-strategy broadens focus to include blue economy, climate adaptation
GUYANA’S Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 represents a significant evolution of the country’s development framework, expanding beyond its original focus on forest conservation to encompass new sectors and a more integrated approach to sustainable development.
This was according to Director of Climate and REDD+ at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Pradeepa Bholanath, who, during a recent appearance on the ‘Starting Point Podcast,’ outlined how the updated strategy builds on the foundation laid by the original LCDS launched in 2009.
According to Bholanath, the first phase of the LCDS focused heavily on establishing the fundamentals of forest climate services and building the institutional capacity needed to support climate action initiatives.
“We had always looked at the 2009 LCDS as a starting point of what will be a continuous cycle of low-carbon development,” she explained.
She noted that between 2010 and 2020, Guyana was able to strengthen institutions and test practical climate initiatives, generating valuable lessons that informed the development of LCDS 2030.
The updated strategy, introduced in 2021, broadens the country’s low-carbon development agenda by incorporating a range of new and emerging sectors.
Among the most notable additions is a dedicated focus on the blue economy and ocean economy, which Bholanath said positions Guyana’s oil and gas sector within the country’s low-carbon development framework.
“For the first time, we have a blue economy and ocean economy section within the LCDS that positions how the oil and gas sector really sits central to the focus of low-carbon development in Guyana and not counter to our low-carbon development priorities and imperatives,” she said.
The strategy also places greater emphasis on social inclusion, expanding opportunities for women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities to participate in and benefit from low-carbon development initiatives.
Additionally, climate adaptation has emerged as a key pillar of the updated framework, reflecting the growing need for countries to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change.
Against this backdrop, she described LCDS 2030 as a more comprehensive implementation framework that seeks to integrate all sectors of society while accommodating new development opportunities.
“These sectors were built out in a way to create, to my mind, a more integrated implementation framework for low-carbon development, one that includes not just all spheres of society, but new and emerging sectors as well,” she stated.
The climate official said the strategy remains a work in progress and suggested that future iterations could further expand Guyana’s low-carbon agenda as new opportunities emerge.
“If we think what will be LCDS phase three, I could already think of ways in which we could expand in the current phase,” Bholanath said, adding that there have already been “so many areas of achievement” under the strategy.
She expressed optimism about the years ahead as Guyana continues implementation of LCDS 2030 and pursues its sustainable development objectives through to the end of the decade.
