Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is of the view that many global leaders are opting out of the upcoming climate change conference, COP27, scheduled to be held in Egypt next week, because they have failed to make good on their commitments made during the 2021 UN Conference on Climate Change in Glasgow.
During COP26, global leaders agreed to accelerate the phasing-out of coal power and fossil fuel subsidies and cut carbon emissions.
In fact, the participating countries, agreed in the Glasgow Climate Pact to amend their plans in the 12 months following COP26 if they were not 1.5°C-aligned but according to Dr Jagdeo, many have fell short of the targets.
“In fact, we have had a downright reversal to the detriment of the climate and the targets set by many of these countries. Countries that led the fight to ban coal as the dirtiest of fossil fuels, today have restarted coal fire power plants in their countries. We have seen countries saying that there should be no further investment in Oil and Gas Sector, that the assets would be stranded and is inconsistent with a net zero scenario, and those countries now are urging the oil producers to produce even more,” the Vice President said.
During the Thursday press conference, Mr. Jagdeo said countries such as the United States, have threatened oil producers, that have since taken a decision to cut production, as he alluded to the case of Saudi Arabia, who together with its OPEC allies, has agreed to cut its supply to the tune of 2 million barrels per day, starting this month.
He said many of the commitments made under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement have not been acted upon with countries, such as those in Africa that are feeling the dire effects of climate change, not receiving must needed financial assistance.
The Vice President said developed countries must be held accountable for their non-action.
“So, the developed world cannot keep lecturing the developing world about sustainability and meeting the targets, and then make pledges and not fulfil them. So clearly, this COP has to be about accountability on the part of the developed world,” the Vice President said.
Pointing to the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks, Mr. Jagdeo said the $100 billion a year commitment made by developed countries to assist underdeveloped countries in addressing climate change has not materialized.
He said instead of moving closer to the set targets, the COP participants, particularly the developed countries, are moving further away.
“There is simply not enough money spent on renewable energy globally, although it has increased significantly, it is not enough to displace the use of fossil fuel, and the demand is growing for energy, and if the renewable supply is not there, then that demand would be met by increase in fossil fuel production, and that is the reality of the current world,” he reasoned.
Originally slated to attend, the Vice President said due to his pack schedule, he will not be in Egypt, however, Guyana will be represented by the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.
He said Guyana will play an active role in the negotiations.
“Our position there will be largely in solidarity with the position of CARICOM, and also will focus on advancing our own national interest when CARICOM and those issues might not have as much relevance to CARICOM as they do to Guyana, Suriname and Belize, namely on the Forestry Sector,” he explained.
The Vice President said outside of the pledge that was made to eliminate deforestation by 2030, which was signed onto in 2021, there needs to be greater incentives for the forest countries like Guyana. He said Guyana is among countries that are providing a major global good, by not just cutting deforestation rates but also extracting large among of carbon from the atmosphere
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