Cover story
The bigger picture: how Bermuda is preparing for net zero
The re/insurance industry welcomes Bermuda’s ambition to be the climate risk capital of the world, but no-one underestimates the challenges. The country’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, Walter Roban, outlined to Bermuda:Re+ILS his commitment to securing Bermuda’s green future.
“We are exposed to what the larger and industrialised jurisdictions around us are putting into the environment.”
Walter Roban, Deputy Premier of Bermuda
What role have you played in Bermuda’s ambition to be the centre of climate risk finance?
I played more of an associate role in the climate risk finance development side. Initially, we made a significant climate statement on behalf of the government in April 2021, after US President Joe Biden announced that the US would re-join the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The US administration contacted me to get our view on that move and we certainly pledged our support for it. We also had discussions with the local re/insurance industry, the Bermuda Business Development Agency and the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) about positioning Bermuda to be potentially the centre of climate risk finance.
That seemed to be a sensible idea, as Bermuda is already a major capital for risk, including the risks associated with extreme weather events. With climate change becoming a significant influence on the economic wellbeing of the planet, Bermuda is an eminently suitable place to begin to develop those opportunities and that sort of business for the world.
The climate risk finance initiative is now being stewarded by the Ministry of Finance, but I still play a role in supporting the effort to promote Bermuda in that space.
It is considerable when you consider rising sea levels, coastal erosion and acidification of the sea. As an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda faces the hurricane corridor every season, but it is also affected by the changing nature of the ocean and by pollution associated with single-use plastics, and oil.
On the Island itself, globalisation has led to the presence of invasive species that upset the biodiversity of our environment. One might argue that the biggest invasive species is we humans, and that puts a great responsibility on us to mitigate our own impact on this small island of just 22 square miles. That means factoring climate change responsiveness into all that we do, from the policy decisions we make as a government, to what we do as citizens of Bermuda.
Beyond that, by virtue of being an island, being in the middle of the Atlantic, and not being a primary global emitter of greenhouse gases, we are exposed to what the larger and industrialised jurisdictions around us are putting into the environment. So our exposure is considerable, but even as Bermuda is being affected by other nations, we know we also have a role to play.
What is Bermuda’s exposure to climate change?
How would you describe Bermuda’s credentials in environmental policy?
Caring for the environment is not a new phenomenon for Bermudans. In fact, Bermuda was arguably the first country in the world to embrace what we’d call today climate activism when, in the early 1600s, the then Assembly took decisions to protect sea turtles.
We’ve had severe impacts on our environment throughout our history as a settlement, which have shown what can happen when you don’t manage the things you incorporate into your environment; and that human activity brings about a transformation.
A good example of this is the cahow, a very rare bird indigenous to Bermuda. Human settlement and other species, such as cats and rodents, brought the cahow to near extinction. It was rediscovered in the early 20th century and Bermuda has been working ever since to create more breeding pairs. We now have more than 100 breeding pairs, but it took decades to achieve that.
The kiskadee, which you see a lot of in Bermuda, is actually an invasive bird; it was brought to the Island.
Bermuda had an indigenous variety of cedar tree, which covered the Island until the mid-20th century, when a form of blight that had been carried via human transportation totally decimated the cedar forest. We brought in other varieties of plants that you now see and which make Bermuda very beautiful, but that development came out of an incident that was essentially catastrophic.
There are other indigenous species that we are trying to protect with robust legislation, including the Endangered Animals and Plants Act, the Protected Species Act, and the Invasive Alien Species Act. There’s a public effort to grow more cedars.
We have a very robust plant protection system as well to protect Bermuda against the importation of plant varieties or pests that could damage our environment. Another example, within the last 20 years, was a parasite that attacked our citrus plants; again, caused by pests that had come in via importation. We have programmes to protect mangroves and replenish seagrass. We’ve had to develop pest-resistant varieties of citrus plants to try to replenish our oranges, lemons, limes.
All these examples show the impacts that the human population has had on a small island’s natural environment.
Based on the latest data provided by the UK government, Bermuda’s estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2020 were 0.899 megatonnes. Our carbon dioxide emissions primarily come from our fossil fuel generating power plant and most of the rest come from transport. The fossil fuels used on the Island are unleaded gasoline, diesel and heavy fuel oil.
We have a very robust effort to try and decarbonise through the electrification of transport.
That is one of the major efforts right now because energy generation and transportation are the two main producers of our greenhouse gases.
We don’t have primary data from other small island jurisdictions to compare ourselves to, but I think we are probably no different from many of them, particularly those in the Caribbean region. Almost every small island is dependent on fossil fuels for power generation, but I can say though that we have been successful over a number of decades with lowering our carbon dioxide emissions steadily.
Our goal is to meet the standard that the UK has set for itself: net zero by 2050. Since 2010, Bermuda has reduced its GHG emissions by about 6 percent.
According to our Integrated Resource Plan, which we published in June 2019, Bermuda will source 85 percent of its energy from renewables—wind, solar PV and biomass—by 2035.
What are Bermuda’s carbon emissions and where do they come from?
How can Bermuda reach net zero by 2050?
We support the net zero by 2050 target. We are implementing the Integrated Resource Plan, produced by our Regulatory Authority, which requires the move to renewable energy thereby reducing the use of fossil fuel energy sources by 85 percent by 2035. In addition, we are committing to the electrification of all vehicles by 2035. With changes in technology, it is conceivable that we can get to net zero by 2050.
However, it is worth noting that we cannot control the emissions produced by airplanes and other vessels that travel to Bermuda. This is challenging for a country that imports everything. We’re committed to doing the things necessary to lower our emissions by as much as possible, even though we’re not a big carbon emitter in the global context. Per capita, however, we do emit more than we should, and we don’t use energy as efficiently as we should, and so we are working on upgrading our Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Amendment Bill will improve outside air quality standards to align with the more stringent UK statutes, in addition to the UK/EU air quality objectives which currently provide target values for compliance. This legislation will ensure that emissions of pollutants from combustion processes, such as energy generation and transportation, will be increasingly less likely to impact the public.
Carbon dioxide is not considered a pollutant but certain by-products from the combustion process can either directly or indirectly lead to greater global warming potential (GWP) contributions than those from carbon dioxide.
Bermuda’s carbon emission estimates largely come from the standard practice of converting the carbon present in different types of fuel into carbon dioxide. Bermuda records the amount of fuel that is imported and used in different sectors, and it can then determine the amount of carbon dioxide that is generated. Carbon dioxide emissions are converted into a GWP that is measured in tonnes per year.
Other gases imported to Bermuda, such as those used for air-conditioning and refrigeration, typically display a much higher GWP than carbon dioxide. The amount of methane that is generated from composting activities can also be converted to a GWP and add to the total statistics for Bermuda. These calculations are completed under contract to the government of Bermuda by Aether UK who receive data from government and provide expertise in environmental data analysis and interpretation to generate GWP data for each sector on an annual basis.
I went to COP26 with two roles: as the chief representative for Bermuda and as the delegation leader for all 14 of the UK’s Overseas Territories, although only about six of them attended the conference. I went there to tell our story as small island communities that are on the front line of the climate change experience right now. Our experience is no different from that of many island groups around the planet, since sea level rise, volatile weather, acidification of the oceans, and erosion, are things that all small islands are experiencing.
We went to speak for ourselves and also to tell COP that what’s happening with islands—such as Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Cayman, the British Virgin Isles, Gibraltar, Ascension, Pitcairn, and all the other Overseas Territories—is our collective story. With the support of the UK government, as the host nation of COP26, we were able to do that.
The salient point that we wanted to make sure the attendees at COP understood is that the UK and its 14 Overseas Territories are together responsible for as much as 25 percent of the world’s oceans. That’s because of the exclusive economic zones that are around us, and around the UK. At the same time, our 14 islands account for nearly 90 percent of the UK’s total territory.
So, we have a significant biodiversity presence, and also responsibility for a significant share of the world’s oceans. It’s important that our story was told at COP, but also that we get the support we need to play our part. We feel we were successful with telling that story. We had the opportunity to participate in Nature Day, as part of the UK Pavilion, and to tell our story internationally to the other attendees at COP26. It also led to particular actions that have since been started with the UK government.
What were Bermuda’s aims at COP26, and were they achieved?
How has the UK supported Bermuda since COP26?
The UK has an obligation under the Paris Agreement to protect the oceans with territory it has jurisdiction over. As part of that, the UK government is committed to giving us technical and financial support. In particular, we are going to have the benefit of two major programmes under the UK umbrella: the Blue Shield programme, which the UK recently established and which is going to support the Overseas Territories in the management of their marine domain areas, and also in enforcement, surveillance and research so that we can protect those areas.
This means we will have the benefit of cutting-edge technology, satellite technology, and personnel. Bermuda is the first territory to be a part of that and others will follow. The UK is also supporting Bermuda through an all-encompassing climate study. We had the benefit of a study in 2004, but it focused exclusively on coastal erosion.
The Blue Shield activity started when the team from the UK government came here to do a needs assessment. Work on the climate study has also started: Smith Warner International, which is based in the Caribbean and carried out the 2004 study, has been to Bermuda to start site evaluation and analysis. They are able to compare the new data with their 2004 data.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which is part of my ministry, already has a very strong research and environmental protection team. We have a slew of Bermudans with PhDs who are doing seagrass replenishment, mangrove protection programmes, protection of our fish varieties, monitoring of our coral reefs, and doing air quality and water assessments.
So we have a very robust team of scientists in the government, but they’re going to be further buoyed by this relationship with the UK. They do quite a bit of work with other international organisations as well.
It is something that is taken very seriously by the general public. Their interest has grown with the global awareness of climate change, but there has been a constant tradition locally of environmental groups being very proactive and engaged with issues concerning Bermuda.
I’m also responsible for planning and that includes planning for development and building work, and those groups spend a lot of time scrutinising planning applications and filing objections, and making representations to ensure that planning shows consideration for the natural environment. They’re often some of the primary objectors to certain types of development, but we engage them because we see them as a part of the process. We are happy to work with them because conservation and community engagement are core tenets of our planning strategy.
A couple of years ago, prior to the COVID-19 period, I had to face a group of young schoolchildren who were in tune with what was happening globally thanks to climate activist Greta Thunberg. In 2021, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute hosted the Island’s inaugural Youth Climate Summit. Out of that summit came the Youth Climate Initiative. So, concern for the environment and the climate crosses age limits and all community groups in Bermuda.
I’m grateful that I have such wide support from the community with the work I do. I have met very few people in the last couple of years who have said: “We need to build more, we need to develop more”. Obviously, there’s an economic balance to that, but most people ask for the protection of our environment.
I should also acknowledge the number of individuals and companies in the community who have participated in the restoration of seagrass and mangroves and a tree-planting initiative.
How engaged with environmental work is the Bermudan public?
What is your interest in the environment outside your day job?
One of my hobbies is beekeeping and from that it’s difficult not to have an appreciation of the impacts that we as humans can have on nature. We don’t eat unless the bees are healthy and we will not survive as the human species without them. I also enjoy gardening and cultivate citrus fruits. It’s part of my environmental heritage because I come from a family of farmers and cultivators. It’s something that I understand and I appreciate.
The fact Bermuda is expensive because it relies so much on imports is something that I can never feel far from personally. My stepfather, my brother and my stepbrother are commercial farmers. One of the things that we are focusing as a department, as a ministry and as a government is advancing food security, and advancing greater opportunities locally to expand agriculture. We have a well-established traditional agricultural industry here, but it’s not big enough to supply all our needs, although the potential is there.
We have just over 700 acres of land zoned for agriculture on Bermuda, but only about 300 acres of it is being used for that purpose. At the same time, we appreciate that green space is at a premium, so it’s not necessarily sustainable or sensible to plough all of those areas of land that are zoned for agriculture.
Around the world, people are focusing more on how to maximise the productivity of the land they’re already using because transforming land that may be green into agricultural land is itself environmental damage to some degree. We’re venturing into modern farming practices, such as GPS mapping, that are more sustainable and bring about greater production in smaller areas.
I’m working with a group of farmers who want to establish a vertical farm operation, and we’re working to get more young people involved with farming and to use land responsibly here in Bermuda.
We want to decrease the amount of importation for the sake of our food security and health, but also from the economics standpoint.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, for the whole world, crystallised the importance of food security and farming practices that promote greater nutrition for citizens to be able to fight disease and sickness. A couple of years ago, we established, although it was controversial, a tax on higher sugar content items that are imported. And we erased the duty on fruits and vegetables.
We can’t convert everyone to growing produce in their backyards, but if you promote just one thing that should be grown here and not imported, it has to be fruits and vegetables.
We can help, with our farming community, with the Department of Health, but the government doesn’t want to tell people what to do, because everyone should educate themselves and each other on good diet, and develop better behaviours and habits on nutrition.
The Cabinet Office has retained the services of PwC to prepare the Bermuda 2030 Report. This report will demonstrate Bermuda’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have been mapped to a series of Bermuda-specific programmes and actions that put the country on the path to sustainability. The cabinet is expected to consider and ratify the PwC report before the summer months.
The 17 SDGs are at the core of our government’s plans. There is a Climate Action Committee, which is under the leadership of my ministry, but it includes Public Works, the Finance Ministry, the Transport Ministry, and other departments of government.
We have a team in the government that’s focusing on embedding those SDGs into every aspect of policy and legislative development, and on how the government itself operates.
We’re going through a public consultation on how Bermuda will ultimately eliminate single-use plastics over the next couple years. That policy paper, unveiled in June last year, includes an extract from Bermuda’s ‘speech from the throne’ of November 2018: “The horrific impact of plastic on the environment is a global issue. In the era of the manifested impact of climate change, Bermuda must consistently act to preserve its oceans.”
Later this year, I will be bringing legislation eliminating some of those plastics from being imported into Bermuda.
As well as what we’re doing in the environmental space, we’re also working towards having a living wage in Bermuda, and we’re taking a very proactive approach to trying to deal with food security by promoting local food production. We have programmes to help our senior citizens and people who are perhaps having a harder time of it, get the financial support they need.
Bermuda does not have an official poverty line, but it could well be between 10 percent and 15 percent. Owing to the high cost of living, there are many people in Bermuda who experience challenges living affordably here. Part of the sustainable development programme is to have a living wage, and to ensure that Bermudans have lasting economic opportunities.
What are Bermuda’s responsibilities in terms of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and how is it meeting them?
How does the government see the contrast between the international business community and the livelihoods of local people?
The international business people working and living in Bermuda support numerous charities and I think they know they have a responsibility to give back to the local community. There is no legal requirement for them to do so, but there is a voluntary effort to give some of their time and resources.
Certainly, I can tell you that during the COVID-19 experience, they helped pay for air transport to get resources here, whether it was equipment to do testing and vaccines, or supporting people by not laying them off.
There were other sectors of the local business community that could not continue because of public health reasons, such as the hospitality, service and retail sectors, and they had to shut down. But the international business community did keep people in employment, which helped keep the economy going. The re/insurance industry was defined under law during the state of national emergency as a critical industry so they were allowed to keep going in ways that others weren’t.
When I was at COP26, I made sure that I said: “Bermuda doesn’t need the money; it’s obviously a wealthy place. What we would like is to have the benefit of the expertise and talent that the UK government already has in the climate space.”
We’re spending a lot of money on environmental protection. Of my ministry’s $18 million budget, about $8 million is dedicated to environmental issues. That speaks for itself.
