Guyana’s future will be shaped by oil; wishful thinking that the UN has either interest or clout to change

Oct 01, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

I write to respond to Mr. Jamil Changlee’s letter published recently arguing for Guyana to sit down with the U.N. Security Council to “discuss payments to leave our oil in the ground.” Such musings are, at best wishful thinking and furtherance of a narrative that will leave us behind. The very body to which Mr. Changlee would have us subsume our sovereign right to produce, has been unable to agree with all manner of international issues, including a united front on climate change.
The five permanent members of that body, namely: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are all voracious consumers of energy and producers themselves. Russia’s Gazprom, China’s CNPC and CNOOC, France’s Total, BP in the U.K. and ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips in the U.S. are among the world’s largest energy producers. These companies exist for the sole purpose of selling a commodity that is fundamental to the global economy; oil. In what world would the UN Security Council commit to underwriting the costs of payments for an avoidance scheme for Guyana, when they are busy producing at levels that eclipse Guyana’s oil production many times over? I am obliged to think that Mr. Changlee’s message is aimed at positing other avenues to fund Guyana’s resilience in the face of a warming world, but as the saying goes, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” No one will save Guyana, and any overtures to that end are likely to result in a bureaucratic malaise that will see sea-levels rise and flooding reach our shores long before any help from the U.N. Security Council or any other body.
Guyana’s good fortune puts it in proximity to some of the most powerful nations of the world. The warm reception at this week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York and the reported standing room only audiences for Guyana’s appearance at the Oil and Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, should indicate that Guyana has emerged on the world stage. With the analysts predicting we could see another rise to $100 barrel of oil by early next year, we are in a much-advantaged position to reap real and tangible rewards. By this time next year, the Natural Resources Fund could reach One billion U.S. dollars, money that belongs to the people of Guyana without strings or preconditions.
Guyana did not emit the gigatons of greenhouse gases that will increase global temperatures. We were a carbon sink for much of our existence, trapping more carbon in our forests than we emitted. Norway recognised this fact, and its attempt to compensate for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation was a meaningful investment, but a tiny one in comparison to oil. Norway, incidentally, generates much of its own wealth through offshore oil revenues, while still maintaining a well-deserved halo of sustainable innovation and a high development level. Our best chance for improving lives here in Guyana is to do the same.

Yours faithfully,
Donald Singh

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