Oil revenue will allow Guyana to create low carbon-based economy – Pres Ali

Guyana’s revenues from oil and gas will pave the way for accelerated modernisation and building an economy that is based on the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), according to President Dr Irfaan Ali.
The President was at the time speaking during a recent interview with CGTN. He was asked about his bilateral visit to China, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In particular, President Ali was asked about the Belt and Road Initiative.
“President Xi’s approach is to expand the Belt and Road Initiative to include all of this in his shared governance framework. Shared responsibility framework. And that is what makes it most interesting.”
“Of course, we in Guyana would have benefitted from the infrastructure transformation. And the investment in our infrastructure. Infrastructure is key, for the expansion of sectors. The opening up of opportunities and land for housing, food production,” President Ali said.
Ali noted that the priorities for modernising Guyana include improving efficiency and transparency, the security of the country. These are all areas in which the country as a whole would have benefitted.
According to the President, oil revenues will pave the way for Guyana to develop into a modernised state. He also lauded China, noting that they are one of the countries that have been helping Guyana in this regard… in particular with their involvement in the construction of six modern regional hospitals.
“The revenue from oil would give us an opportunity to expand our growth, to modernise at a much faster pace. What it allows us to do, very importantly, is what our ambitions were. Even long before oil and gas. And the ambition was to create an economy that is based on a low carbon development framework.”
“So, we had the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030. An economy and country that takes very seriously its global responsibility. Whether it’s on food security, climate change, energy security. A country that abides by the principle of service to humanity. One in which we will invest heavily in healthcare and education. And China is already playing a key role in the healthcare sector.”
Launched by President Ali in November 2021, the new and expanded LCDS programme seeks to create a new low-carbon economy in Guyana by establishing incentives that value the world’s ecosystem services, and promote these as an essential component of a new model of global development with sustainability at its core.
In Guyana’s case, it is about harnessing the value of the country’s ecosystem services to build a long-term, low-carbon diversification opportunity. Importantly, the new LCDS programme intends to align its operations with global climate change goals. Guyana will act strategically and responsibly as the sector develops, supporting global energy security while diversifying and decarbonising Guyana’s domestic economy and investing in development priorities for all Guyanese, including health, education and low-carbon opportunities.
At the same time, the Government will advocate internationally for a strong global carbon price and the removal of subsidies on fossil fuel – to incentivise the lowest carbon, most cost-effective oil and gas in the global marketplace in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement under which there will be demand for decades to come. In parallel, Guyana will advance a “no flaring” policy, and mandate the use of best technology in the oil and gas sector to limit its environmental impact.
The Government launched consultations on LCDS 2030, which were coordinated by a Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee (MSSC), since 2021. These consultations were able to come up with various ways to invest revenues from forest carbon markets, outside of regular budgetary allocations.
After seven months of consultations with multiple stakeholders, the strategy was laid in the National Assembly by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh in July 2022. It was subsequently given parliamentary approval. (G3)