SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt – Nov. 10, 2022 — The Government of The Bahamas and Partanna Bahamas today at the COP27 Summit collaborated to host a group of innovators, policy experts, and marine specialists who are confident that the future of combatting climate change lies within our oceans at an event brought together climate decision-makers “from across the region to discuss how we can drive blue innovation in the Caribbean,” Prime Minister Philip E. Davis noted in a post on Facebook.
“The world is facing its biggest climate crisis yet. But, with 71% of our planet made up of water, does our solution come from the depths of our oceans, seas, and lakes?” the Prime Minister said in the narrative that accompanied a collection of photos taken at the event.
Earlier this week at a press conference held in Egypt, the Prime Minister announced that the government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Partanna Bahamas to build up to 1,000 green homes over the next three years.
The co-founders of Partanna Bahamas are former Bahamian professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player Rick Fox, who is a Sports Ambassador-at-large for The Bahamas, and Sam Marshall. Both were present at today’s event.
An article written by Paige McCartney and published in The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday, November 8, reported that with “a promise to provide 100 jobs for Bahamians in the green development space, Partanna Bahamas – which has invested $50 million so far to establish a manufacturing plant – intends to design, develop, finance and construct 30 affordable homes for the government of The Bahamas during an initial pilot phase.”
“Under the MOU, Partanna must provide proof of verification for the carbon credit in relation to the technology used in the construction of the homes. Provided the verification process is successful, over the following three years, the government has committed that Partanna will increase that number to build 1,000 affordable, sustainable homes,” Prime Minister Philip Davis said during a press conference to announce the partnership in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The Prime Minister was quoted as saying: “This arrangement satisfies two key priorities of the government of The Bahamas: firstly, to provide affordable, sustainable housing in The Bahamas; and secondly, to meet the carbon priorities of the country. The government also wishes to create a new, carbon-negative building industry, which will generate new job opportunities and training for Bahamians. I am personally pleased that Mr. Rick Fox, a Bahamian, accepted my invitation to bring his industry home to The Bahamas.”
According to Partanna, its homes would be constructed with natural and recycled ingredients, including steel slag, a by-product of steel manufacturing; and brine from desalination forming a dense material which the company says removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a much faster rate than normal building materials.
