Already design work has advanced for six new Hope-like canals to be built across Regions 6, 5, 3 and 2. These are climate change adaptation measures as Guyana moves ahead with consolidating our resilience capacity in the face of increasing threats from climate change events such as flooding and droughts. Even though the then opposition had strenuously opposed the construction of the Hope Canal, the then President, HE Bharat Jagdeo proceeded with the vision.
Today the Hope Canal has more than earned the expense of construction by preventing severe floods in the face of enormously heavy rainfalls. The canal has enabled more efficient and effective management of water level in the East Demerara Water Conservancy and reduced risks of overflowing and breaches. Indeed, it is an engineering milestone and Guyana must be proud of the work that the young engineers under Lionel Wordsworth accomplished. As their then Minister, I remain absolutely proud of what they accomplished even though they were told by older and more experienced engineers that the then opposition assembled that it would be impossible to safely construct such an ambitious canal.
While others are debating the reality or not of climate change, Guyana and her sister SIDS countries have been experiencing and combating climate change, paying enormous cost with lives and massive destruction. Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean was a stark reminder that our countries are at the frontline for the severe consequences of climate change.
Climate change is an existential crisis and President Irfaan Ali is ensuring he continues the work of a predecessor, President Bharat Jagdeo, both in positioning Guyana in the climate change mitigation and adaptation leadership. In terms of climate change mitigation, Guyana is aggressively promoting our low carbon development strategy (LCDS), preserving our rain forest as one of the most important carbon sinks in the world, and by pushing for zero-fossil fuel energy in Guyana. In terms of adaptation, Guyana is building our infrastructure to defend our country against catastrophic floods and against severe drought events.
A team from Guyana’s GPL technical staff departed Guyana for Jamaica where they will join their counterparts in Jamaica to help restore electrical lines destroyed by Hurricane Beryl. Guyana is standing strong with our sisters and brothers in Jamaica. We continue to provide various kinds of support also to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to Grenada. Standing with our CARICOM sisters and brothers is not a new thing for Guyana. We should all be proud of an outstanding record of solidarity, especially in times of crisis, such as a hurricane leaving destruction behind or the ruins caused by an earthquake. Whatever the crisis, Guyana has stood solidly with our sisters and brothers in CARICOM.
When an earthquake caused the loss of hundreds of lives and destroyed homes and infrastructure in Haiti in 2010, Guyana stood tall, averaging the highest donation per capita to Haiti and leaving hundreds of GDF soldiers in Haiti to help rebuild in that country. Therefore, when some insist that Guyana is using our newly acquired resources from oil to provide support to our sister countries in CARICOM which suffered losses from Hurricane Beryl, they are wrong. With or without oil, Guyana always stand tall, providing support, whether we can afford to or not. Our philosophy, the principles on which we act when our sister countries face natural disasters, is to provide support immediately.
We must heap praise on our government for acting without delay. Watching carefully the forecasts for Hurricane Beryl and the catastrophic predictions, President Irfaan Ali gathered the relevant authorities in Guyana, including the private sector and started the process of gathering material and putting in place personnel such as from the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defense Force. He nor his team knew which Caribbean countries would have been hit, but the President and the team knew one or more Caribbean countries would have felt the assault of Hurricane Beryl. Our government wanted to ensure we were ready to deploy help to whichever country required it in the aftermath of Beryl. We were ready and help poured out of Guyana the very first opportunity provided by Beryl’s departure from the area.
Beryl was a message, another message to us. Climate change is real. Beryl is the earliest hurricane in recorded history to develop and ravage the Caribbean. By the time it hit Grenada and then St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Beryl was a Level 5 hurricane, the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the Caribbean so early in the season. While others want to debate the reality of climate change, we in the Caribbean have been painfully feeling it through deaths and destruction.
It is why the Climate Justice Movement must demand more for vulnerable states like our CARICOM states. Whether it is the CARICOM countries on the mainland of South America or the Caribbean Islands, climate change has caused immense havoc on us all.Those most responsible for global warming are the very ones who today mostly sustain the debate. But the cost has been borne to a great extent by people and vulnerable states, like the CARICOM countries. The time has come for a global fund for climate damages, such as those that Beryl has left in its path. Climate Justice is a real thing and we cannot afford to merely push it aside.
This week Guyana signed an agreement with the World Bank for $US45M to be used for resiliency development. The Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (CARes) Project is the second largest investment being made from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), a fund set up by the government with the carbon credit resources generated through the agreement with the government of Norway. This is not a loan; it is money from the Fund Norway paid to Guyana through the World Bank. The project will see the rehabilitation or reconstruction of kokers across the country. It is a project to improve Guyana’s capacity to manage flood conditions.
When people question the wisdom of the low carbon development strategy this is what they are ignoring. Guyana through the leadership of then President, Bharat Jagdeo, in 2010 had established the LCDS. The David Granger-led APNU/AFC government recklessly abandoned the LCDS and replaced it with what they called the Green State Strategy (GSS). Not a cent has ever been generated by the GSS. This caused Guyana to lose five full years. Now Guyana is not just benefiting from Norway almost $US250M of carbon credit, but between 2022 and 2032, more than $US750M from sale of carbon credit to Hess Corporation. Hess agreed to procure 37.5M high-quality REDD+ carbon credits which represent 30% of Guyana’s 2019 stock of carbon credits. These carbon credits have been certified under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) program. It is worthy to note that 15% of the $US750M are allocated already to Amerindian communities.
Guyana was the first country to have carbon credit officially verified and certified for sale, amounting to more than 125M TREES. Out of the remaining 88M TREES, Guyana can now sell carbon credits also to airlines. ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) has opened up the possibility that airlines could procure close to 5M TREES from Guyana during the 2024-2026 compliance period. Once Guyana is able to sell these credits, Guyana could generate, depending on the global market price for carbon, more than $US100M.
There are the naysayers who dubbed the LCDS as a gimmick and a dream. But Guyana is now a leader in LCDS and every citizen is benefitting from the visionary approach of our government. Unlike David Granger who abandoned the LCDS, President Irfaan Ali has embraced the LCDS. President Ali is leading the initiative to use carbon credit to build resilience as Guyana adapts its infrastructure to combat climate change. While not waiting for the world to act, Guyana is moving ahead to as far as possible to prepare itself for climate change impact.
The recent experience of Grenada, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as Beryl left a trail of death and destruction is a stark reminder that globally we are abrogating our responsibilities. The concept of climate justice must not be an outlier. It must be a prime item on the global development agenda. Those feeling the pain most from the death and destruction being carved out by climate change events have contributed the least to global warming and climate change. Those who are most responsible for global warming and climate change continue to shirk their responsibilities and expect the developing world to continue to absorb the pain their recklessness have caused. Guyana is a leading voice demanding the world act now for climate justice. While doing our part, such as maintaining an important carbon sink and investing in adaptation measures, we believe that the developed world must step forward to bear some of the cost that climate change events bring to countries like the small-island states in CARICOM.
After the LCDS, the UN recognized Bharat Jagdeo as a “champion of the Earth”. Before long, President Irfaan Ali will also be seen as a “Champion of the Earth”. Guyana is in good hands as we combat the existential crisis of climate change.