Last Wednesday, a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent from its 2019 levels by 2030. The oil company had set the following phased deadlines to cut its emissions from its 2016 levels: 6 percent by 2023, 20 percent by 2030, 45 percent by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050. The lawsuit was filed by seven groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, on behalf of 17,000 Dutch citizens who claim that Shell is threatening human rights as it continues to invest billions in the production of fossil fuels. The ruling is a first for environmentalists who have turned to the courts to try to force major energy companies to change their strategies.
Also last Wednesday, ExxonMobil’s shareholders elected two climate change activists to its board, raising the prospects of the oil giant’s possible shift in strategy towards greater concern for the protection of the environment and accountability for its greenhouse gas emissions. The vote reflected apparent shareholder discontent in the way Exxon is handling issues relating to global warming and climate change. Another oil giant, Chevron, saw 48 percent of its shareholders voting in favour of a proposal for mandatory disclosures of climate-related impacts, while an overwhelming majority called for a cut in Chevron’s greenhouse gas emissions, including customers’ emissions.
According to Reuters, Exxon’s oil refineries produce far more lung-damaging soot than similarly-sized facilities operated by rivals. Its three largest refineries – two in Texas and one in Louisiana – are the US top three emitters of small particulate matter, together accounting for average emissions of 80 pounds per hour. This is eight times the average of the seven other refineries on the top-ten list, some of which are larger than Exxon’s plants. The top polluter, Exxon’s Baton Rouge refinery, produces an average of 138 pounds per hour. Small particulate matter is among the most harmful pollutants. It is made up of particles 50 times smaller than a grain of sand that can bond with other toxins, infiltrate the blood stream, and damage the heart, lungs and nervous system. A recent Harvard University study concluded that a small increase in long-term exposure to small particulate matter leads to a large increase in COVID-19 death rates.
Oil-and-gas pollution has a disproportionate impact on poor and minority communities, which are often located near industrial sites. Reuters interviewed nearly three dozen residents in the predominantly Black neighbourhoods near the Baton Rouge refinery, and about a third of them said they either had breathing problems or knew someone who did. One resident stated that when she wakes up each morning, she is confronted with ‘two demons: pollution from the highway and the Exxon refinery’.
A recent study by the World Meteorological Office (WMO) shows that within the next five years there is a 40 percent chance that global temperature will reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius above per-industrial average. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has set as its goal, keeping the increase in the global average temperature to no more than two degrees Celsius and to endeavour not to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the last decade, it was estimated that the chance of any one year reaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold was only 20%. The risk has now doubled. According to WMO Secretary-General:
This study shows – with a high level of scientific skill – that we are getting measurably and inexorably closer to the lower target of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It is yet another wakeup call that the world needs to fast-track commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality.
Over in China, coastal sea waters have risen by 3.4 millimetres per annum over the 1980-2020 period and reached their third highest level on record last year. The country is bracing for a heavy flood season with 71 rivers already exceeding warning levels, mainly due to global warming. Rain in some parts of central and southern China has hit record highs in recent weeks.
Because of space constraints, we were unable to complete our discussion on last week’s article titled “Saving the mangroves”. This article concludes that discussion.
National Mangrove Management Action Plan (2010-2012)
Mangroves contribute substantially to sea defence by dampening wave action and protecting coastal banks. They enhance fishery productivity of the adjacent coastal waters by acting as a nursery ground for commercially important fish, prawn and crabs and supplying organic and inorganic nutrients. They are also rich in biodiversity and act as habitats for wildlife. Additionally, mangroves also act as an important carbon sink by absorbing carbon dioxide at a rate several times that of terrestrial forests.
The National Mangrove Management Action Plan, developed in 2010, emphasized the essential role that mangroves play in the defence of the coastal zone, their role in carbon sequestration, and the increased risks posed by the predicted rise in sea level and the rising cost of maintenance of the sea defence structure. These factors prompted a commitment by the Government of Guyana to the conservation, restoration and protection of the mangrove forest.
The overall objective of the Plan is to respond to climate change and to mitigate its effects through the protection, rehabilitation and wise use of Guyana’s mangrove ecosystems through processes that maintain their protective function, values and biodiversity while meeting the socio-economic development and environmental protection needs in estuarine and coastal areas. The Plan refers Guyana’s 2009 Low-Carbon Development Strategy with its central focus on forest conservation, including the protection of the substantial mangrove belts along the coasts and estuaries. Additionally, Guyana has developed a Sea and River Defence Policy that provides alternative solutions to traditional hard structures, including the re-establishment of mangroves for effective flood defence and to protect environmental resources.
The Minister of Agriculture has the power to declare a tree a protected species. In January 2010, that power was exercised through an amendment to the Regulations to the Forests Act 2009 by including ‘red, black or white mangrove trees’. Three sites were identified as priority – Mon Repos, Kitty and Ruimzeight, while other sites were being considered, including Shell Beach (Region 1); Lima and Charity (Region 2); Essequibo River, Windsor Forest and Farm (Region 3); Buxton and Hope Beach (Region 4); Cottage and Abary (Region 5); and No. 19 and 50-63 villages (Region 6).
Since 2010, the European Union (EU) has been funding the Mangrove Project through the EU’s budget support to the Government for its sea and river defence maintenance and rehabilitation programme. For the period 2017 to 2019, approximately G$6 billion has been expended on sea and river defence works.
Considering all of the above, it is vitally important that the Government uses its best endeavours to continue not only to protect existing mangroves but also to initiate action to have new mangroves re-generated in areas along the coast and in the rivers that have been depleted over the years. The recent destruction of mangroves at the West Bank Demerara runs counter to the Government’s commitments given in the 2009 Low Carbon Development Strategy and the National Mangrove Management Action Plan.
Statement by Minister of Public Works
The Minister of Public Works had stated that the development taking place in Guyana is not “willy-nilly” but is well planned and structured; and it is to be encouraged and not sabotaged. He asserted that:
The big issue is not flooding because the adequacy of the measures, the hard structures to prevent flooding, are in place. So the big issue is if we should cut mangroves or don’t cut mangroves. Well let me make it pellucid: the entire eastern section of the Demerara River comprises of several structures – stellings, wharfs, shore base development. There was a time when all out there were mangroves. The people of West Demerara deserve the same.
We will not be obstructionists; we will be facilitating and we have facilitated and will continue to facilitate developmental projects once it comes in a framework where it is properly regulated, sustainable, where there is no danger to life and livelihood, and where we can see the creation of jobs and this project fits within that framework… Don’t let us be prophets of doom.
It would have been particularly helpful if the Minister had elaborated on what those plans and structured development entail to enable citizens to understand and appreciate the context in which the approval was granted to construct the shore base at its present location. As regards the developments that took place in the eastern section of the Demerara River, while mangroves might have been destroyed, it is hardly any justification for the continuation of this practice, especially at a time when there are serious concerns about global warming and climate change and their adverse impact on the environment. Why was an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) not carried out before Tristar Inc. was given the go-ahead to construct a shore base?
Statement from Vice-President
The statement by Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo is more comforting. Mr. Jagdeo lauded the investment by Tristar Inc. while at the same time emphasising that investors must respect laws and policies governing the environment and all other areas. He indicated that the EPA is looking into the issue relating to the absence of an EIA. However, this is like putting the cart before the horse. Should the project not be placed on hold until the EIA is concluded?
The Vice-President stated that while Guyana is still a carbon sink because of its forest, development for the people in Region 3 is also crucial. He indicated that the West Bank Demerara is expected to see significant development within the next five to ten years and that the Government is required to implement mitigating measures for carbon sequestration. In this regard, the Government is currently working with a European company to replant trees in mined out areas in the hinterland to boost Guyana’s carbon credits. The reforestation drive is being funded under the Guyana Forestry Commission to offset the impact of development. The Vice-President further disclosed that mitigating action will be taken where mangroves are removed so as to establish a balance between development and protecting the environment:
If you remove mangrove from there you can plant it somewhere else along the coast as well as in the Ituni and Kwakwani areas so there will be carbon credit…The planned West Bank development will span from the mouth of the Demerara River all the way to Wales, opening up new commercial and residential opportunities… We want it to grow like the city side, like how many countries are. It must become like the Georgetown side, where you have wharves and structures etc. The people in that region also need development.
One recalls that in 2010 the Vice-President was one of the six recipients of the Champions of the Earth Award given by the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency for environmental leadership and more specifically for his role as a ‘passionate forestry and ecosystem infrastructure proponent’. In his acceptance speech, he stated:
Over the next five years, we will remove virtually our entire energy sector from fossil fuel dependence, and we will catalyze new economic sectors to provide our indigenous and other forest communities – as well as citizens across the country – with valuable economic alternatives that do not put pressure on our forests… I believe that we can build out from national experiences such as ours; protect forests and by extension preserve biodiversity; unleash the biggest wave of green innovation the world has ever seen; and create real benefits and opportunities for people across the world today and for generations to come.
Conclusion
The destruction of the mangroves on the West Bank Demerara to make way for the construction of a shore base without first conducting an EIA, has been a most unfortunate development. In this regard, we offer the following suggestions for the Authorities to consider:
Present a paper to the National Assembly on the proposed developments around the oil and gas industry to enable full debate and subsequent approval of the said paper?
Halt the construction of the shore base until an EIA is conducted;
Make the developer reimburse the Government for the cost of replacing the mangroves that have been destroyed, perhaps at another location, whether the project goes through or not;
Determine the number of shore bases needed as well as their locations to support the oil and gas industry;
Provide for specific legislation for the protection of mangroves; and
Seek investors to support the oil and gas industry via public advertisements inviting expressions of interest, on the basis of which selections are made having regard to meeting the criteria set.
