GUYANA’S PREZ SCHOOLS ARROGANT BBC ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The West has used the Climate Crisis to hamper the development of the Global South. In this now viral clip, Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, gives a BBC reporter a glorious lesson in hypocrisy after the latter tries to suggest Georgetown should put the brakes on a project that will earn it an estimated $150 billion in oil revenues over a decade.

The West has long benefitted from pollution, using ‘dirty energy’ to industrialise. Kicking away the ladder, the West now cracks down on energy sources like coal and oil, necessary for the development of currently non-existent industries in places like Guyana.

Worse still, communities in the Global South are currently made to pay the highest price for climate change. Apart from indigenous livelihoods such as agriculture and pastoralism coming under threat from climate change, communities are now being displaced from their lands in the name of dubious ‘solutions’ such as carbon credits. This conveniently neglects the fact that indigenous communities have been historical guardians of the ecosystem. This is the case in Kenya, where a conservancy with links to the former British colonial government now controls close to 10% of Kenya’s land area. The Maasai are being evicted in northern Tanzania, while Liberia, a few months back, signed a deal with UAE-owned Blue Carbon to control close to 10% of Liberia’s land area.

There is also the issue of exploitation - and the ensuing infringement on sovereignty. For example, in Guyana, ExxonMobil is accused of using its influence and economic clout to twist deals in its favour. The country gets to keep just 52% of the revenues from an off-shore oil venture with the US multinational - losing out on an estimated $55 billion. (In other countries where Exxon operates, similar deals have seen the government take home 65%-85%). Further, the oil giant is not responsible for any cleanup or compensation costs in case of oil spills - that bill would be transferred to the Guyanese people.

This exchange between Guyana’s President Ali and Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur is quite something. Let us know your reactions in the comments.