Recognizing the alarming risks of climate change the Government of the Bahamas drew up the National Policy for the Adaptation to Climate Change to asses the degree of country's vulnerability to the projected impacts of climate change by sectors and the country's ability to adapt to the changing climate.
The Bahamas is a relatively small size of the country which is highly vulnerable to the risks of climate change. The country's dependence on the tourism industry makes it susceptible to economic fluctuations if the measures to tackle the impacts of climate change is not taken. However, the small size of the economy means that the country lacks the financial and technical resources for reducing the projected level of risks.
In this regard, the Government of the Bahamas examined some of the possible impacts on the following sectors: coastal and marine resource and fisheries, terrestrial biodiversity resources, agriculture and forestry, human settlements and human health, water resources, the energy, and transportation sector, as well as in tourism and the finance and insurance sectors. The result of the assessment provided the guidance to create policies to address the identified climate change impacts. This report contains the policy directives for the aforementioned sectors.
The report also suggests that the government should act as a major facilitator for the implementation of the policy directives to create an enabling environment to foster the development of adaptation programmes and the mechanisms needed to ensure effective planning for and responses to climate change.