Granger confident Trump will reverse views on Climate Change

…as he heads to Morocco to lobby support in developing Green Policy

Head of State David Granger continues to push for the development of a green agenda and a green policy for Guyana and is of the belief that President Elect of the United States Donald Trump will in the near future have a change of heart; and there will be some modification of his views on Climate Change.
President Granger made this disclosure on Thursday, as he hosted his weekly Television Programme, The Public Interest and met with local journalists.
This publication sought to inquire of President Granger his views on the possible impact on developing Guyana’s Green Agenda in tandem with its world partners, in light of the fact that Trump has repeatedly dismissed the notion of Climate Change as a myth.
Responding to Guyana Times President Granger said, “I am quite sure that once he is in office and gets the benefit of the advice of the technical people in the US Administration there may be some modification of his views.”
The President prefaced his optimism by saying that Trump has only now come off of the election campaign trail and “I expect he has started being briefed by outgoing technical leaders in Obama administration.”
He went on: “I reckon in the next two months, he will become more aware that global warming is a reality.”
The President posited that there is abundant evidence to show that what is taking place in the world is not normal and pointed to the generation of large amounts of greenhouse gases, smog, industrial pollutants and the use of certain types of fossil fuels which are all contributing to global warming and climate change generally.

COP22
Granger made his position known ahead of another international confab, the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UNFCCC scheduled to take place between November 7 and 18, 2016, in Morocco.
At that forum, parties are expected to begin preparations for entry into force of the Paris Agreement—of which Guyana is a signatory and a ratified partner.
According to Granger, Guyana will be using the occasion of the COP22 meeting to “work along with other parties to ensure climate change don’t cause greater damage.”
The President told the media that it is common sense for Guyana to pursue a green agenda given its endowment of abundant natural resources, in addition to the fact that the country serves as a net carbon sink—meaning the country’s forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is generated by industrialised countries such as the United States of America.
Speaking of the COP22 meeting, Granger told the media that Guyana, which has preserved large swaths of its forest, “is a key player in the world.”

Granger said it is for this reason he has opted to travel to Morocco for the COP22 meeting in addition to the fact that Guyana is a party to numerous conventions and treaties related to tackling climate change.
He said too that Guyana has a policy/strategy and that the COP22 meeting will be used to seek to consolidate world views around this.
According to the President, “we don’t know exactly what the other parties will say at COP but we are committed to working with them to reduce the rate with which global warming is taking place.”

Indigenous
Responding to criticisms that his administration has not been pursuing the development of Guyana’s Green Agenda indigenously, President Granger disagreed.
He pointed to the fact that Guyana’s economy has for the past 100 years been heavily dependent on its extractive industry such as bauxite, gold, diamond, and timber; and pointed to the fact that “we are aware that the industries have the capability of destroying the environment.”
He pointed to mined-out areas and other untoward effects of such activities, such as those felt by people in the hinterland that depend on the nation’s rivers and streams that could become polluted.
According to President Granger, “we are aware of the dangers, we are very much on the ground in that regard and the thrust towards a green state is driven by local factors.”
He told the media that this thrust is bolstered through engagements with indigenous communities, addressing public health problems and forestation, among other factors.
The President was adamant that, “we are not trying to conform to any international norms or conventions…We have a problem in Guyana and the green state is the solution to that problem.”