What does the Third World want from climate change governance?

Jun 05, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – In the early aftermath of independence, Third World countries (Global South if you prefer) agitated for a New International Economic Order. Caribbean countries, including Guyana, played an important role in that effort. The call for the NIEO was aimed at getting the most powerful states in the world to democratize international institutions and their own conduct.

Leaders like Nehru, Sukarno, Nkrumah, and others were particularly interested in reforming the structures and principles governing multilateral institutions, among them, the IBRD, IMF and the GATT. The NIEO also implied the restructuring of the conduct of bilateral relationships. These lasts were expected to correct the fundamentally unequal relations between developed countries (especially in the West) and the poor or developing countries in the Global South. The Security Council of the UN was also called upon to do away with the privilege accorded to a handful of states.

Now, towards the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century, we are still asking for the same. No doubt, the rise of BRICS and the G20 has created some space for developing countries to – at a minimum – establish a more level playing field among themselves. Yet, it is difficult to do so because much like the colonial flight paths for air travel, most poor countries are forced to access world markets and international capital via the paths defined by the hegemonic states. China’s One Belt, One Road initiative has changed the dynamics in measurable ways, but this is mostly confined to African states.

The observations above are occasioned by some aspects of the recently arrived at debt ceiling deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The key issue in the deal relevant to Guyana is the green light duplicitously given to the oil and gas industry in the United States. According to a CNBC report (by Emma Newburger) the deal allows for the following: (1) “…expedited approval of all permits for a West Virginia natural gas pipeline…”; (2) restrictions on “environmental reviews under one of the country’s landmark environmental laws,” (3) approval of “steps to boost fossil fuel production” in the name of American “energy security,” (4) construction and operation of the pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest; (5) restriction of judicial review, most likely on matters such as possible future explosions and contamination; (6) “…[streamlining of] the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)…to limit its requirements…”; (7) shortening of  the time for environmental impact assessments in order to fast track approval of exploration and development.

The deal was struck with the assistance of the oil and gas lobbists and industry insiders who heavily fund election campaigns for Republican and Democratic candidates alike. Further, and on a different trajectory, Kathleen Sgamma of Western Energy Alliance bluntly framed the deal in terms of maintaining American “energy dominance.” By not so fantastic a co-incidence, Mr. McCarthy framed the debt-to-pipeline deal (my construction) as “transformational”, the very same language employed in Guyana by President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Jagdeo, as well as the entire PPP/C leadership. When that word is used here, however, the anti-PPP lobbyists hiding in the garb of ‘civil society’ denounces it as poppycock.

The gas-fueled debt ceiling deal struck by the American president and the Speaker of the House would only shock naïve little outfits like OGGN and their local counterparts. For its part, the opposition press will no doubt find ways to twist and defend the deal on the basis that America know best. Yet, the bigger issue here is the duplicity of hegemonic states that have the power to not only lecture poor countries on climate change, but to take concrete actions to impede the development of Guyana’s hydrocarbon resources. Mr. Biden, you may recall, essentially vetoed a $US 182 million loan that has gone through two years of prior approval at the IDB and other institutions associated with the application. For transparency, I should let you know I do think that the US is a force for good in the world. That does not, however, prevent me or anyone else with a basic sense of fairness, to acknowledge that there is lots of climate change bullying taking place against small countries like Guyana.

In the event you think that the debt-to oil deal is a one-off, you should know that earlier this year “…the Biden administration approved a major and controversial oil drilling plan in Alaska, known as Willow, just one day after unveiling protections for more than 16 million acres of land and water in the region.”  The plan would allow Conoco-Phillips to produce 600 million barrels of oil during its life span (Newburger, CNBC, (3/13/2023).

CNBC also reported that Conoco-Phillips will have access to “…a 23-million-acre area that is the largest expanse of public lands in the U.S.” (Ibid).

This writer is keen to hear from all those activists who are against Guyana developing its natural resources for the betterment of its citizens and residents. These naysayers are likely to invoke the old bogeyman, namely, that the US is advancing its ‘national interest.’ Fine, but Guyana also has national interests, and so do all of those states in the Third World who have not for decades, but for centuries been disciplined, punished, and ultimately oppressed by those with the resources to conduct hegemonic governance of the international system.

At times like these, one cannot help but think back to the Bandung (1955) moment in world history when India, Indonesia and other states just freed from colonialism, issued the call for greater Third World solidarity. I use Third World in that Bandung sense, in that spirit progressive internationalism. One can only hope that the local collaborators who are against the economic development of Guyana would, for once, draw a lesson from how the world really works. It is called realism, political realism. This is what the conduct of international economic affairs are based on. What Guyana wants from climate change governance is basic fairness defined as equal treatment.

Sincerely,

Dr. Randolph Persaud

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• climate change, Dr. Randolph Persaud, Letters, Third World

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