Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo called on world leaders on Thursday to move beyond decades of climate pledges and deliver tangible results, warning that the global transition away from fossil fuels cannot be reduced to a choice between abandoning them entirely and continuing their use.
Delivering Guyana’s national statement at the United Nations (UN) COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Jagdeo said that despite years of international negotiations, many of the fundamental challenges confronting global climate policy remained unresolved.
His remarks underscored the tensions facing developing countries seeking to balance economic growth, energy security and environmental protection, while pressing wealthier nations to provide greater support for climate adaptation and the transition to cleaner energy.
“As I listen to the discussions at this COP, I am encouraged by the commitment of so many people working to address climate change,” Jagdeo said.
“Yet I also note that many of the issues we debated years ago remain unresolved,” Jagdeo said.
He urged climate negotiators not to abandon efforts to secure more ambitious commitments, particularly those aimed at helping vulnerable countries cope with the effects of climate change.
Central to his argument was the longstanding United Nations principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”, which recognises that countries have different obligations and capacities to respond to climate change.
“Countries have different circumstances, and we need solutions that recognise those differences, deliver results and improve people’s lives rather than impose unnecessary hardship on them,” he said.
FOREST FINANCE AND CARBON MARKETS
Jagdeo identified forest conservation as one area in which international climate negotiations were beginning to produce practical financing mechanisms.
He pointed to the Forest Finance Roadmap, developed by the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, Brazil, and the United Nations Environment Programme, as a significant development in efforts to reward countries for protecting their forests.
The roadmap outlines six financing options intended to support forest-rich countries, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Jagdeo said the priority should now be implementing those mechanisms rather than continuing to debate their merits.
Among the options highlighted were the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) and jurisdictional carbon markets, which allow governments to generate carbon credits based on verified reductions in emissions across large geographical areas.
Guyana supports the TFFF, Jagdeo said, but views jurisdictional carbon markets as its principal means of securing financial returns from forest conservation.
“For ourselves, our main pathway is jurisdictional carbon markets,” he said, “But for these markets to fulfil their potential, we need political leadership from partner countries to pass CORSIA legislation, open compliance markets to forest credits and operationalise Article 6.”
CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, is an international mechanism designed to address emissions from aviation, while Article 6 of the Paris Agreement establishes frameworks for international cooperation on carbon markets.
His appeal reflected Guyana’s emphasis on creating demand for forest carbon credits through regulated markets, rather than relying exclusively on voluntary purchases or international aid.
A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO FOSSIL FUELS
Turning to energy policy, Jagdeo argued that the global transition away from fossil fuels must account for rising electricity demand and the economic realities facing individual countries.
He referred to the agreement reached at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner, but questioned how that commitment could be translated into workable national policies.
“Fossil fuel demand will not disappear overnight, and electricity demand continues to grow, especially with the advance of AI and other technologies,” he said.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and other electricity-intensive technologies has added a further dimension to international debates over energy security and the pace of decarbonisation.
Jagdeo warned against treating fossil fuels and renewable energy as mutually exclusive choices in the pursuit of global net-zero emissions by 2050.
“If we are to achieve global net zero by 2050, we cannot make the solution a binary discussion about whether fossil fuels or no fossil fuels,” he said.
Instead, he advocated a broader strategy that would simultaneously reduce fossil fuel production and consumption, expand renewable energy, accelerate electrification, curb deforestation and encourage the adoption of emerging technologies.
The position is particularly consequential for Guyana, whose expanding oil industry places it at the intersection of two competing priorities: developing its petroleum resources and advancing international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Jagdeo’s remarks suggested that Guyana intends to continue arguing for an energy transition that accommodates different national circumstances rather than imposing a uniform timetable or approach.
He also identified carbon pricing as an important instrument for encouraging the shift towards cleaner energy, while acknowledging that other policies could contribute to the same objective.
FROM AGREEMENTS TO IMPLEMENTATION
Throughout his address, Jagdeo returned to the gap between international climate commitments and their implementation.
He argued that the effectiveness of climate negotiations should ultimately be measured by whether countries can translate their promises into policies and investments that produce measurable results.
His comments placed particular emphasis on practical financing arrangements, international cooperation and the need to ensure that climate policies do not impose disproportionate economic burdens on developing nations.
The vice president’s message was also a call for greater political leadership from countries whose legislative and regulatory decisions could determine whether emerging climate-finance mechanisms become viable.
After more than three decades of United Nations climate conferences, he suggested, the credibility of the international climate process increasingly depends on implementation rather than further declarations of intent.
“After thirty-one COPs, we must judge success not by the agreements we reach, but by whether countries can deliver on them,” Jagdeo said.