Dear Editor,
This Letter “A Fair Deal for Guyana – A Fair Deal for the Planet”, was sent to President Irfaan Ali by 45 Guyanese on Friday, November 11, to coincide with the UN Climate Summit, COP27, being held in Egypt. We wish his government success at COP 27 in Egypt in fulfilling his constitutional duty to serve the interests of all Guyanese. But we are deeply concerned that the Government’s policy to pursue economic development based on oil and gas is bad for Guyana.
Oil and gas production are an existential threat to Guyana
We all know that burning fossil fuels pollutes the atmosphere with greenhouse gas (GHG) and causes global warming. Global warming is damaging the global climate system leading to extreme weather conditions. Ice caps are melting and causing sea-level rise. In a warmer ocean the water expands and contributes to sea-level rise. GHG pollution makes the ocean more acidic as it absorbs carbon. This harms marine life. Shellfish even struggle to make their shells. At the Group of 77+ China ministerial and technical meeting in October 2020, you warned that Guyana is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.
The President’s statement was confirmed by scientific modelling predicting that Georgetown will be under the sea by 2030. We cannot support the government’s policy to produce oil and gas, especially with a “no holds barred” / “full steam ahead” approach, when every ton of greenhouse gas pollution contributes to the destruction of our capital city, coastal plains and ocean. We agree with the statement made by Vice-President Jagdeo at the same G77 meeting that, “We are not here to prove the science of climate change. That has been proven and accepted. We are not here to debate the outcome, or the impact, of climate change because most people in this room and across the world have been witnessing and experiencing this first hand…through hurricanes, rising sea levels, droughts and a whole host of other activities.”
Since then conditions have gotten worse across the earth. Hurricane Ian killed people and damaged property in Cuba and the United States. There has been record heat in the United Kingdom. Europe is suffering its worst drought for 500 years. There is shocking and heartbreaking footage of floods in Nigeria which killed over 500 people and forced 1.7 million people out of their homes; floods in Pakistan which killed 1717 and affected another 33 million people; drought killing children in Somalia. Shocking and heartbreaking footage shows endangered giraffes, elephants and other wildlife dying from drought in Kenya. There is only one race: the human race. Our species originated from Africa and branched out across the Earth.
We cannot support government’s policy to produce oil and gas when every ton of greenhouse gas pollution helps to destroy our original ancestral home and cause loss of life in African countries as well as our own country and all of planet Earth. The United State Environmental Protection Agency says that each barrel of oil emits 0.43 tons of GHG pollution. ExxonMobil Corporation claims it has discovered more than 11 billion barrels of oil. That would amount to more than 4.7 billion tons of GHG pollution. We cannot support this government’s policy to produce oil and gas when every ton of greenhouse gas pollution will help to destroy the earth and the ocean.
Oil and gas production inflict disproportionate harm on women and girls
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern that, “the continuing and expanding extraction of oil and gas in the State party and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions could undermine its obligations to women’s empowerment and gender equality, as the resulting environmental degradation and potential natural disasters have a disproportionate impact on women, in particular those in situations of poverty”. Oil has already increased the cost of living with a disproportionate impact on women. We cannot support government’s policy to produce oil and gas when that policy increases the severe hardship on women and girls in Guyana. The CEDAW Committee also warned that, “Rural and Amerindian women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, oil and gas production…” We cannot support the government’s policy to produce oil and gas when that has a discriminatory impact on Amerindian women and girls.
The Gas Project is financially and environmentally unsustainable
Our government has decided to do a gas to shore project. The pipeline alone will cost Guyana over US$1billion. The government still has not provided any proper business justification. Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040 states, “Significant investment is needed to land natural gas from offshore sources and to construct the dual fuel power plant, which can be completed in the medium term (3-4 years). The plant will therefore likely operate over a design life span of 20-30 years… ” Will the government personally guarantee that the pipeline and infrastructure will not become stranded assets?
The Green State Development Strategy aims for 100% renewable energy by 2025. Guyana’s Revised Nationally Determined Contribution also said “…, with the provision of adequate resources, Guyana can increase its share of renewable energy by 100% by the year 2025.” UNEP’s Report, ‘Is Natural Gas a Good Investment for the Caribbean?’ concludes that it is not. They warn that, “No short or long term economic, social or climate benefits were found by this report that would justify the investments that governments are currently making on natural gas instead of renewables.” We cannot support government’s policy to spend US$1billion and more on gas instead of renewable energy.
Gas energy systems pollute the atmosphere with methane, an extremely potent GHG. We cannot support government’s policy which will result in further greenhouse gas pollution and help to destroy life across the earth.
Discrimination against Indigenous/Amerindian peoples
The cost of the gas project will be borne by all Guyanese. But the gas will not supply energy to the hinterland. Indigenous/Amerindian communities will bear financial and environmental burdens (e.g. droughts and floods from climate change) but get no benefits. We cannot support government’s policy which discriminates against Indigenous/Amerindian peoples in Guyana.
ExxonMobil’s Oil and Gas operations are dangerous
Deepwater drilling is dangerous. ExxonMobil has been using a faulty gas compressor. This is an unacceptable safety risk. ExxonMobil is still flaring gas instead of reinjecting it. We are angry to learn that ExxonMobil is operating the Liza 1 and Liza 2 FPSOs above their design capacity. This breaches ExxonMobil’s environmental impact assessments and makes oil production more dangerous. The Yellowtail EIA shows that a well blowout could spill oil as far as Jamaica. That could cause losses of billions of dollars if oil affects the Caribbean economies.
Squandering Guyana’s economic future as a carbon sink
GHG pollution threatens life on earth. The United Nations says there is no credible pathway to limiting global warming to 1.50C without urgent action to cut GHG pollution. States must reduce their emissions urgently. Guyana is a carbon sink. A government economist has said that Guyana’s forests remove 154 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Fossil fuel economies desperately need this service. A small payment to Guyana of US$10 per ton would generate US$1.5bn each year and would be much better than oil which has taken nearly 3 years to produce just US$1.05bn.
This US$1.05bn has to be reduced by the cost to Guyana of loss of fisheries and associated jobs, loss of environmental services from the destruction of mangroves, etc. Guyanese citizens wrote to you prior to last year’s Glasgow COP saying that “In light of our unique historic contribution to mitigating climate change, we demand payment at the rate of US$80 per ton. We reserve the right to increase our price in the future.” US$80 per ton would give Guyana US$12.4 billion every year without the dangers of oil and gas. We cannot support government’s policy to produce oil and gas when it is financially and economically unsustainable and unjustifiable and when Guyana can obtain far greater wealth as a carbon sink.
Our Asks
In light of the above we call for a Fair Deal for Guyana and a Fair Deal for the Planet as follows:
A national moratorium on all petroleum operations in Guyana – offshore and onshore. This is to allow for us Guyanese, the owners and beneficiaries of all the oil and gas resources which are our patrimony, to collectively pause so as to take stock of the oil and gas situation, scientifically fact-check the cumulative environmental and human impacts of oil and gas on our country, engage in authentic multi-stakeholder process of public participation and national conversations that is not exclusively controlled by government, and take all necessary corrective measures for our sustainable development.
The commissioning, in collaboration with independent civil society, of a high level independent, scientific investigation to assess all associated risks and threats emanating from oil and gas production in Guyana. This independent investigation and assessment will be led by independent civil society and other regional and international experts and will include a process of consultative sessions at grassroots, community-based organisations, local communities and indigenous peoples.
An independent, expert gender analysis to be undertaken as part of the abovementioned investigative and consultative assessment of the current, dangerous and questionable oil and gas build out.
Implementation and enforcement of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú), signed and ratified by Guyana, that came into force in April 2021. You publicly and positively affirmed Escazu on behalf of Guyana. As a State Party to the Agreement, we are now obligated to uphold and enforce the three Escazú Rights on all environmental and related human rights matters: Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice, which are already enshrined in our own Constitution and Legal Frameworks and now further amplified and strengthened by Escazú and its Principles which include: Equality, Transparency, Maximum Disclosure, Accountability, Intergenerational Equity and the Preventive and Precautionary Principles.
A marine protected area over Guyana’s exclusive economic zone to maintain and sustain the marine ecosystems – with fishing limited to Guyana’s traditional fishing communities;
An immediate transition to 100% renewable energy system with net zero emissions;
(7) A national committee of independent citizens to negotiate Guyana’s carbon sink payments. We ask you to demonstrate global leadership and announce these changes at COP27.
We, the undersigned, are citizens of Guyana. We come from all walks of life, religious beliefs and political views. We have sent this letter to the President because we are united in love for our country, our fellow Guyanese, our region and our planet.
Sincerely,
Vanda Radzik
Alissa Trotz
Vidyaratha Kissoon
Karen de Souza
Pauline Melville
Christine Samwaroo
Danuta Radzik
Maya Trotz
Susan Collymore
Joy Marcus
Halima Khan
Vanessa Ross
Wintress White
Gary Girdhari
Nicole Cole
Abbyssinian Carto
Nigel Westmaas
Joan McDonald
Duane de Freitas
Akola Thompson
Joan Cambridge
Immaculata Casimero
Alma O’Connell
Terry Roopnaraine
Colin Klautky
Earl John
Janette Bulkan
Sandy de Freitas
Sherlina Nageer
Jocelyn Dow
Elizabeth Deane-Hughes
Mosa Telford
Suraiya Ismail
Leila Jagdeo
Gerald Perreira
Romario Hastings
Paulette Allicock
Daniel Allicock
Isabelle de Caires
Luke Daniels
Red Thread
Amerindian Peoples Association
South Rupununi District Council
The Breadfruit Collective
Makushi Research Unit
