Realising the Green Economy through action

AS we ponder Government’s pronouncement of pursuing a Green Economy, it becomes overly important that the public conversation be intensified with a view of bringing clarity and direction to this major policy.  Development in a green economy is measured by using the Human Development Index as a tool with the prime objective of reducing poverty, rather than measuring growth using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is more pre-occupied with balancing of the National Budget.

Recognising the policy is premised on three pillars, which are Sustainable Development, Environment and Labour Policies,as efforts are being made in aiding a practical understanding of each.  It must be understood that the pillars are intertwined and cannot operate independent of each other.

For instance, if we are looking at a programme in forestry development, such has to factor in how trees are going to be felled, the number to be extracted over a period,the impact on surrounding communities, what measures will be put in place to protect workers involved, including the minimum remuneration, the measures to ensure reforestation, and direct benefits the nation that will derive from the project. These considerations are elements needed to guide policy on forestry.

Sustainable development

This pillar attends to using the available resources to develop a nation in a manner that caters for future generations and simultaneously protecting and respecting citizens’ rights, be they workers or those in the community. Pursuing this objective, the nation’s resources need to be properly managed within the parameters of the Guyana Constitution and Laws, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and international and regional charters, supported by time-honoured principles and practices.

In fact, what I am saying here is, you cannot be mining for gold and not remunerating workers highly, not taking care of legal responsibilities such as NIS and Income Tax, being inattentive to protecting the environment in circumstances such as where the water being used is contaminated and affecting adjoining communities.

Guyana is endowed with an abundance of natural resources such as fresh spring and river water, gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, precious metals, and being forested has the opportunity of developing a plan to ensure that for generations to come these areas are sustainably developed.

In the area of gold and diamonds it is necessary for mining to be conducted using modern technology that can optimise our extraction process.  It may also be opportune for plans to be put in place to regulate mining by way of laws and ensuring that gold- bearing lands are not exploited willy-nilly, but with an eye towards benefiting both present and future generations.

Guyana is known as a major producer of gold and the time has come for plans to be developed and put in place towards creating a jewellery industry which would put another group of people to work, and also increase the nation’s return on this valuable product.

Public debates on the exploitation and future of our pristine forests have been raging for years.  Outside of the Forbes Burnham government that sought to develop a national policy and give leadership to an indigenous furniture industry using our forests, no other government has looked in this direction.  Our forests comprise several species of wood and nearly all are exported as raw products. Can’t there be an institution that studies our forest products to determine the use of each variety, how they can be dried, with the expectation of developing a furniture industry that can challenge the products coming from elsewhere?

In agriculture, the nation continues to be driven by the old methods of using chemicals in the production of food when the world has shifted to organic, given proven health benefits including longevity and reduction in some illnesses. There exists “climate-smart agriculture,” which is preparing food products absent of chemicals. Based on the market available, it is prudent for a programme to be developed which mobilises Guyanese throughout in major farms and the use of their backyards. Such a programme requires aggressive mobilisation and marketing and can put another group of citizens to work, and in some cases subsidise the earnings of the employed.

Coconut is today being heralded as a health product and a U.S. multi-billion dollar industry. When the Burnham government emphasised the development and protection of this industry, it was demonised and criminalised by opposing political forces, to the point where Hope Estate was virtually disbanded by subsequent governments. The time has come for the revisiting of projects such as this.

Recently, the government awarded a contract for the supply of fruit juice in its school- feeding programme to a Suriname-based company. It needs to be said in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), a company in any participating member-state has the same right as a local one. That having been said, nothing prevents Guyanese businesses from vying for markets here and in other member-states. The production of fruit juices, absent additives, is healthy and we must take the opportunity to become a major player in this market.  This requires a national programme buttressed by leadership to ensure the increasing of production and improving of harvesting, storage, marketing, and packaging capabilities.

The thrust for a Green Economy is commendable, but we need to move beyond theories and counter-theories. Also, it needs to be recognised that the major challenge posed to enacting this policy is that  those tasked with responsibility for developing a programme and strategy around it are steeped in seeing development through the eyes of using the GDP as the tool for measuring growth.

The Granger/Nagamootoo administration needs to bring together a team that understands and believes in this new policy to advise them in conceptualising and developing a programme with an eye towards short, medium, and long- term development.

Instructively, the emails being leaked on Hillary Clinton reveal her desire to work for the achievement of a Green Economy.

To be continued …..

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