INDIA-Guyana calls for reform of the global financial architecture.

NEW DELHI, India, CMC – Guyana has called on the “Global South” to amplify its voice in calling for the reform of the global financial architecture to meet the realities and demands of the 21st century and beyond.

In addition, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said leadership is needed at the global, national, and sub-national levels to take “timely and decisive steps toward meeting sustainable development goals.”

Phillips made the call as he addressed the High-Level Ministerial Session on Leadership for Sustainable Development during Polycrisis at The Energy and Resource Institute’s (TERI) 2024 World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), which ends here on Friday.

He spoke of the importance of financing for sustainable development and the challenges that exist about “vulnerable developing states’ inability to access development financing, concessional financing and Official Development Assistance (ODA) due to a unidimensional measure of development that is inefficient and insufficient as well as the lack of access to climate finance.”

Prime Minister Phillips said that as the global community approaches the mid-point of the Decade of Action, to guarantee a sustainable future for current and future generations, bold leadership and urgent and transformative actions are essential to ensure no one is left behind.

“The world is off track concerning achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our progress has been hampered by multiple factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food insecurity, energy security, and the increase in conflicts across the world,” he told the audience.

He also emphasized the importance of leadership as being vital “to enable an effective response to present and future crises, and to get the world back on track towards inclusive and sustainable development – leaving no one behind.”

Addressing the triple planetary crises related to climate, pollution, and biodiversity loss, Prime Minister Phillips said that bold leadership and a shift in mindset, characterized by the “willingness to explore new and innovative solutions to the world’s problems, which includes the re-thinking of systems, institutions, processes and mechanisms to make them fit for purpose and premised on the principles of inclusivity, good governance, democracy, the rule of law, equality, and respect for human rights and justice” are imperative.

In this regard, Prime Minister Phillips highlighted the strides Guyana has made in being a global leader in climate action and sustainable development in keeping with its international commitments to becoming a global model for the world in deploying forests for climate services.

He said Guyana has already earned US$750 million from carbon credits sales from 2016 to 2030, with 15 percent of the earnings going directly to Amerindian villages.

“Guyana is playing a leading role in food security within CARICOM in supporting regional efforts to achieve the 25 by 25 initiative to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25 percent by 2025,” he said.

In his address, Prime Minister Phillips also challenged the leaders present to deliberate upon and forge partnerships critical to achieving the Paris Agreement goals and, more importantly, that are needed to keep the planet and its people healthy.

He said that “national commitments must not waver despite the many global challenges experienced, including lack of sustainable financing, supply chain challenges, fiscal deficits, high debt levels, inflinflationary pressures and higher energy and material prices, national commitments must not wa.

“As the year 2030 approaches, there is a need for international cooperation and collaboration from the public and private sectors to address the complexities and uncertainties in climate financing, technical capacities, policies, and regulatory frameworks to drive the energy transition”.

He also highlighted the paradox that developing countries contribute the least towards global emissions but are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is further compounded by the challenges of securing climate finance for adaptation and access to technology transfer for decarbonization.

Prime Minister Phillips said Guyana remains “mindful of its international commitments as recognized in the Paris Agreement and is committed to maintaining its net carbon sink status.” Moreover, this is achieved by “introducing policies such as REDD+ under our Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).”

Further, he affirmed Guyana’s commitment “to building its infrastructural capacity and transitioning towards clean energy” while highlighting some of the initiatives that the country has undertaken in this regard, including the launch of the country’s updated LCDS 2030, which also focuses on aligning policies with global climate and biodiversity goals; the installation of a 300MW natural gas–to–energy power plant and the distribution of 30,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to off-grid Hinterland and riverine households to benefit close to 140,000 people.