Guyana is no leader on energy, food and climate

Jul 18, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Irfaan Ali is a likeable President. He no doubt means well but meaning well and doing well are two different things.

The President has to be careful that he does not end up pursuing ambitions that are unrealistic and unrealizable. As much as he may feel the need to make his mark internationally, Guyana is in no position to provide global leadership on the issues of food, security, energy security and on the environment.

While his predecessor was awarded the title of a Champion of the Earth, Guyana was not able to provide global leadership on the environment. Jagdeo’s hopes for stardom pitched at Copenhagen in 2009. It is difficult to see to see how Ali hopes to provide leadership on climate security. If he believes that Guyana’s sale in voluntary markets represents leadership on climate security he is being misled.

Already, Mia Motley has seized the limelight on the environment. While Jagdeo and Ali are playing with their little carbon credit toys, Mia Mottley is emerging as a star attraction on the environment. She was the one who stole the limelight at the United Nations General Assembly last September, and this year, it was she, not Ali, who was named as a Champion of the Earth.

She is winning recognition around the world even though Barbados has little forests left and is not selling any carbon credits. The New York Times described her as a “powerful climate leader from a small island.”

Mottley that led the charge for disaster financing, one of the issues that headlined COP27. It is Mottley, through the Barbados Initiative, that is clamouring for a reform of the international financial system. Where is Ali’s international gig when it comes to the environment? Carbon credits?

The sale of carbon credits is now coming under greater scrutiny. The voluntary market, in which Guyana trades its carbon credits, is being subject to proposals that could affect Ali’s plans. Just a few days ago, The Guardian newspaper reported on a new proposal that is being touted, one that would force firms to disclose their annual carbon emissions in order to show that they are actually reducing emissions rather than simply buying offsets.  If this Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative gains greater traction, it will spell the end of Guyana carbon credits scheme.

On the issue of energy, Guyana has to be joking to believe it can become a global player on energy security. Its much-vaunted plan for energy security is based on an IDB report – as most of its plans are – that is now dated and which is finding little traction from the other proposed partners, Suriname and Brazil. Guyana has yet to publicly indicate whether it has accepted Trinidad’s request to be part of its regional energy security initiative.

The cost of energy in Guyana is among the highest in the world. The gas-to-shore project is expected to slash these costs a by a mere 50%, hardly likely to ensure energy competitiveness much less energy security.  Guyana can achieve greater results by moving towards renewable energy development but the government is hell-bent on the gas-to- shore project and is obdurate in its rejection of alternatives. With this attitude, it is difficult to see how Guyana can provide global leadership on energy. Guyana has to be joking when it claims to want to become a global leader in food security. The country has hardly feed itself much less to provide global leadership on food security. Food is expensive in Guyana and consumers are complaining about high prices of locally produced food.  Poultry production is now in a crisis with the government now having to reverse the ban on imported chicken. The food security plans of Guyana are not about Guyana but about northern Brazil.

The 25 by 2025 initiative of the Caribbean Community did not originate from Guyana. It emerged from a regional private sector grouping but was first proposed by the International Monetary Fund. Guyana has to first fix its agri-food systems problems before it even contemplates providing regional leadership on food security. The Caribbean is yet to make any major gains in dismantling the non-tariff barriers to intra-regional trade. The expected failure of the Caribbean to meet its food import-reduction target of 25% by 2025 will dent Guyana’s food security credentials. Ali therefore would be better advised to focus on fixing the high cost of energy, ensure cheap and adequate food supplies in Guyana an protect Guyana’s environment against pollution. Guyana does not have what it takes to be a global leader on these issues.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• different, energy, food, Peeping Tom, Security

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