Dear Editor,
COP27 has come and gone. Why did Guyana’s President Ali not go? Or dispatch his Vice President, and de facto Minister of Oil? With due respect, why even bother to send the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat? It might have been better if no Guyanese Government official had made an appearance at COP27. For sending the equivalent of a Minister without Portfolio is really an insult to the hosts, and the proceedings.
For starters, President Ali’s attendance in Egypt would have been a sign of solidarity with Africans who have suffered from the ravages of climate change now traceable, beyond doubt, to fossil fuels. That may be part of the answer for Guyana’s head of state being absent from the waterfront resort of Sharm El Sheik. After what Pakistan just endured, Presi-dent Ali’s handshake would have been most welcomed. If Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro could have seen it fit to turn up, shake hands with at least one American bigshot, then I question even more our own dear President Ali’s startling absence. Guyana is the new universal language of the world, but Guyana’s President could not even bring himself to grace the occasion with his physical presence, a few salvos to make Guyana’s case. I humbly inform the President that a virtual appearance has its vices. Speaking of vices, the least that President Ali could have done was order his Vice President to show up and emphasize Guyana’s need to produce its precious asset. There are pluses on Guyana’s side.
With OPEC+ weaning the Saudis away from Western (read American) priorities, Guyana’s pool of oil takes on even more significance in the great oil game. I would use that as a selling point that even the Americans, Brits, and the other Europeans could not find fault with, so desperate is their need for a trusted fossil fuel source. I point out that the shaky Rishi Sunak, the new man at Lot 10 Downing Street had second thoughts and did the right thing. If Mr. Sunak, who is on such a slippery surface, could rise to the occasion, I don’t see how Guyana’s President Ali could lag so inexplicably relative to this most demanding of situations. He should not have been a no show, which qualifies as the worst of no-nos. I ponder what could have led to that tricky set of circumstances.
I am fully appreciative that Guyana is perched where it is. That is, the world is pushing away from fossil fuels, just as Guyana found oil. Even the UN has been in the thick of the climate change wars. In fact, it is more accurate to say that the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has been in the forefront of the fight, with one dire warning after the other about the perils the planet faces. My bottom-line position is that President Ali (or the Vice President) had to be at COP27. Nobody else. Some things are just not mailed-in, but must be faced frontally. Let Exxon stew in its own sauce. Last, Mia Mottley went to Egypt and fought for her life. It is most unfortunate that the Caribbean leader that she calls her brother was not by her side when needed the most, but by that of the polluters and colonizers of which she spoke so powerfully. She should still count him as a brother, as weak as he has been. President Ali is still mine.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall