Coordinating efforts is crucial to addressing environmental challenges, says Patrick Brunings

Suriname’s Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment Patrick Brunings believes that coordinating efforts is crucial to addressing environmental challenges. In his view, climate change and biodiversity are closely interconnected and concern every country without exception.

Below is Patrick Brunings’ full interview with Armenpress and Armenian Public Television.

Minister, what are your impressions of COP17? What would you say about the organisation and progress of the conference?

First, I would like to warmly welcome and commend Armenia’s organisation of COP17. My first impression of Armenia is, of course, that it is a beautiful country with very warm and, I think, very happy people. In that respect, it resembles Suriname, where we are also happy and friendly, so I feel completely at home here.

As for the organisation, I must say it deserves praise. From the logistics to the meetings, the building, the venue and the meetings themselves, everything has been handled very professionally. I congratulate the organisers on arranging the conference so wonderfully. In short, my assessment of the organisation is unequivocally positive.

You also attended the meeting of environment ministers. What important issues did you discuss with your counterparts?

Our delegation agrees with most of the positions expressed during the negotiations and the statements made on various issues. We are satisfied with the positions and statements presented during the negotiations concerning biodiversity, climate change, planning, monitoring and reporting. In that respect, everything went quite well. Many approaches also align with Suriname’s position. Of course, we belong to various groups, such as GRULAC and SIDS, and agree with most of the statements presented, so we are satisfied with the current situation and the results achieved so far.

There are, of course, some points on which we would have liked to see or achieve more. But the essence of a COP is that the parties make compromises. The result is a statement that satisfies everyone.

Biodiversity is, naturally, extremely important to us. More than 90 per cent of our country is covered by forests rich in biodiversity. However, there are numerous threats, such as gold mining and wildlife poaching. These are therefore very important issues that we discussed. Financing was another important issue that concerns everyone. How can we access the funding available to our country to protect wildlife and biodiversity? This question was also raised and discussed.

Global environmental challenges concern every country. Do you think countries should step up their collective efforts to address them?

Yes, we see that coordinating our efforts is very important. As a country, we cannot do this alone. Armenia cannot do it alone either. That is why we must join forces and recognise that we are in a crisis.

Sometimes, however, it seems as though there is no crisis: countries carry on as usual while we discuss various issues, because humanity is beginning to lose its sense of urgency. We need to sit down together more often to discuss how we can join forces and address environmental problems. Climate change and biodiversity are closely interconnected.

We therefore need more effective cooperation. I see too many problems being dealt with in isolation. Everyone is, of course, focused on their own problems. Every country has its financial and economic challenges. But how can we address large-scale problems using only our own resources? There is also a danger that neglecting certain problems could weaken the sense of urgency surrounding them.

Your country is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. How do you intend to address this?

Suriname is a low-lying country and is therefore very vulnerable to rising sea levels. This is one of the consequences of climate change that concerns us greatly. Fortunately, we have a heavily forested coastline, so we are paying close attention to conserving these ecosystems as we address this challenge. We are studying how forests can play an important role as sea levels rise by helping protect coastal areas.

Then there is the question of agriculture. How will higher temperatures affect agriculture? We are also focusing on this issue and conducting various studies. In particular, we are examining whether crops need to be adapted to climate change. How will our current crops withstand rising temperatures? And, of course, we must not forget the forests themselves.

We are also concerned about what will happen when temperatures rise by several degrees. Will this affect our forests? Will forest fires become more frequent? Will trees die? I am convinced that all this will affect not only Suriname itself but the entire world, because we help remove greenhouse gases. This is, of course, an enormous contribution globally.

We are deeply concerned that climate change could affect the forests and the people living in them. Everything is interconnected when it comes to biodiversity, so we call on the international community to help us protect this forest ecosystem.

Suriname faces threats associated with gold mining, as well as the need to protect its tropical forests. This requires adequate funding. The question is how to raise the money to protect the forests.

We are also becoming an oil- and gas-producing country, so we will direct some of the proceeds towards forest protection. It may seem contradictory: on the one hand, we have vast areas of forest, and on the other, we are developing the oil and gas industry. However, we want to use that revenue specifically to protect tropical forests so that, ultimately, we can help remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Suriname has had a carbon-negative economy since 2014. How will you address this challenge?

This is, of course, about oil and gas production. Yes, we plan to develop the oil and gas sector, but our aim is to use those resources to protect the environment. We envisage production over, say, 20–30 years. A substantial share of the revenue will go towards the long-term conservation of tropical forests. That is the idea.

It may seem paradoxical at first, because we face many difficulties in obtaining funding from international organisations. If international financing becomes available, our dependence on oil and gas will decrease. At some point, we may even decide that we no longer need to produce oil and gas.

At this stage, however, we cannot wait for the international community to provide us with funding, because that takes a long time. To some extent, that is our current position.

While in Armenia, have you had time to see the sights of Yerevan?

Yes, although I have had very little time, as I arrived on Sunday. But I went straight to the Cascade. It was very pleasant there.

This evening, if I have the opportunity, I will explore Yerevan, because I love culture. I can see that Armenia has a truly rich culture with very ancient roots. Armenians have their own alphabet, their own script and many cultural stories. Perhaps I will visit Armenia again, because I think it is a wonderful country.