Call to leave oil in the ground is protectionism

–Ali tells climate change summit

‘without practical financial mechanisms, many countries will simply have no choice but to depend on fossil fuels if they are to develop’

With Guyana now a major  producer, President Irfaan Ali told the climate change summit in Brazil yesterday that the call to leave oil in the ground is a form of protectionism and that the transition from carbon fuels required inclusivity and financing.

“If the world wants clean power to meet these needs, we must unlock new and innovative forms of finance. For much of the developing world, high debt, high risk, and a high cost of capital, make renewables more expensive than fossil fuels. Without practical financial mechanisms, many countries will simply have no choice but to depend on fossil fuels if they are to develop,” Ali posited during a roundtable discussion focused on energy transition at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP30) in Belém.