Brazil, Guyana, Suriname sign MoU to explore energy corridor

Jan 25, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – President, Irfaan Ali disclosed yesterday that Guyana, Brazil and Suriname—countries of the Northern Cone of South America— have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of an energy corridor linking the respective states. He said this occurred during his visit to Suriname last week.

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali

In his keynote address to over 300 participants at the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference 2022, the Head of State said this move is in keeping with Guyana’s wider goal of energy security.
Ali said there are many benefits to this ground breaking initiative which is aimed at integrating the energy systems of the South American oil producing states. He said, “It would promote energy security by assuring the availability of energy to meet present and future demand. Such integration would be a boost to the confidence of foreign investors who desire guarantees of stable, reliable and affordable energy. The initiative has the potential to ensure optimal power generation and greater use of our natural resources while reducing environmental impacts.”
He noted that energy security therefore remains central to Guyana’s plans for net zero by 2050. The President stressed however that environmental sustainability is not grounded solely in energy security. In fact, Ali said there will also be greater emphasis on having a low carbon onshore economy.
In this regard, he noted that Guyana was among the first regional economies to develop a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) while reminding that it had signed a ground breaking agreement with the Kingdom of Norway in 2009 which provided a model of how the country can sustainably manage its forests and secure payments.
“Presently, we are in the process of revising and expanding this arrangement for the inclusion of environmental services, the protection of our biodiversity and water resources, the development of marine economy and the promotion of climate resilience. Our LCDS will allow us to further decarbonize onshore activities thereby further reducing carbon emissions,” the Head of State expressed.
During the launch of the draft LCDS-2030 last year, President Ali had explained that it sets out a vision for rising to the challenge. He said that the current and first draft is intended as the basis for a national consultation on how the country can re-double its efforts to build a low-carbon economy– through low-carbon energy; employment and development opportunities for all sections of society; a transformation of digital, marine and transportation infrastructure; and massive investment in adapting to the impacts of climate change.
President Ali had explained as well that the LCDS 2030 also sets out how the government can build a platform for the economy of the future – a low carbon economy – where world-class forest, biodiversity, water and marine resources are valued for the vital contribution they make to the health of the planet.
He had said, “The LCDS 2030 continues to propel Guyana on a pathway started in 2008, when we were the world’s first developing country to publish a Low-Carbon Development Strategy. All Guyanese should take pride in the scale of vision we set out then and reflect on the significant progress that was made since, as outlined in this document.”
“We can now move to the next stage, which includes expansion of the work we started on creating a global model for valuing forests, in partnership with the Government of Norway from 2009.”
Ali had stated that no binding commitments will be entered into before the national consultation is complete, and the final LCDS 2030 is tabled in the National Assembly. The consultation process is expected to conclude next month.

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