Repositioning to become a global powerhouse
President Dr. Irfaan Ali
President Dr. Irfaan Ali

–Guyana set for COP26 with achievable and realistic targets, says President Ali

WHEN the United Nations’ Climate Conference, COP26 gets underway on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, Guyana will be well-armed with a number of realistic and achievable targets, geared at repositioning the country to become a global powerhouse and net carbon sink.

“We have to communicate targets that are achievable and realistic, and that is what we’ll be doing. And these targets and ambitions will be in keeping with our energy strategy and programming,” President Dr. Irfaan Ali told a virtual news conference on Friday.

As part of his extensive bilateral engagements over the past few months, President Ali has been advocating for COP26 participants, particularly countries most vulnerable to climate change, to speak at the high-level forum with one voice. Already, Dr. Ali said that Guyana has received positive commitments from a number of countries and global organisations that will be raising similar issues at COP26. “… and that is why these bilateral engagements were so important,” Dr. Ali posited.

He said too that Guyana, already a net carbon sink, will address issues of accessibility to financing for mitigation and adaptation for Small Island Developing States, and will pursue initiatives to strengthen and expand the market for the sale of carbon credits. “…and we intend to renew our call for the implementation of the commitment made to the fulfilment of the 100 billion dollars pledge,” Dr. Ali noted.

He said that Guyana’s representation at COP26 will align perfectly with the national Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which has since been revised to cater to the burgeoning oil and gas sector, and encompasses the drive for renewable energy.

“It is very important that we outline a realistic and achievable ambition target. We cannot go and criticise countries that are not sticking to the commitment and then we make targets that cannot be achieved,” President Ali noted.

Previously, under the David Granger-led government, Guyana appeared before the United Nations boldly pledging to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025. However, the proposal was not accompanied by any plausible project or implementation strategy.

As a result, when Guyana appears at COP26, the Ali-led Government will be forced to admit to the impossibility of the pledge made by the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government.

Ahead of the conference which starts on Sunday, Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo spearheaded a national stakeholder consultation aimed at updating Guyana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which basically outlines the country’s response to climate change, and how it intends to achieve the targets set out in the Paris Agreement, as adopted by 196 countries during COP21, hosted in Paris in December 2015.

The updated NDCs, according to Dr. Jagdeo, is an indication that Guyana will be “lowering its ambitions” at a time when most countries are aiming to, realistically, do better.

LACKED CAPACITY
The Vice-President said that even though the previous pledge was one that “sounded good,” it lacked capacity and failed to include any sensible project which could achieve the brazenly touted results.

It was reminded that under the LCDS, conceptualised by then President Jagdeo in 2009, Guyana proposed a series of achievable initiatives which could have resulted in a number of renewable projects being in operation today. However, projects such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower project, which was set to produce some 165 megawatts of power, were tanked.

With President Ali now at the helm, the project is back on the table as part of a comprehensive energy mix which seeks to utilise hydro, solar and wind as alternative and renewable forms of energy.

“[For] five years we had no investment, no structured approach; now we have a programmable, renewable energy platform and portfolio that we are pushing and addressing, so that is what makes it realistic and achievable,” the President asserted.

He noted that at COP26, Guyana will maintain its position as a leader in the fight against climate change, even as it looks to capitalise on a thriving petroleum sector as a means of boosting critical non-oil sectors such as agriculture and health, in an effort to improve the lives of all Guyanese.

More specifically, Dr. Ali said that Guyana’s participation at the forum will focus on four thematic areas, such as the country’s enhanced commitments on forests and land use, including reducing deforestation and accelerating forest restoration; scaling finance and investments, including private sector finance; sharing action towards sustainable production and consumption; and support for local people and other stakeholders.

Further, President Ai said that Guyana plans to endorse the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use which speaks to strengthening efforts for forest and ecosystems conservation and accelerated restoration; promote the development of policies and strategies that foster sustainable development, reduce vulnerability, build resilience and enhance resilient rural livelihoods.

This also includes promoting greater investments in food security, creating suitable technology and infrastructure for hinterland communities, and redesigning agricultural policies and programmes which would drive investments and facilitate expansion of critical industries.

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