Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Wednesday rallied global leaders to raise climate ambitions in order to achieve climate goals, warning that the absence of the United States from the table can be extremely difficult for the climate sector.

The United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change last month, prompting fresh concerns about climate action.

Delivering the inaugural address on Wednesday at the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) at the Taj Palace in New Delhi, Mr. Jagdeo said the absence of the USA at the climate action table will have serious consequences, but he urged that actions be taken to ensure sustainability.

“And at this time when we have to raise ambition, it would be very very difficult for us to achieve the climate goals without the US participation, it was having implications for carbon prizes regime which are crucial for the development of the climate sector, it will have implications for multilateral regimes that are crucial for sustainability,” the Vice President noted

Vice President Jagdeo said the absence of the US could spell trouble for the aviation and shipping sectors. However, he said he remains confident that much can be done within the framework and at the national level within individual states.

“So, I think the challenge before this gathering here and over the next couple of days, is to find ways where we can move forward even without the participation of the United State of America at this point in time. I believe that much can be done within the framework or at the national level,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

Mr. Jagdeo spoke of Guyana’s ambitious climate plans, and the the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy which was first launched in 2009.

He said the strategy sought to prove that the country’s forest carbon can achieve climate goals.

But Mr. Jagdeo said while there are positives in the climate sector, there is still the need to convince climate skeptics.

“We believe that we can encourage many countries and organizations to get on board because we have a biodiversity crisis along with a climate crisis and so all of these things can be done at the national level, we will be producing 1.5-2 million barrels of oil per day within the next three years  and we want to prove that you can do that and still have a sustainable strategy within the country,” the Vice President noted.

The Vice President also called for the integration of artificial intelligence in national planning, saying that with the change in technological space, nations, especially in the global south, must seek to quickly adapt to those changes.

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