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Nov 15, 2022 News
– say high level probe needed to assess all associated risks
Kaieteur News – A group of 40 Guyanese men and women from all walks of life along with five civil society organizations have written to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, to urge that he pauses and take stock of the oil and gas sector, specifically as it pertains to the inherent environmental risks to the country and its regional neighbours.
In the letter dated November 11, 2022, the citizens told the Head of State that they fear the aggressive manner with which oil development is being pursued is bad for Guyana.
In the letter published in the Sunday Stabroek News, they recalled that at the Group of 77+ China ministerial and technical meeting in October 2020, it was Ali who warned that Guyana is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.
They said the President’s statement was confirmed by scientific modelling predicting that Georgetown will be under the sea by 2030. In light of this, they said, “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.”
Since the President’s admission of Guyana’s vulnerability in 2020, the concerned Guyanese said climate change conditions have gotten worse across the earth. They recalled that Hurricane Ian killed people and damaged property in Cuba and the United States. There have been record heat waves in the United Kingdom. Europe is suffering its worst drought in over 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.
There is also shocking and heartbreaking footage showing endangered giraffes, elephants and other wildlife dying from drought in Kenya.
Taking these and other damning accounts into consideration they said, “We cannot support Government’s policy to produce oil and gas when every ton of greenhouse gas (GHG) 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.”
They further noted that 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. They deduced therefore that the production of the discovered resource would amount to more than 4.7 billion tons of GHG pollution.
“We therefore 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,” the group told President Ali.
Significantly, the authors of the letter were keen to note that deepwater drilling is dangerous, as such, they were angry to learn that ExxonMobil is operating the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) above their design capacity. The Liza Destiny is producing 150,000 barrels of oil per day when its safe production limit is 120,000 barrels of oil per day. For Liza Unity, it is producing over its safety limit pegged at 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
The citizens said this no doubt breaches ExxonMobil’s Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and makes oil production more dangerous.
In light of the above, and other critical concerns, the 40 Guyanese and five organizations have called for a national moratorium on all petroleum operations in Guyana. They reasoned that this is to allow for Guyanese, the owners and beneficiaries of all the oil and gas resources, to collectively take stock of the oil and gas situation. They believe that such a step is necessary to also scientifically fact-check the cumulative environmental and human impacts of oil and gas on the country, engage in authentic multi-stakeholder process of public participation and national conversations that are not exclusively controlled by government, and take all necessary corrective measures for sustainable development.
They have also asked President Ali to commission, in collaboration with independent civil society, a high level independent, scientific investigation to assess all associated risks and threats emanating from oil and gas production in Guyana. They said this independent investigation and assessment should be led by independent civil society and other regional and international experts and include a process of consultative sessions at grassroots, community-based organisations, local communities and indigenous peoples.
They have also asked for 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 as well as an immediate transition to 100 percent renewable energy system with net zero emissions.
The names of the citizens and organizations that signed the letter to the President are listed below.
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