Bahamas backs blue carbon with $25 mln, targeting Paris Agreement carbon credits
The Bahamas has allocated $25 million to a national blue carbon initiative, with the longer-term aim of producing ITMOs under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. Prime Minister Philip Davis said the funding is meant to help the country show that it removes more greenhouse gases than it releases.
The Bahamas has directed $25 million toward a national blue carbon programme. Announced by Prime Minister Philip Davis in New York, the funding will support measurement of how much carbon the country’s seagrass meadows remove. Those findings are intended to inform the Bahamas’ National Inventory Report, the biennial Paris Agreement submission covering greenhouse gas sources and sinks.
The government has said Article 6 carbon finance could cover a substantial share of its conditional climate ambition for 2025–35. It also passed the Carbon Credit Trading Act in 2022, enabling credit creation and issuance. Davis indicated the country will proceed carefully, prioritizing scientific and regulatory integrity before generating ITMOs.
If the programme yields credible removals and ITMOs, it may draw climate finance to Caribbean coastal conservation and create opportunities for local monitoring, restoration, and marine management jobs. Island communities could benefit from healthier seagrass ecosystems, which may support fisheries and shoreline protection. However, outcomes depend on rigorous measurement and safeguards, and benefits may take years to materialize.