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US intended Pull-out from Paris Agreement…Jagdeo calls on Regional leaders to protect interests
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo believes that leaders of Caribbean States need to step up their game and represent the interests of the region with the United States of America government, following the US’ intended
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo
pull-out from the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Last Thursday, Trump announced his intention to have the USA withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Accord. During a press conference on Friday, Jagdeo said that Trump had promised to take this step during his presidential campaign.
He said that Caribbean leaders were aware of this and did nothing after the American would have won the presidency to discuss a way forward.
The Paris Agreement is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that addresses greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation, adaptation and finance beginning in 2020.
Jagdeo said that he believes that Governments have an active role to play in determining the policy environment of a country.
He recalled the energy that his administration had put into lobbying with the US administration when the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) came up for renewal.
He said that it was feared that the Act would not be renewed. “We were fearful that the mood in Washington would not allow for the renewal of that Act and we did a lot of work in Washington to sensitise policymakers about the impact of CBERA and the preferences on the lives of the people of our region and we managed to get that extended.”
Jagdeo said that if such actions could have been taken on such a small issue in financial terms, then the leaders in the region should have made appropriate representation this time around when compared to the cost of environment damage to the region.
He said that statistics show that the Caribbean has some of the most vulnerable economies to climate change in the world. “Of 14 of the most vulnerable economies in the world, they said 10 are in the Caribbean because of the systemic impact of single events on the region.
“So if we could have spent so much time in the past just to maintain preferences with the US administration so that they understood our views on the matter and how it impacted why could we not spend more time talking to the Trump administration about our nuance in the region?
“If you listen to president Trump the entire explanation of the withdrawal from the Paris Club Agreement has to do with economics, not the science of climate change but economics.”
Jagdeo explained that international trade in the Caribbean to the US is statistically insignificant and therefore does not pose a trade threat. However, a single hurricane or natural disaster can wipe out the Gross Domestic Product of a Caribbean state.
The Opposition Leader said that Caribbean leaders, including Guyana’s President David Granger, have done very little if anything at all about the situation.
“We have had over six months since the elections in the United States of America and I am yet to see any regional effort to point out to the new administration in the United States of America about how large a few issues loom in our lives, particularly matters concerning the environment and trade.”
The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 following negotiations between 195 countries. Each member state determines its own contribution in order to mitigate global warming. Trump had described the agreement on Thursday to be a draconian international deal and that it imposes unfair environmental standards on American businesses and workers.
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