President Ali urges leaders to examine structure of COP 28
WORLD leaders need to re-evaluate their approach to climate change and examine the structure in which upcoming global talks will be held.
This was according to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali who, on Thursday, engaged in discussion at the Atlantic Council, in Washington DC, where he said many issues remain unresolved in relation to leaders addressing climate change.
Guyana will be participating in the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference/ Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC also known as COP 28. The country is expected to host a side event at the major conference.
“The world is faced with a very complex situation now where we have the food crisis, the energy crisis and the climate crisis on us at once…there is a lot of talk on what may be the outcome of COP 28, but there’s some fundamental issues that we should sort out even before getting to COP,” Dr. Ali said.
Those issues, he said, include adaptation, for which leaders have not agreed upon a common position; pledges for climate financing; the need for a structured carbon market, and issues related to loss and damages. His overarching belief is that the structure of COP 28 should be examined.
“You go to COP, the leaders speak upfront and they leave and the technical team is there to do negotiations, and then there is no one to break the deadlock at the end. So, we were arguing that the structure of COP should have changed where the leaders come at the end after the negotiations, to play a more analytical and meaningful role in finding the solutions and not just give the country statement, making more pledges and then head back on the next flight,” the Guyanese Head of State said candidly.
Recently, Guyana was appointed by the Commonwealth secretariat to develop a framework on climate change and forest preservation.
The country will be partnering with the Central African state of Gabon for these efforts. For decades the country has been championing talks of climate change and forestry preservation.
With a rainforest coverage at over 87 per cent forest, Guyana undoubtedly showcases a sustainable model that other nations can emulate.
The country’s forest stores approximately 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon and recently became the first nation to be issued TREES credits— in simpler terms, the country can now earn money from its forest through the sale of carbon credits.
This marked a milestone as it was the first time a country was issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliant carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation — a process known as jurisdictional REDD+.
BALANCE TRANSITION
While Dr. Ali intends to lobby for climate financing, he said he is also hoping to champion a more robust conversation on energy balance.
“We need to reshape the conversation and I’m calling on all global leaders. This conversation is for policymakers and leaders to be at the table. The conversation is driven a lot by NGOs, [non-governmental organisations] and that is good…but the conversation has gone to a position now of where we have lost our balance,” the Head of State said, adding that policies are being made, but actions are lacking.
“We have to agree that oil and gas will play an important role in the transition and in achieving net zero. We cannot block out the oil producers or the gas investors from the conversation because both play an important and key role in the transition,” Dr. Ali said.
If the world is to become net zero within the coming years, the application of technology, research and development, and financing must be a part of the conversation.
The Head of State said: “How do we get that conversation also on the front burner? How much money are these companies willing to put forward to invest in technology, systems, and research and development that will minimise the impact …that conversation is getting lost.”
“We are going to hear about commitments again, [we] are going to hear about pledges but are we going to hear a report about what we really achieved from the pledges?” he questioned.