Bahamas could earn $375 million per year from carbon credits, says financial expert

Getting paid for carbon credits and using that money to convert this country to renewable energy sources could make The Bahamas energy independent, resulting in a correction to government’s balance of payment challenges, according to founder and Chief Executive Officer of locally-based Wincrest Capital Barbara Ann Bernard, adding that the country could net $375 million per year from these kinds of credits.

Bernard contended that The Bahamas should use its natural position as a carbon sink to begin earning money through the sale of carbon credits.

According to Bernard, countries can do this through either reforestation or afforestation. She explained that The Bahamas’ mangroves and sea grass fields are ripe for the creation of carbon credits.

“In The Bahamas we have 7,011 hectares of restorable mangroves. If we were to restore them, that would be worth $308 million in terms of carbon credits,” Bernard told Bloomberg.com recently.

“Take the carbon sequestration properties of mangroves and sea grass for example, and you get them accredited by someone like Gold Standard and you register them with the UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and then you can sell those.

“In The Bahamas, for example, we have 97,000 acres of mangroves and 5.4 million hectares of sea grass that would be worth $375 million dollars per year.”

Bernard said the only country that has so far done this is Gabon, after it struck a $150 million carbon credit deal with Norway for the protection of its rain forests.

She explained that investing in sustainability is becoming a huge business and a huge earner for some countries. She pointed to Canada’s carbon tax as an example.

“You get paid as a country on your net carbon footprint, so you want to get your net score down,” said Bernard.

“How do you do that? In a country like The Bahamas, where 100 percent of the energy is generated by fossil fuels, the obvious answer would be to install solar.