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– Guyanese leaders tell G77 summit
Though it is expected that many countries must now divert a significant amount of time and finances to mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s health crisis should not distract from its climate crisis, as both of these pose a global threat to the future.
This was the position put forward by representatives of the Government of Guyana at the flagship virtual Ministerial Level Meeting on the occasion of Guyana’s Chair of the Group of 77 and China. It was fashioned under the theme: ‘Maintaining a Low Carbon Development Path towards the 2030 Agenda in the Era of COVID- 19’.
Delivering the opening address, President Irfaan Ali said that while the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation and postponement of numerous high-level climate-focused talks and events, tackling the virus should not cause countries to ignore the need to protect the environment.
He told the attendees that Guyana supports the call for placing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the center of the pandemic even as Guyana seeks to do its part through its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) aimed at transforming the economy to deliver greater socio-economic benefits to citizens.
“I make the call here today for an integrated response to the threat posed by the pandemic, the climate crisis, and the adverse effects of these on the sustainable development goals. As I have pointed out, the pandemic is diverting attention and resources from climate action and the SDGs, even as climate change is undermining the SDGs. It is necessary therefore for the response to the pandemic and the climate crisis be placed at the center of advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
Also addressing the Group of 77 and China was Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo who said that Guyana’s intention is not to prove the existence of climate change or to debate its impact but to examine what is needed to ensure that countries get on track towards achieving climate-related goals.
“We’re extremely worried that now, because of COVID-19, because of its widespread impact…millions of people have gone into absolute poverty, hundreds of millions are now facing starvation…the fear is that because of the impact on the economy that this will be used as an excuse to weaken ambition and weaken financing,” he said, noting that the same occurred about a decade ago during the global financial crisis.
Jagdeo said that the main aim of the Ministerial Level Meeting was to emphasize the point that focus must be placed on both the environment and the pandemic as both challenge the existence of the 134 countries of the G77 and China. The Vice President said that while each country may have its own priority, there must be a consensus on a single outcome that all Members can work towards to meet the Agenda 2030.
He said that there are tough questions that countries need to consider such as in Guyana’s case, a country that has plans for decarbonizing their entire economy and adapting to climate change but has recently become an oil-producing nation. The Vice President said that Guyana’s position is that being an oil-producing nation should not prevent the country from meeting its climate goals.
“By 2025 we’ll be producing half a million barrels per day. Does this change our position now on climate change, carbon pricing, or the removal of subsidies from fuel? No. The answer is no, although we would be an exporter of oil…we have to find a livable outcome,” he said. Jagdeo also called for a “speeding up” of injecting resources into countries, especially developing countries.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd established that the G77 and China have been drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but he put forward that lessons which point to the low carbon development path should be fully documented, analyzed, embraced and implemented.
“COVID-19, even as it threatens it also teaches, the link between health and sustainability has been sharply underlined and we are learning by force of necessity that much more can be delivered today with a smaller carbon footprint,” he said.
“It is Guyana’s hope as Chair in this seminal year, 2020, that the G77 and China will be able to contribute in thinking and action to a more healthy and sustainable world, keeping the existential threat posed by climate change at the centre of global attention. It is a threat that leaves no room for delayed actions or backsliding on commitments.”
Guyana currently serves as the 2020 chair of the Group of 77 and China. Established on June 15, 1964, by 77 developing countries signatories, the Group has since grown to become the largest inter-governmental organization and presently serves as a platform for 134 Member States and China to articulate and promote collective economic interests and enhance joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues in the United Nations system.
