Balancing oil extraction, protecting environment will be difficult for Guyana but is doable
-EU ambassador tells UG forum
The European Union (EU) believes that Guyana’s balancing of oil extraction while preserving the environment will be a difficult task but it can be done, and this is why citizens and civil society need to be vigilant and persistently remind policymakers and leaders of the importance of finding that balance.
At a University of Guyana (UG) forum on Wednesday, EU Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Cantó responded to a question from Stabroek News on the perceived incompatibility between Brusssels’ aid for sea defences and mangrove protection here while the expansion of the oil and gas industry has seen the removal of large acres of these natural sea barriers and carbon emissions could add to the climate burden and contribute to rising sea levels.
“We are aware that Guyana is in a difficult dilemma because you want to preserve the natural beauty of your country, you want also to fulfill your environmental commitments but you also want to explore it. The resources that you have, the citizens of Guyana needs more prosperity and we understand that,” Ponz Cantó said.
“We also understand that this new oil riches will take time to reach every citizen. Therefore there needs to be a bridging period during which we will continue to cooperate and provide substantial development cooperation aid,” he added.
“These cooperation that I refer to… takes the form mostly of our forest partnership. And this forest partnership includes also, as one of the possible activities and I hope it is one of the massive activities, personally, the planting of mangroves to protect Guyana against the rising sea levels.
“We are aware that the development of the riches of Guyana sometimes comes into conflict with the preservation of the resources. That is why we have always insisted that we are ready to help Guyana in its efforts to try to make the two objectives fully compatible; to bring more prosperity to the citizens. Yes, you have beautiful resources, not only oil by the way, there is all kinds of mineral resources and there is the forest. If those are properly managed, it will bring more prosperity to the Guyanese citizens which is what we want, but you can also preserve your beautiful country because the country does not belong to us, they belong to the future generations and we are not the owners. We are the tenants”, he added.
He also stated: “We know that it is difficult but we are hopeful that with the efforts of many people, inclusive of civil society, Guyana will manage to reconcile those two objectives. I think on that point, the contribution of the university, everyone; the intellectual leaders, the opinion leaders is fundamental to insist every day, to insist every day to the leaders of Guyana, to the decision that you are aware of the need to preserve natural resources and that this must be a priority. You can count on the European Union to continue supporting this priority”.
The EU Ambassador along with visiting Deputy Managing Director for the Americas, Javier Nino Pérez were at the time fielding questions during the UG discussion forum ‘European Union and Caribbean/Latin America Relations from A-Z’, at the George Walcott Theatre and live streamed via Zoom.
Government is currently reviewing proposals on the reforestation of some 6,000 acres of mined-out lands, an activity that had its genesis after the removal of large swathes of mangroves earlier this year.
As it aims to reforest mined-out lands across the country, international companies have submitted proposals for the project, which Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said are currently being perused before an agreement is reached.
Jagdeo at a press conference in May had announced that Guyana is looking to reforest 6,000 acres of mined-out lands in a bid to further reduce and cushion the country’s carbon footprint. His announcement then, was made on the heels of the removal of a large swathe of mangroves on the West Demerara by Tri-Star Inc, a developer of a shore base facility to cater to the oil and gas sector.
Jagdeo had said that the reforestation drive will be funded under the Guyana Forestry Commission to offset the impact of developments. “Mitigating action will be taken. If you remove mangroves from there you can plant it somewhere else along the coast as well as in the Ituni and Kwakwani areas so there will be carbon credits,” the VP underscored before he pointed out that such measures establish a balance between development and environment.
With significant development scheduled to occur within the next five to ten years, government is required to implement mitigating measures for carbon sequestration.
On Tuesday, as government announced the receipt of a final tranche of €7.56 million ($1.7 billion) in budgetary support from the EU, President Irfaan Ali reminded that the country is still a developing one and will need all the financial aid it can muster until it fully transitions to an oil state.
“There is a serious misconception in relation to Guyana being [an oil state].Yes, we are a new player in oil and gas. Yes, we are projected to grow tremendously and be a leading economy globally, but there is a transition time which brings with it a transition gap,” the President said.
“We are making the case that in that transition gap, Guyana still qualifies for concessional financing. We still qualify for support from international agencies because the strong flow of revenue from the oil and gas sector would not occur immediately. We still believe strongly that we qualify for support,” he added.
Last year, Ponz Cantó had said that although Guyana is the newest oil producing state, it still needs supports of this nature as a means to “bridge” fiscal requirements before oil revenue is available.
On Tuesday, Nino Pérez, announced that while bilateral aid would stop for some countries, Guyana would not fall into that category. “Even though for other countries we will not foresee bilateral programmes in the next several years, this will not be the case for Guyana. Guyana will continue to benefit from a national programme,” Pérez informed.
He stated also that the EU was impressed with Guyana’s management of the funding it has received over the years and this is one of the reasons that the two sides are currently in discussions on another agreement.
“We trust this country. We trust this government. We clearly believe that this is a well-defined strategy to move forward, to work on issues like infrastructural development, health, education, inclusivity, the green deal, and we want to be partners of that process,” he declared.