ALL signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are obligated to submit reports that detail their progress in addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation to the Convention.

Once the Paris Agreement took effect in 2015, countries were requested to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), detailing their strategies for reaching the agreement’s net zero objectives by reducing emissions and enhancing their resilience to climate change. CARICOM nations have complied with the Convention by submitting their NDCs to the UNFCCC.

Notably, Guyana started a national process in 2009 that resulted in the creation of a Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which has since been revised in 2021, following the coming into effect of the Paris Agreement. The information now needed from countries in their NDCs is included in the LCDS, which provides national strategies to put the nation on a low-carbon and climate-resilient development trajectory. Guyana also started working on the creation of an implementation plan for the adaptation programme created under the LCDS, the Climate Resilience Strategy and Action Plan (CRSAP).

The LCDS and the CRSAP were available before 2015, when the Paris Agreement came into effect. Once again, through a national consultative process, the LCDS was expanded, and implementation recommenced under the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, and the updated LCDS-2030 was approved presents the official road map for Guyana’s response to mitigating and adapting to climate change.

At a time of Guyana’s changing economic condition, the government has moved steadfastly in the implementation of LCDS 2030, including in the energy sector, and has seen rapid expansion of clean and renewable energy at the national and community levels.

Along with reducing the industry’s carbon footprint, this change would also lower Guyana’s economy’s energy intensity, allowing for increased competitiveness in the country’s productive sector (manufacturing and services).

According to projections, the facility will give Guyana the financial space needs to reduce emissions significantly and slash power costs by approximately 50 percent.

In order to fund the development of a 300 MW natural gas-to-energy complex, which will take the place of the current heavy-fuel oil-reliant local power generation facilities, Guyana has successfully arranged a loan from the EXIM Bank of the USA.

It is anticipated that after the natural gas facility is finished, Guyana will have access to a more consistent and affordable energy source. This will be supplemented by the use of the nation’s hydropower potential, which is projected to increase energy production by 150 MW by 2040 and by 370 MW by 2035.

Improving the national grid to receive inputs from upcoming renewable energy sources (hydro, wind, and solar) is also part of the energy sector transition, which will be possible through the installation of solar farms and, when necessary, the development of hydropower sources. Efforts are already being made to offer energy to hinterland villages through the provision of stand-alone renewable energy systems.

Following a government delegation from Guyana to India, Dual Wood Products Inc. (DWP) and Energy Management Consultants (EMC) signed a contract for a wood waste-to-energy facility with The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) in India. This is beginning in the right direction, and it needs to be expanded to utilise the diverse variety of waste produced nearby. A significant amount of agricultural waste could be produced as a result of the agriculture sector’s predicted growth, serving as feedstock for the right waste-to-energy systems.

Since many villages in Guyana are located along riverbanks, LCDS 2030 aims to expand electricity access across the country’s transportation network, including river transit. Opportunities for public-private collaborations exist in both situations.

The country places a lot of emphasis on maximizing its hydroelectricity potential, and is paying close attention to ensuring that local hydrological cycle that is impacted by climate change, is taken into account.

Guyana is rapidly advancing the foundation for the provision of stable and reasonably priced energy supply, which would in turn encourage investment and growth of businesses. As an example, the local food processing industry would be better able to capitalise on the opportunities available as a result of the region’s push for food security. The focus would be on shifting from being a supplier of raw materials to an exporter of products with value-added components.

There are also opportunities to explore including in the area of Guyana’s deposits of silica for industrial use in the production of glass containers, crystal-quality glass, and pure silica for the production of photovoltaic cells for the solar energy sector—combined with our clays, kaolin, and feldspar for the manufacture of ceramics.

All Guyanese will benefit from the LCDS results, which has laid out the pathway to accessible and consistent supply of energy whilst at the same time, protecting the environment from the effects of climate change. The LCDS presents a coordinated strategy for its execution. To best accomplish this, a concerted effort has been made to engender a sense of national ownership of the LCDS through a vigorous program of public outreach and education, as well as by involving all interested parties in an insightful discussion.

Inclusion, national consultation with key stakeholder groups, information access, and effective engagement with communities all across Guyana, are outlined in the strategy.

Guyana is rapidly advancing efforts to diversify its economy and protect itself from the risks associated with the “resource curse” as a result of the developments in the energy industry. At the same time, the government is immediately addressing its exposure and vulnerability to current and future climate hazards; efforts to do so are within the LCDS’s climate-resilient framework.