Developing nations will have to lead climate change efforts – Mustapha

Countries in the developing world will have to lead efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on their economies, since they stand to lose greatly and are more affected when compared to developed nations.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha underscored this point during Day Four of the session of FAO Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Delegates were apprised of the threats that Guyana and other developing countries face, especially in the area of agriculture.
“We, in the developing world, are faced with this problem because our economy depends on agriculture. For us to produce, we have to have a climate that can help us to produce in a way that is feasible. As developing countries, we will have to take steps to curb climate change. We will have to lead in this area,” the Agriculture Minister outlined.
On Guyana’s part, the Low Carbon Development Strategy and the Government’s robust initiatives were brought under focus as selling points towards achieving this target.
“Our efforts throughout this time have not been about meaningless slogans or suggesting that there are easy solutions to global problems. Rather, Guyana has been about harnessing imagination, innovation and hard work to align the legitimate aspirations of our people with the global challenge of climate change. We can build a future where we advance Guyana’s development for all of our people and at the same time, secure and maintain our commitments to low carbon development.”
He stressed that Guyana is considered a low emitter but remained among the most affected by the emissions of the developed world. The region, he said, must be prepared to use its collective voice to advocate for equitable treatment in this climate change struggle.
“Guyana is one of four countries in the world and one of two in the Amazon basin verified to have sustained a high forest, low deforestation state…Our country has an extremely high level of biological diversity and I want to say that we have been using our forests to generate income that we can use to develop the agriculture sector.”
He added, “We cannot allow the developed world to dictate for us. We are a powerful voice in Latin America and the Caribbean. We must come out with this voice after the conference to say that we are willing to protect our environment, lead from the front and we will ensure that the environment is there for us to produce.
Earlier this week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo facilitated a meeting with stakeholders from the coastland to discuss the Government’s national strategic flood protection measures, where he underscored the need for adaptation at the earliest.
Jagdeo highlighted the glaring issue of greenhouse gases, contributing to rising sea level and bringing additional consequences for coastal areas. Guyana’s coast is several feet below sea level, and if action is not taken now, it could be disastrous.
The former President had shared, “When you have water of that volume with such an intensity coming into drainage systems, irrigation systems, storage systems like the conservancies; then you have an enhanced problem of dealing with it. If you can’t manage it and deal with these volumes of water that accumulate in shorter periods, then you’re going to constantly have an issue of flooding, loss of crops and loss of livelihoods.”
Even as the country moves forward as an oil and gas producer, he said it also has to be part of a global community to address climate change. This brings the expanded Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) into focus and plans for adaptation.
Some of the more significant adaptation challenges of the future include maintaining sea defences; transferring water into the Atlantic Ocean when there is large volume of water; and managing droughts.
“If we don’t tackle the big issues of water management, we will lose large volumes of our produce and that has not only an impact on the economy but at the family level. Often, it has devastating consequences for people. It means you don’t have an income…It causes economic as well as major social problems.”
But the cost of building and reinforcing infrastructure comes at a heavy price. In this breath, Government plans on tapping into the oil revenues to build and invest in management systems.
“The cost of doing so is enormous to fix our sea defences. These water management systems require heavy investments. Part of the oil resources have to be spent in this manner. Many developing countries now are waiting for the developed world to provide funds for adaptation,” Jagdeo was quoted.