THE commitment to a balanced developmental approach was reiterated this week by the PPP/C government, underscoring the recognition of Guyana’s situational nuance as both an oil-and-gas producer and a leader on the climate-change front.
This recognition is encapsulated in the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 (LCDS 2030). The LCDS 2030 sets how – in line with the 2009 vision — Guyana will advance its payment for the forest climate services model and invest new revenues in the low-carbon economy, while also expanding the vision to include Guyana’s other globally significant ecosystem services.
Guided by the comprehensive LCDS 2030, Guyana’s objectives are to create new incentives for a low-carbon economy; protect against climate change and biodiversity loss; stimulate future growth through clean energy and low-carbon development, and align the nation with global climate and biodiversity goals.
Guyana has more than 18 million hectares of forests, storing an estimated 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Cognisant of the benefits of forest resources, Guyana and other developing countries have called for compensation for their role in protecting the earth from greenhouse gases emitted mainly by large, industrial countries.
Some have argued that the government is pursuing this goal while also rapidly developing its oil-and-gas sector. But authorities have already committed to maximising the benefits to be accrued from the oil-and-gas industry, whilst advocating for global policies to create a level playing field that aligns the global marketplace for oil and gas, with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Simply put, Guyana’s Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo has affirmed that Guyana will develop its oil-and-gas sector in a manner that is environmentally safe and not remain locked into a cycle of “low emission and low income” – a cycle that ignores the fact that Guyana is a net carbon sink, among other facts.
Globally, the situational nuances of developing countries is not given the attention they warrant. Instead, hard-line positions are taken in an effort to supposedly advance the net-zero agenda, while ignoring that funding the transition to net zero is one that is not fully supported by the global North.
One only has to look at the failure to meet the US$100 billion pledge or the recent agreement coming out of COP27 that addresses as Loss and Damage Fund, the functionality of which has still not been defined.
The reality is that the lack of resources, to fund climate-change adaptation and mitigation, necessitates a balanced approach to development like the one Guyana has adopted – a developmental approach that is grounded in a national plan that addresses the nuances of the Guyana situation by pursuing the exploitation of our nation’s resources to fund the developmental imperatives of the country, such as world-class education and health care, while also funding the transition to a net-zero economy.
Guyana’s commitment to the environment has been evidenced by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), on December 1, 2022, issuance of the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana. And our country’s commitment to our people is evidenced by the steps being taken to address the social needs of Guyanese via the exploitation of our national resources in a responsible manner.
In the absence of global action, nationally defined plans by developing countries are increasingly becoming the more attractive model to move forward as a means of balancing the global push to net zero and the right of Guyanese to development.
