Balancing Economic Growth and Conservation Amid Climate Financing Demands

On the backdrop of the recently signed agreements between US Capital Energy and several southern villages, the government has indicated that it hopes to balance economic growth and conservation to reach an equilibrium in sustainable development. It is a slippery slope as Belize continues to demand access to greater climate financing from the international community.  Given the global movement to minimize the effects of carbon emissions from oil, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Christopher Coye, was asked if the move can be seen as counterproductive to the green revolution. 

Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance: “There is a level of inconsistency across the globe, if you will as far as how do we address climate change, how do we become climate conscious,  the talk of carbon credits, and carbon sequestration, how important it is to the world. Certainly there’s a lot of discussion everywhere. You’ve heard about COP26, COP27, we’re going to have another COP in December. And yes, to all this urgency in addressing this issue we need to avoid an increase of 1.5% Celsius by 2030. But at the same time, as soon as fuel prices go up everybody is saying we need to get rid of taxes, we need to bring it back down but what does that mean? If we’re reducing the cost of fuel that means that there will be more consumption of fuel, which means that there will be more carbon emissions. So I think we have to get a handle across the board as to what we really want. We want to think about the future or we just want to think about today. And that, I think, is a discussion that we have to have at the global stage but we also have to have that at the local stage.”

Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Cordel Hyde, also weighed in on the need for greater sustainable development and explained that while conservation is paramount, the need to improve the lives of citizens is greater. 

Cordel Hyde, Minister of Natural Resources: “It’s a luxury if you can leave whatever is below the ground there and not try to discover it for the benefit of your community and your country when all the world is doing just that. Even as we take into consideration the real climate crisis that we are facing and it’s for us to be responsible. That’s what we believe has to take place. It’s called sustainable development. Trying to make sure that if we exploit the environment and we go that far that we do it to benefit the people. Those are the kinds of calculations we have to have. How much will this benefit the people? What’s the cost of the destruction versus what’s the benefit to the people? And if the benefit to the people far outweigh the destructive cost, then as a government we have a responsibility to make sure that we do what’s best for the people.”