Gov’t to continue advocacy for climate adaptation financing at COP29

The annual United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) is set to take place from November 11 to 22in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the government plans to champion its model for climate financing for small and developing countries.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said that these strong positions are not new to Guyanese, as this has been the government’s mantra for quite some time.

“It is deemed a conference of parties about financing. That’s COP29. And so, I guess it will be judged on how it moves that needle forward,” he explained during a press engagement at Freedom House.

The COP is the decision-making arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is responsible for evaluating and monitoring the measures implemented by the convention and the progress in achieving its objectives.

Dr Jagdeo noted that there is much at stake, as based on the world’s current policy level, its current trajectory sees a projected 3.1°C, rise above the pre-industrial level.

“If we fully implement all the pledges made under the Paris Agreement, we will only achieve [a] 2.6 degree rise above pre-industrial levels. That is of concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. What is required to avoid catastrophic change is a 1.5 degree rise above the pre-industrial level. So clearly you can see even with the pledges where we are off target,” the GS further elucidated.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty that aims to strengthen the global response to climate change by limiting the increase in global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The Agreement also aims to limit this increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The world’s current trajectory of over 3 degrees above these levels represents a significant tipping point, according to Dr Jagdeo. Already, countries across the globe are witnessing the dire effects of climate change, and seeing the situation exacerbate to alarming levels.

These effects, such as melting glaciers and ice sheets, the rise in sea levels and intense heat waves are sweeping, and Dr Jagdeo noted that these have catastrophic consequences for the developing world, which has a limited capacity to adapt.

“It is a very dangerous time for the world,” he pointed out.

At last year’s Conference of Parties (COP28), Guyana advocated for the establishment of market-based mechanisms to promote forest preservation.

Dr Jagdeo has previously explained that the government backs a five-point mechanism for achieving net-zero emissions.  These measures include the removal of large polluters from the supply chain, the incentivisation of renewable energy, demand management, the use of technology, and the reduction of deforestation and land degradation.

Since the signing of the Norway-Guyana Partnership in 2009, Guyana has already crafted a modern model to ensure that funds earned through the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS2030) are being expended on priority projects while contributing to capacity-building efforts in indigenous communities especially.

Further, President Ali has also at several forums highlighted the crucial role developing nations can play in implementing sustainable solutions to tackle the global climate crisis.