Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Act, 2022 (No. 15 of 2022).

This Act lays down rules (a) to enable the Government to create incentives and implement initiatives to support the overall global target of greenhouse gas emissions reduction consistent with its Nationally Determined Contributions; (b) to ensure compliance by The Bahamas of its obligations under the Paris Agreement, taking into consideration the common but differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities and flexibility provisions acknowledged under the UNFCCC for small island developing states to address climate change; and (c) to enable the establishment of a market in The Bahamas to trade in carbon credits. This Act shall apply to carbon credits in respect of anything done in, on, above or below the land and airspace of The Bahamas, including its internal waters, territorial waters and exclusive economic zone; the seabed and subsoil underlying these waters; its continental, coastal and marine ecosystems and related water; and its forests, and such carbon credits are deemed for the purposes of this Act to be the property of The Bahamas.
This Act sets out provisions on the ministerial responsibilities for the general supervision, management, and financial administration of this Act and for reporting to the UNFCCC under this Act; the appointment of a management company to perform any of the functions specified in section 7 in accordance with internationally recognized standards or as guided by the principles of the Paris Agreement, and the budgeting of funds generated by that management company; the appointment of advisory council by the Prime Minister and its functions; the fundamental principles governing trade in carbon markets, such as measurability, additionality, and reporting and registration of emission reductions; the verification and validation of each project on the trade of carbon offsets and its assessment in terms of any environmental, economic or social impact; the obligations of The Bahamas under the Paris Agreement, including communication and maintenance of successive nationally determined contributions, domestic mitigation measures, adaptation plan and other obligations; the creation and implementation of emission reduction initiatives and incentives to comply with Paris Agreement; the participation in carbon market as a result of a bilateral or multilateral trading agreement or trading with a private entity or in a voluntary carbon market; and the establishment and functions of the National Emissions Registry. The Advisory Council is responsible for providing transparent and accountable reporting on the matter of carbon sales and emission status, consulting with local and international experts on the measurement, reporting and verification of carbon assets, and tracking the developments in climate change with respect to emission reduction and carbon trading.