With Guyana’s energy transformation centered on providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy using hydropower, natural gas, solar, and wind by 2025, the country is no doubt demonstrating unquestionable support for the global commitment of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Making this assertion was Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat during his address this week to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), being hosted in New York, on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number seven. That goal aims to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”
With this in mind, Minister Bharrat said, “We meet at a critical time when the need to ensure access to affordable and clean energy for all cannot be understated. The transition to clean energy is a critical component to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and reducing global emissions, which are required under the Paris agreement on climate change.”
The Minister noted that Guyana, therefore, supports the acceleration of the implementation of the energy-related goals and targets, particularly Sustainable Development Goal number seven, and its achievable targets.
He further stated that the country’s commitment to these objectives is demonstrated by the actions the government is taking to transform the energy sector. In this regard, he noted that it is being re-engineered as an engine of economic growth by improving energy security, realizing universal energy access, diversifying the energy mix, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through various sustainable energy projects.
The Minister added, “Our National Energy Plan is aligned with our Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which will allow Guyana to continue being a net carbon sink while its forests generate climate services, its economy place in a low carbon trajectory, its biodiversity, and the marine resources protected, and its abundant water resources, carefully managed.”
As Guyana pursues its stated plans for the energy sector, Minister Bharrat was keen to note that the government is open to the establishment of partnerships that will allow for the sharing and exchange of experiences to further the implementation and realization of SDG seven.
