorney General, Ryan Pinder, KC. His submissions to the Court were thoughtful, grounded in the lived experience of our people, and legally robust. He did not stand alone. Ambassador Cheryl Bazard, representing the Organisation of American States, brought a Caribbean voice and a Bahamian sensibility to those proceedings. Two Bahamians, before the world’s highest court, giving voice to a cause larger than any one country, but rooted in our own story.
It is often said that small countries must shout to be heard. Last week, we were heard, not because we shouted, but because we spoke with clarity, honesty, and purpose.
Madame Speaker,
The ruling is advisory, not binding. That must be acknowledged. But its authority is unquestionable. It draws from the entire body of international environmental law. It provides guidance to future courts. And it offers countries like ours a firm foundation on which to build our case, make our demands, and exercise our diplomacy.
It confirms that climate change is a human rights issue. That the right to life, to housing, to health, and to culture are all affected by environmental degradation. And that those who contribute most to the problem must shoulder the burden of solving it.
We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fair treatment.
We are not asking for favours. We are asking for the law to be upheld.
And we are not seeking confrontation. We are seeking justice.
Madame Speaker,
This ruling changes the conversation. No longer can support for climate adaptation be seen as aid. It is responsibility. No longer can compensation for loss and damage be described as a moral gesture. It is a legal consequence. And no longer can the right of nations like ours to exist be treated as negotiable. It is fundamental.
We are not the cause of this crisis. We did not build the factories or dig the coal. But we are facing the consequences, rising tides, lost shorelines, salt intrusion, vanishing fisheries, and broken infrastructure.
We now have a legal basis to say to the world, this is not acceptable. This cannot go unanswered. And this must be addressed in the framework of law, not charity.
Madame Speaker,
This ruling must inform our foreign policy. It must shape our climate diplomacy. It must guide our engagement at COP negotiations and in every bilateral discussion where the question of climate justice is on the table.
But it must also inform our domestic choices.
We cannot demand action from others and remain static ourselves. We must continue to invest in climate resilience, strengthen our disaster response, protect our marine resources, and shift our own systems towards cleaner, more sustainable practices.
Not because we are to blame, but because we are determined to survive. Not as victims. As leaders.
Madame Speaker,
There will be those who say that nothing changes. That the emitters will continue, that the global system will delay, that the oceans will still rise.
But something has changed. A principle has been clarified. A truth long whispered in back rooms has now been spoken aloud in the grandest courtroom in the world.
We have a right to survive. That is not rhetoric. That is now law.
And it is our duty, this Parliament’s duty, to ensure that right is protected.
Let us go forward then, not with anger, but with resolve. Not in bitterness, but in justice. Let us take this ruling and build with it, policy, diplomacy, and action, so that when our children ask us what we did at the moment the law spoke, we can answer with confidence.
We listened. And we acted.
Thank you.