A Call to Action:
Making Escazú
Real in The Bahamas

The Statement

As representatives of Bahamian environmental organizations, community groups, and civil society leaders, we welcome the government's decision to host the Fourth Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement here in Nassau.

The world is watching. Hundreds of regional delegates have gathered in our capital to discuss the treaty that enshrines the right of every person of present and future generations to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development — guaranteeing access to environmental information, meaningful public participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.

This is our moment to demonstrate that The Bahamas is serious about the commitments it made when it acceded to Escazú.

The Promise We Made

When The Bahamas acceded to the Escazú Agreement on June 5, 2025, the Prime Minister declared:

"Our government has deliberately prioritised our island's natural richness, as the lifeline that sustains the economy, livelihoods and wellbeing of present and future generations of Bahamians."

The government stated: "Every Bahamian has the right to a safe and clean environment. Our accession to the Escazú Agreement is a decisive step towards making it a reality. It places our people and one of our greatest treasures, our environment, first."

These are powerful words. But words alone do not protect our forests, our mangroves, our seagrass beds, our marine ecosystems, or the livelihoods of Bahamians who depend on them.

Where We Stand Today

Progress has been made. The Bahamas has taken important steps in environmental governance, conservation policy, and regional leadership on climate action.

But there is much work to be done.

The three pillars of Escazú, Access to Information, Public Participation, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, remain unevenly and inconsistently applied.

In practice, Bahamians still face:

• Insufficient public access to key environmental information, including not requiring Environmental Impact Assessments and Environmental Management Plans to be shared with affected communities before public consultation activities

• Perceived or potential conflicts within decision-making processes, where overlapping roles across project design, assessment, and compliance oversight need clearer separation, greater transparency, and independent review.

• Opaque planning procedures where communities learn of major developments only after approvals have been granted

• Barriers to meaningful participation, where public consultation is reduced to formality rather than genuine engagement.

Accession signaled intent. Implementation is what gives that intent legal force and meaning.

Why This Matters Now

The Bahamas stands at a crossroads.

Millions of dollars in foreign investment are pouring into our islands. Large-scale resort developments, infrastructure projects, and luxury real estate ventures are reshaping our coastlines and communities.

Investment is not the enemy of sustainability. Responsible investment depends on transparency, accountability, and public trust. But unchecked, opaque, and conflicted development processes undermine the very assets investors claim to value: pristine coastal and marine environments, and the natural beauty that makes The Bahamas extraordinary.

Our tourism economy, our national lifeline, depends on environmental integrity. Sustainable development is not a constraint on growth. It is the foundation of long-term prosperity.

If we allow critical habitats and ecosystems to be degraded, and communities to be excluded from decisions that affect their futures, we risk destroying the foundation of our economy and the wellbeing of future generations.

The government was right when it called our natural richness "the lifeline that sustains the economy, livelihoods and wellbeing of present and future generations."

Now it must govern accordingly.

What Escazú Promises and What We Are Calling For

The Escazú Agreement requires three things:

1. Access to Environmental Information

• Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Management Plans, and compliance reports must be publicly and permanently available before approvals are granted and throughout the existence of any project.

• Communities must have timely access to the information they need to assess risks and participate meaningfully in decisions.

• Information should be proactively disclosed in accessible, user-friendly formats including digital platforms, maintained as a permanent public record with full version history, and updated throughout the lifecycle of a project.

2. Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

• Consultation must be genuine, early, and substantive, beginning at the Heads of Agreement stage, before commitments are made, not a rubber-stamp exercise after decisions have already been made.

• Affected communities must have the opportunity to influence outcomes, not simply be informed of them

3. Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

• Legal remedies must be accessible, timely, and effective

• Conflicts of interest in regulatory processes must be identified and eliminated

• Individuals and communities must be able to raise concerns without fear of intimidation, marginalization, or retaliation.

These are not aspirational goals. They are legal obligations under the treaty The Bahamas has committed to.

Our Call to the Government

As COP 4 convenes in Nassau, we call on the Government of The Bahamas to:

1. Advance the Escazú Agreement and begin meaningful implementation locally

2. Establish clear, enforceable standards for Access to Information, Public Participation, and Access to Justice in all environmental decision-making

3. Require public disclosure of Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Management Plans, and compliance frameworks before approvals are granted, with formal definitions of disclosure, before approvals are granted

4. Establish standards for Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Management Plans and compliance management that can be measured and enforced.

5. Eliminate conflicts of interest in environmental review processes, no firm should design a project, assess its impacts, and oversee its own compliance

6. Empower communities to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their environment, economy, and future

7. Lead by example at this COP by demonstrating that The Bahamas is serious about embedding environmental rights into national governance

8. Establish a clear, time-bound roadmap for implementation, with regular public reporting on progress.

The World Is Watching

Hosting COP 4 is an honor. It is also a test. The international community will judge The Bahamas not by the speeches we give in conference halls, but by the actions we take in our own islands. Will we be a nation that lives up to its commitments, or one that treats environmental treaties as performative gestures? Will we protect the natural richness that sustains us, or sacrifice it to short-term, opaque, and conflicted development processes? Will we ensure that every Bahamian truly has the right to a safe and clean environment, or will that right exist only on paper?

The choice is ours.

A Vision for The Bahamas

We envision a Bahamas where:

• Communities are partners in development decisions, not obstacles to be circumvented

• Environmental assessments are transparent, independent, and trusted

• Justice is accessible and timely when the environment is threatened

• Sustainable development is not a slogan but a governing principle

• Future generations inherit the same natural wealth that has sustained us

This is The Bahamas the government promised when it acceded to Escazú.

This is The Bahamas we are calling on the government to deliver.