Speaker urges Parliaments to do all they can to fight climate change

Speaker of the National Assembly in Guyana, Manzoor Nadir, has called on Parliaments around the world to do all they can to mitigate the effects of climate change.

He made this call during a recently-concluded Climate Change Seminar for Parliaments of Latin America and the Caribbean, hosted in the South American country of Uruguay. That event focused on national and regional actions being taken to develop more ambitious, nationally determined contributions and implement the Paris Agreement, and explored actions which parliamentarians can take to support a clean and just energy transition; create green jobs; and strengthen climate finance, including through their legislative and budgetary functions.
During his remarks, Nadir noted that the climate change discussion has been ongoing, and that funding for climate change would reach a height of trillions of United States dollars from public and private sources in the next 50 years.
“He noted that countries therefore need to get on board. To this end, nationally determined contributions are critical,” the Parliament Office noted in a statement.
It has been further explained that the Guyanese House Speaker informed participants that Guyana, where 35% of the people live in the city, is below sea level and is also affected by climate change.
“He spoke of the 2005 floods which affected more than 60% of the economy, and that, every year, flooding affects between 15% (and) 35% of the economy,” the statement noted.
“Importantly, Speaker Nadir enlightened participants that, in 2009, Guyana had made a conscious decision to proceed along a green path, and launched the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030, which aims to have 70% of energy demand powered by renewable sources,” the statement added.
Moreover, it was noted that Speaker Nadir stressed the importance of the individual contributions at the level of the households to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“In this regard, 5% of 200,000 clients of the power company are already involved in self-generating energy in Guyana. He encouraged the gathering to do all they can at the parliamentary level to mitigate against the effects of climate change,” the statement outlined.
Speaker Nadir was one of five panellists to present on the topic. The other presenters were Natalie Pareja, Climate Change Director, Ministry of Environment and Green Climate Fund National Designated Authority, Uruguay; Mr. Blas Llano, Member of the Senate, Paraguay, and President of the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC) of the IPU; Silvia Sapag, Member of the Senate, Argentina; Rosa Galvez, President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Senator, Canada.
The seminar, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliament of Uruguay, culminated in a celebration of International Day of Parliamentarism and the IPU’s 133rd Anniversary on June 30.
The IPU is the global organisation of national parliaments which seeks to empower parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy, and sustainable development. (G11)