Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday reiterated his government’s pledge to carry out oil production in a net zero carbon world.
Addressing the official launch of the International Energy Conference and Expo, at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown, Dr. Jagdeo said Guyana will be upholding that important obligation.
“Let me be very clear about our position. We support net zero by 2050. In fact, at this point in time, because our forest is such a huge carbon sink, we are already at net zero. In fact, we are positive,” the Vice President stated.
Net Zero by 2050, is a report launched by the International Energy Agency, that outlines a scenario which the world could achieve the global climate target, in a manner that prevents the world from overheating.
Information from the United Nations (UN) shows that over 130 countries have now set or are considering a target of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050.
Dr. Jagdeo explained that Guyana’s net carbon sink effect is so significant, that it equates to the combined emissions of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
“And even with us producing one million barrels of oil per day with all the emissions using current technology, we will still be net zero because of the nature of our forest and the carbon sink, which our President spoke about; 19 gigaton storage on an annual emission,” he explained.
“… because we believe climate change is real and the faster you get to a decarbonised world, the better for the entire planet, then we can avoid catastrophic changes to the climate. We support carbon price and a strong global carbon price. We have advocated for this for many years and we support it,” he added.
Further, Dr. Jagdeo said while the nation hopes to achieve such a scenario by 2050, it will still need fossil fuel.
The highly anticipated conference saw several other high profile speakers making contributions including His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali; President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; Surinamese President, Chandrikapersad Santokhi and Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley.
Other speakers include ExxonMobil’s Chairman, Darren Woods and Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Dr. Jennifer Wilcox, among others.
