This was the position of President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali,who is gaining traction globally for his advocacy on various challenges of the developing world.
President Ali implored leaders at the International Forum on African Caribbean Leaders held in Manhattan, New York on Thursday evening to become leaders and global powerhouses in energy, research and development, and innovation by 2050 era to change the current narratives from negative to positive.
According to the president, leaders have contributed to this narrative by just speaking of the challenges. He said more leaders should stand up to these issues and create a roadmap for change and reform.
“We do not speak about what we are doing our innovations, our potential, [and] what we could offer in bringing solutions to the table. And we have to flip that narrative and start speaking about that and do it from now,” Guyana’s President stressed firmly.
Meanwhile, President Ali also decried the narrative that developing countries must change their development pursuits. He said these countries can still achieve their goals related to net zero without putting a stop to all petroleum activities in the countries that are now utilising their natural resources.
“We know that with the greatest degree of honesty, that we do not have the development financing to get net zero if gas and petroleum do not play a part in the balanced approach,” he further pointed out.
In this regard, he implored African leaders to hold a collective voice at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) to be held at Expo City, Dubai.
President Ali further pleaded, “Let us all go to COP28 and let us all speak about the balanced approach; how do we achieve net zero through a balanced approach and through a system that ensures justice and equitable development.”
He believes that developing countries can be leaders of democracy and even in the future these countries can have a competitive and sustainable environment.
“This is our time, let us reshape, let us reshape the narrative, let us move towards presenting to the world, what we should term the balance approach to 2050,” President Ali emphasised to scores of leaders attending the forum.
Leaders were also apprised of Guyana’s attractive investment landscape.
“What we are trying to achieve in Guyana, is the building of an economy that is fuelled from the revenue of oil and gas but it is diversified, balanced, resilient and sustainable, according to our Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030) plan, that looks at growth, prosperity, sustainable development, resilience, equity and competitiveness,” President Ali pointed out. (Extracted from the Department of Public Information)
