UN and University of Guyana Policy Dialogue Series on Climate, Environment and National Development

Partnering with the University of Guyana Green Institute, in 2022-23 the UN in Guyana has hosted a series of policy dialogues to consider policy options for responding to the triple challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Consistent with the right of all people in Guyana to self-development, opportunity, and a healthy environment, the dialogues have considered Guyana’s growth trajectory, the global transition away from fossil fuels, and incentives in environmental protection.

The latest science on climate change and its impact on the planet

Professor Schlosser’s presentation considers global population dynamics, the ‘carrying capacity’ of the planet, and the effects on the environment of human engineering (or the ‘anthropocene’). By demonstrating trends in global energy consumption, Professor Schlosser focuses on the urgency of the energy transition. He continues by summarizing the hugely damaging effects of global temperature rises already being experienced on every continent today. The presentation further considers the huge investments required to keep global heating below 1.5°C. Indeed Professor Schlosser argues that this target may already be unattainable, and that efforts must now be focused on averting a rise in temperatures of 2°C as compared to pre-industrial levels. He notes that whilst nature-based solutions will have a role, coalitions of states, scientists and businesses will need to cooperate on new technologies (including carbon capture and sequestration) to remove up to 20 gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually by 2050 if worst-case scenarios are to be averted.

In summarizing, Professor Schlosser argues that for climate action to bear fruit, the global community will need to adopt the language of ‘planetary boundaries’ (or the earth’s ‘carrying capacity’); will need to assign different values to global goods (including by adopting a universal price on carbon); and rapidly accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources.

Watch the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3HbhJ22.

About Professor Peter Schlosser

Peter Schlosser is the Vice President and Vice Provost of Global Futures at Arizona State University. He is an expert in the Earth’s hydrosphere and how humans affect the planet’s natural state. He directs the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and is the University Professor of Global Futures. Prior to joining ASU, Professor Schlosser was the Maurice Ewing and J. Lamar Worzel Professor of Geophysics and Chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, and the deputy director and director of research at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences, an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the Explorers Club.

 

Transport in Economic, Spatial, Social and Environmental Development

The presentation from Professor Roger Vickerman situates transportation systems within broader discussions on net zero and air pollution. It considers the notion of transport justice (the way in which access to transportation has differential economic outcomes for specific population segments), as well as the relative share of carbon emissions accounted for by the private and public components of transportation systems. The presentation highlights the costs to public health associated with worsening air quality as road traffic increases. Reviewing different transportation networks (notably roads and waterways), Professor Vickerman further considers the relative advantages of private and public transport systems, including questions of cost, integration, regulation and disability inclusion. His presentation ends with a series of policy implications on future transport sector planning in Guyana. Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 directly considers the necessity of building the relevant infrastructure for low carbon public and private transportation systems.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3XArpdq.

About Professor Roger Vickerman

Professor Roger Vickerman is Emeritus Professor of European Economics at the University of Kent. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. From 2009 to 2014 he was Dean of the Brussels School of International Studies and then 2014-2017 Dean for Europe. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association. His research focuses on the relationship between transport and economic development.

 

Building Resilience in the face of Climate Change: lessons from the field

Dr. Samantha Stratton-Short addresses the role of resilient infrastructure in climate change mitigation, adaptation and emergency response. Her presentation demonstrates the relevance of infrastructure to nine tenths of all SDG targets, but also shows that infrastructure systems of various kinds are directly or indirectly responsible for 79 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The stakes are huge, with the costs of building critical infrastructure out to 2040 estimated at US$97 trillion globally. Drawing on relevant case studies in St. Lucia, Ghana and Tonga, Dr. Stratton-Short’s presentation shows how properly-planned and executed investments in sustainable infrastructure offer major dividends in resilience, safety and economic development. The presentation shows how, by partnering with national planning ministries, and with the University of Oxford, UNOPS has been able to provide comprehensive assessments of priority infrastructure needs, as well as match-making specific initiatives to sources of finance.

Guyana is budgeted to nearly triple public capital expenditure from US$500 million in 2021 to US$1.9 billion in 2023. Capital projects listed in the 2023 budget include an infrastructure development programme (US$240m), the gas-to-energy project to address electricity demand and reliability (US$208m), and improvements in public roads (US$163m).

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/40dYyxs.

About Dr. Samantha Stratton-Short

Dr. Samantha-Stratton-Short is Head of Strategic Initiatives at the UN Office of Project Support (UNOPS). UNOPS provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services to help build resilient and sustainable societies. Samantha is an architect with a PhD in sustainable development and a career in sustainability and resilience. Dr. Stratton-Short previously led Arup's international development division in Asia, based in the Philippines. She has over 25 years’ international experience managing programmes and advising governments, foundations, international finance institutions, NGOs and donors.

 

Urbanisation and Socioeconomic Development: What We Know, and What We are Learning

Professor Luis Bettencourt considers the historical relationship between socio-economic development and urbanisation, and sustainable models of city living. Using Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and the New Urban Agenda as a foundation, he presents the expansion of cities as a potential accelerator for human development, with significant scope for improved health, educational, security and cultural outcomes. The presentation uses case studies to explore models of sustainable vs. unsustainable urban development (about 70 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from urban centres, despite them accounting for just 2 percent of landmass). He offers a set of policy considerations for Guyana, including addressing out-migration and developing quantifiable sustainability plans for urban centres, including those outside the capital, Georgetown.

In 2023, Guyana will begin work on Silica City, a ‘smart’ urban centre close to the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, as part of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3HawcLx.

About Professor Luis M. A. Bettencourt

Professor Luis Bettencourt is Professor of Ecology and Evolution and Associate Faculty in Sociology at the University of Chicago. He is the Inaugural Pritzker Director of the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago, and External Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Trained initially as a theoretical physicist, Professor Bettencourt has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), Los Alamos National Laboratory (Director’s Fellow and Slansky Fellow) and at MIT (Center for Theoretical Physics). He has worked extensively on complex systems theory and on cities and urbanization, in particular. His research emphasizes the creation of new interdisciplinary synthesis to describe cities in quantitative and predictive ways.

 

The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment

The presentation from Benjamin Schachter provides an introduction to rights-based environmental action, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, unanimously passed at the UN General Assembly in July 2022. The presentation underlines the role of the law in achieving environmental justice, and situates environmental action with respect to “rights holders” (i.e. people) and their entitlements, and “duty bearers” (states, businesses) and their obligations. It provides practical examples of where rights-based approaches have secured environmental protections, and summarises the principal components of the resolution passed, namely the right to a safe and stable climate, a healthy ecosystem, a non-toxic environment, and to justice and inclusion.

In addition to helping pass the 2022 vote at the General Assembly, Guyana is also committed to protecting the human right to a sustainable environment through its constitution (Articles 25, 36 and 149J), and via its signature and ratification of the Escazú Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3XT5mz3.

About Benjamin Schachter

Mr. Benjamin Schachter coordinates the Environment and Climate Change Team at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. His work focuses on the advancement of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment through improved understanding of the human rights impacts of climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.

 

Bioenergy and Development, with Recent Insights from Brazil’s Bioenergy/Agro-Industry

Professor Luiz Horta Nogueira provides a global perspective on bioenergy and its potential to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. His presentation focuses on the use of sugarcane as a feedstock for biofuels. Also covered is Brazil’s positive experience in introducing biofuels across its transportation sector through a national biofuels policy (RenovaBio). Professor Nogueira considers the potential for increased adoption of biofuels in Guyana, as explored through existing viability studies.

The presentation by Professor Lee Rybeck Lynd further situates the vital role of bioenergy and biofuels in tomorrow’s global energy mix. The presentation scrutinizes non-fossil substitutes for the heavy liquid fuels (HLFs) required for aviation, shipping, and heavy goods vehicles: demand for such HLFs is likely to remain high well into the final third of the century. Professor Lynd also highlights the relative ‘capturability’ of the carbon emissions derived from cellulosic biofuels, a clear advantage in the race to net zero. Professor Lynd advocates for continued investment in biofuel science and technology to ensure they play a full role in the energy transition.

Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 recalls the country’s practical experience in the use of biomass as an energy resource for self-consumption (like rice husk in the rice mills; the use of the distillate waste to produce biomethane at Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), or the use of bagasse for co-generation at Skeldon and Albion Sugar Estates). Further significant investments in biofuel technology and infrastructure would be required in order to make biofuels a significant component of Guyana’s energy mix in future.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3GQEzwU. 

About Professor Luiz A Horta Nogueira

Professor Luiz Horta Nogueira was Professor of Thermodynamics at the Federal University of Itajubá until 2014. Previously, he was visiting scientist at the Forestry Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Technical Director of the Brazilian Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. From 2017-2021, he was President of Brazil’s Bioenergy Society. In December 2021 he was inducted into Brazil’s Order of Rio Branco. Professor Nogueira has previously served as a consultant on energy studies to UN ECLAC.

About Professor Lee Rybeck Lynd

Professor Lee Rybeck Lynd is a renowned expert on the use of plant biomass for production of energy, and presently Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth Engineering Thayer School. He is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of biofuel start-up Enchi Corp., and technical lead at the Center for Bioenergy Innovation. He founded and is Executive Committee Chair of the Global Sustainable Bioenergy Initiative. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a past winner of the Lemelson MIT Sustainability Prize.

 

The Living Amazon: Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Mitigation in a Complex World

Kurt Holle presents the key findings from WWF’s The Living Amazon Report 2022. Published just weeks before the Kunming-Montreal COP15 Biodiversity Conference, the report recalls the biodiversity, cultural diversity, and irreplaceable ecosystem services of the Amazon Basin and Biome, and discusses how to build diversity whilst responding to demand for socio-economic development. As a signatory to the Leticia Pact, Guyana has already joined five other countries in Latin America committed to urgent action to protect the Amazon Rainforest and Guiana Shield.

The presentation considers the conditions which could result in a ‘tipping point’ for the Amazon, in particular the consequences if 20 percent of the Amazon is deforested (current deforestation is between 18 percent to 19 percent). The presentation further addresses the risks of roadbuilding in contexts where there are shortfalls in political and administrative governance. Finally, the presentation focusses on the conservation successes achieved through the establishment of protected areas and Amerindian land titling. To date, Guyana has titled close to 20 percent of its lands to indigenous people.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3Xc0LqG.  

About Kurt Holle

Kurt Holle is a conservation and ecotourism entrepreneur, and presently the WWF Country Representative for Peru. He founded Rainforest Expeditions in Peru in the 1990s, offering trips to the Amazon. He also is Co-Founder of Deep in Forest, an investment network designed to scale businesses that are working with communities and their forests. He has previously worked with leading conservation and forest protection organizations such as the Moore Foundation, Swisscontact Worldwide and Nature Services Peru.

 

Carbon Pricing and International Carbon Markets: Considerations for Guyana, the Region, and the World

Daniella Suger explains the concepts of carbon pricing and carbon markets. Referring to Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement (UNFCCC), which addresses voluntary international cooperation on the reduction of carbon emissions, the presentation outlines the current global state of carbon pricing instruments and carbon markets. It considers further opportunities and challenges for countries like Guyana which are engaging in the carbon credits market. In December 2022, Guyana entered an agreement with the Hess Corporation for the sale of carbon credits valued at US$750 million over the period 2022 and 2032.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3Vz3KcT.

About Daniella Suger

Daniella Suger was the Paris Agreement Article 6 Negotiator for Guatemala at COP23 and at COP26. She is presently a Carbon Markets Consultant for the Green Climate Fund Readiness project “Increasing the ambition of the Nationally Determined Contributions and climate financing in Central América” with UNEP. The project provides support to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

 

True Development and Natural Resources – What is the Connection?

Professor Ricardo Hausmann uses a series of historical cases to interrogate trajectories of economic growth and productivity. Professor Hausmann describes the respective roles of technology and accumulated know-how in national economic fortunes and provides insights and policy choices relevant to resource rich economies including Guyana’s.

Watch presentation here:  https://bit.ly/3rPHNIN.

About Professor Ricardo Hausmann

Ricardo Hausmann is the founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Hausmann served as the First Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank from 1994-2000. He was Venezuela’s Minister of Planning from 1992-1993. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee.

 

Challenges for Structural Change and Technology Upgrading in Small, Resource-Rich Economies

The presentation by Dr. Danilo Spinola highlights the economic and structural impacts of commodity booms in developed and developing economies. His presentation explores the concepts of volatility, economic structure, and balance of payments constraints. Assessing degrees of economic complexity in emerging economies, Dr. Spinola’s presentation introduced a series of ideas further explained in a policy dialogue by Professor Ricardo Hausmann.

Watch the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3DXFYAB.  

About Dr. Danila Spinola

Dr. Danilo Spinola is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Birmingham City University (BCU). He has previously worked for the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). Dr. Spinola is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

 

Forests, Petroleum and Natural Gas: IPCC Findings Relevant for Guyana

The presentation by Professor Jim Skea addresses findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report most relevant to Guyana. Professor Skea explains the science behind measuring and accounting for carbon dioxide emissions; the role that renewable energy must play to achieve net zero by mid-century; mechanisms for measuring CO2 removals from the atmosphere; and the notion of ‘just energy’ transitions.

Watch presentation here: https://bit.ly/3VqGL3M.

About Professor Jim Skea

Jim Skea is Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London. He is Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III for the 6th assessment cycle. He was previously Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre and Director of the Policy Studies Institute. Professor Skea was a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change from 2008 to 2018 and is the Chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission. From 2015-17, he was President of the UK Energy Institute.