While highlighting the dangers of climate change and the risk to the natural environment, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday renewed his call for developed nations to make good on their pledges toward environmental preservation.
The President made the call while delivering remarks following the World Environment Day walk organised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Ali told the gathering at National Park that the issue of climate change, mitigation and adaptation is one that affects the entire world and for the “One Planet” dream to be realised, every nation, particularly the developed nations, should step up and play their part. He added that the climate change conversation cannot happen in isolation when more than half of the world lives below the poverty line or does not have access to basic necessities such as clean drinking water.
“…the fact is we cannot address climate issues unless we address the fundamental needs and wants of human beings. We cannot even speak about climate change if we have people who are hungry, people who don’t have access to water, people who don’t have access to wages and earnings. Then they have no other alternative but to seek out every possible way to survive.
“According to UNICEF, one in three persons globally does not have access to safe drinking water. And why don’t they have access? It is because we don’t have the revenues and the resources in the developing world to give access to safe drinking water. One in every three persons; three billion people lack basic hand washing facilities, the same hand washing facility that was so essential in the fight against COVID. Three billion people lack basic access to this fundamental public health imperative,” the President highlighted.
He added that some 4.2 billion people do not have access to safe sanitisation which is required to battle the COVID pandemic. He pointed out that about 20 per cent of the global population cannot access adequate housing and more than one billion live in slums. Ali further stated that more than half of the world’s population survives on less than US$5 per day.
President Ali outlined the economic plight of the world to drive home his point that the climate change conversation cannot happen in isolation, but rather it must take into account every factor critical to the conditions of living.
“…this is the reality of the world we live in today. That is why we have been consistently calling on the developed world to stay true to the pledges they made. We are far away from the minimal $100 billion pledge that the developed world would have made to fight climate change, adaptation and mitigation measures. If you look at adaptation alone, just for adaptation measures in the developing economies, it will cost between $140 billion to $300 billion annually if we are to successfully meet adaptation costs alone by 2030,” Ali added.
The Head of State said that while they are aware of the rapidly rising sea levels and changes in climatic conditions, smaller nations like Guyana must take a balanced approach. He explained that the country must explore every possible revenue-generating activity to ensure that the resources necessary for adaptation and mitigation are readily available.
“We cannot live in a false reality. We have to live in the reality of the global environment in which each of us is operating. Whether you are an environmentalist, a scientist, an economist, or a social activist, you cannot live in silos. We have to live within the construct of the global reality and that is why we are pursuing a growth and a development path that is carved on a Low Carbon Development Strategy, where we are seeking to strike the balance; where we are seeking to ensure that sustainability is built on economic viability; sustainability is built on environmental sustainability; sustainability is built on reducing inequality and disparity and bringing balanced growth and equitable growth to the people of One Guyana,” the President told the gathering.
Ali, throughout his address, referenced the “One World” initiative crafted by global leaders but used the same messaging to highlight the discriminatory treatment meted out to smaller developing states. He said that the “One World” dream cannot be achieved if there are divisions in the way issues are handled and addressed. He pointed out that “One World” is not a world in which the poor and developing countries must stand at the back of the line for vaccines in a pandemic.
“We have to stop skirting around issues globally, and we have to deal with things in a realistic way, in a fair way… And it all comes back to climate, climate change, adaptation, and mitigation. Because if you look at some countries that have high deforestation rates, it has high deforestation rates because people were going after economic opportunities, livelihood opportunities, they were going after opportunities to keep food on the table for their children and their community. Whilst it is unsustainable, we cannot escape this reality,” he reminded.
The President said that continuous calls can be made to move to sustainable forms of energy generation but the capital costs are high and the monopoly is held by the very nations that exploited oil and gas to develop themselves.
President Ali went on to outline that by the end of the 21st century, the sea level is expected to rise between 10 to 21 1/2 inches and questioned who is going to foot the bill of protecting Guyana’s 425 kilometres of coastline.
“Who is going to pay for it? Where is the money going to come from to protect this more than 425 kilometres of coastline that we have to protect to save lives, to save crops, to ensure we are food secure, to save livelihoods? It is us; it is Guyana; we will have to find more than $1 billion in adaptation just to meet this one singular need. Where will the revenue come from?” he further questioned.
He said that the money would have to come from the responsible exploitation of resources in the productive sector.
“…so far, what you’re seeing in the world is an unwillingness to pay the true costs of the damage that was created. Thirty-five per cent of this coastline is what is considered hard dam or earthen dam; 35 per cent, we still have to address that. I asked all the specialists who speak every day to tell us, how do we address this, if we do not address our revenue needs and don’t pursue aggressively the forms of revenue that must come,” he added.
According to the Head of State, while the demands of the world increase, Guyana continues to play its part in environmental preservation with the retention of close to 90 per cent of its forests but questioned the economic benefits of such. He said that there needs to be full recommitment to adjust the inequalities that exist globally if the desire is to truly fight climate change.
The President pointed out that Guyana’s forest stores about 19.5 gigatons of carbon so the Government is entitled to equitable development – an indirect inference to critics of the rapid expansion of the oil and gas sector. He explained that global inequity is rapidly expanding and the developing nations are being left behind but his Government would ensure that Guyana advances in a responsible manner.
He also referenced the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) call for the price of carbon to increase from US$3-6 per tonne to US$75. Given all of the world’s statistics and Guyana’s good environmental standing, President Ali said that it does not mean that Guyanese should be irresponsible in their treatment of the environment.
