COLOMBIA’s former president, Ivan Duque Marquez, is among regional leaders who have highlighted Guyana’s visionary approach to Low Carbon Development as outlined in the country’s LCDS 2030.

In a feature address that President Duque gave earlier this year at Guyana’s second International Energy Conference and Expo, which was held at the Marriott Hotel, he commended the strategy’s excellent vision, forward thinking approach, and coherence.

The former president applauded President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali for expanding the meticulously crafted strategy, which was initiated by former president and current Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and noted that the strategy is in line with the realities of a committed country towards advancing environmental sustainability and energy security.

He also took the opportunity and highlighted the potential benefits of Guyana’s oil resources.

The former Head of State pointed out that Guyana has a wide range of economic opportunities in the natural resources industry as a whole, which may be used to significantly boost the nation’s development.

According to him, “Guyana has the possibility today to utilise the richness of the underground to close the social divide and eradicate poverty all around. Guyana has the condition of being a carbon-neutral or even a carbon-negative country. It has one of the lowest deforestation levels in the world. But that richness has to be used intelligently.”

President Duque Márquez also added: “There has to be a plan for an economic transition that allows this country to become a very important player in food security, energy security, science and technology in the Caribbean, and the possibility of being a hub for entrepreneurship”. He explained that the development of this kind requires strong collaboration between the private sector and the government in the relevant industries.

The former president emphasised his enthusiasm for the developments that would occur in Guyana’s oil and gas sector as well as the growth that would result from utilising the associated revenues. Additionally, he praised the government’s approach to investigating options for accelerating Guyana’s growth up to this point.

“In times where the world is seeing so much polarisation about the way we manage energy, today we can say that in the case of Guyana, there is no yin-yang, there is no contradiction. The country is doing what it has to do in terms of exploring resources that are needed to reduce poverty and generate social and economic transformation while being at the same time being a conservation superpower,” President Duque expressed.

In addition to discussing the growth potential for Guyana and its partners, the conference offers senior government officials, business executives, and other stakeholders the chance to address important concerns in the expanding energy sector.

The former president, Iván Duque Márquez, was the first speaker at the conference and expo, which took place from February 14 to 17.

(This is part of a weekly series on LCDS.) The author can be contacted at cparkinson0206@gmail.com).