On November 30, 2021 , Barbados officially removed Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State to become the world's newest Republic.  The Queen was replaced by an outstanding Barbadian  woman,  The Most Honorable Sandra Mason who transitioned seamlessly  from being the nation's Governor General representing the Queen to President in her own constitutional  right. This  signified   a watershed moment for the Caribbean nation that will officially set its own course without consulting the monarch.  It  was preceded and followed by a world class production of song, poetry  dance, memorable speeches of reflection and aspiration and  of a discipled and  colorful display of  military precision that defies description. Magnificent! Awesome! Soulful! Creative! Massive! are all acclamations that when applied  collectively would still not do justice to the magnificence of what the world witnessed -- the excellence of the Barbadian Spirit. 
 
 
Landmarks in the Journey from Slavery to Independence and to a Republic 
 
In December 1966, Errol Barrow stood before the United Nations as the first Prime Minister of a newly independent Barbados. In his speech before the body, which had just admitted Barbados as a member, Barrow famously declared, “We will be friends of all, satellites to none.” In the long road to independence Barbados originated as  one of England's first slave colonies and a hub for the transatlantic slave trade. Then its sugar plantation economy thrived by bringing in  enslaved people from Africa and  transferring profits to its English  masters. Reflecting on this ignominy in his speech before receiving the Order of  Freedom ,  the highest national award,  Prince Charles representing The Queen,  spoke of the "appalling atrocity of slavery" which he said  "forever stains our history". 
 
With the change to a Republic as outlined by the Constitution (Amendment) Bill passed earlier this year, Barbados  officially sets its own course for self-determination. It was revealing to note that a collage of its political history at the Road to Republic celebration, depicted  the contributions of previous Prime Ministers.  Besides Errol Barrow were Grantley Adams before him, and after him, Tom Adams,  Owen Arthur and Erskine Sandiford  whose  presence  at the event was recognized.     It also paid homage to the local but world renowned writers,  George Lamming and Kamau Braithwaite; the professionals and  ordinary people many of whom representing public,  private and civil society  received various national awards including for invaluable contributions to the fight against the COVID -19 pandemic https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59470843
 
 
The Essence-of the Watershed Moment 
 
Prime Minister Motley puts the watershed moment in perspective  in her November 2020 announcement of the  Government’s intention to become a Republic,  stating  that the decisions of the country’s Parliament and its executive,  should no longer be signed off on by “those who are not born  here, who do not live here, and who do not appreciate the daily realities of those who live here.” In advocating that Barbadians want a Barbadian Head of State she continued by  advocating  that ‘this is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving.” Two months after,   the bronze statue of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, the British naval commander and a slavery sympathizer  which was erected in 1813 by Barbados’ ruling class to commemorate Nelson’s victory over the Franco-Spanish forces, was dismantled from its prominent location in Bridgetown. 
 
While the Republican Constitution has  become the  supreme law of Barbados there is no guarantee that it would bring the elements of self governance or the desired transformation of civic virtue for the common good.  What is necessary is a consolidation of national identity of the citizens  with  historical and cultural traditions; and  moral values, ideals, beliefs with national sovereignty. These  become meaningful   manifestations when  individuals or groups come to believe that they belong to a country as a political community.  The psychological basis of identity politics lies in the feelings of humans that they possess an inner worth or dignity which the society around them recognizes. These revolve around issues of equity and access to opportunities; diversity with inclusion; social protection and security.  The philosophical aspects of this discussion have already been introduced in GOFAD's Blog  that highlighted the profound thoughts  of  English philosopher,  Isaiah Berlin's "Two concepts of Liberty" Inaugural Lecture, Oxford University (October 1958); America's philosopher John Rawls A theory of Justice (1971)  and 1998 Nobel Prize winner for contribution to welfare Economics  Amartya Sen's Nobel Lecture, "The Possibility of Social Choice"  (December 1998).    Their  varied portrayals of identity, nationality and sustainable development have relevance for the future of the Republic of Barbados  and for the Caribbean. 
See GOFAD Entombing Moments of Humiliation with the Ashes of a Disastrous Presidency  7/1/2021”
https://www.globalonefrontier.org/blog/entombing-moments-of-humiliation-with-the-ashes-of-a-disastrous-presidency
 
We ain’t Done the refrain from Cindi Celeste 
 
This vision of a national identity that frames  the context and prospects of the Republic of Barbados  was fully articulated  wittingly or unwittingly by Ms. Cindi Celeste in her profound and prophetic poem,    “We ain’t done.”  Delivered with youthful vigor and passionate commitment, it was  appropriately scheduled and performed following the announcement by Prime Minister Mottley that Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Felix,  the internationally renowned Barbadian singer and philanthropist  was recommended for the award of National Hero, joining Sir Garfield Sobers the only other living National  Hero.   Ms. Celeste looking to the future espouses in rhythmic expressiveness a few takeaways that I recall:  

• The wealth of the nation depends on the health of every new generation.
• Equality of opportunity must be linked to responsive representation.  
• Fostering Inclusive legislation binds the hearts of citizens.  
• Engaging in service over lip service 
• Taking action over  talking  about it. 
• Accepting the baton for freedom passed on "by Bussa [Leader of the 1816 Slave Rebellion] to Barrow  to we" 

 
 
Conclusion: Unravelling Identity 
 
Ms. Celeste’s  poem is worth reproducing in its entirety. Its message “we ain’t done” is a refrain  especially but not  exclusively for the youth.  It  however has left us to ponder  what happens when multiple identities emerge. For me, the major issue is - as Barbados forges ahead with consolidating its national identity,  whither the  CARICOM community?.  A  wise and most revered colleague and friend provided a possible and plausible answer.  He pointed out that consideration be given to the  assumption that compatible or parallel identities are more likely than conflicting identities to coexist and achieve positive results for the new Republic. I interpret this and the received wisdom from many writers on this subject to mean  that:

• Identity implies both uniqueness and sameness. 
• One identity cannot be defined in isolation.
• The only way to circumscribe an identity is by contrasting it against other identities. 
• On the one hand the ‘other’  implies  “marginality”, “lack”, and “backwardness” and on the other,   “the privileged” and “the preferred.”  

 
 As the spectacular fireworks illuminated   the early morning skies over the island in the finale to   an indescribable  Republic Celebration,  my soul like those of many others was  bursting with pride and my mind imagining what the future holds. I said a prayer giving thanks for  this  awe inspiring achievement  of Barbados to  trigger   lessons learned from its Road to becoming a Republic   sparkling  rays of  hope  for a mature CARICOM  project to indeed become a "Community for All".            
 
 
Eddie Greene
 

​Mythology will have us believe that this year is the 400th anniversary of Thanksgiving in the USA, commemorating a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621. However Prof David J Silverman, George Washington University historian contests this interpretation. In his 1999 book, This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving.  He illustrates both the  power and diplomatic skills of the indigenous Wampanoag Indians, and “ how all that the Pilgrims ultimately achieved came at the expense of native peoples." 
 
The mythology of the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving continues to be taught in schools passed down from one generation to the next by politicians, artists and TV and radio commentators. But Silverman questions the authenticity of this perspective. Focusing on the Wampanoag Indians, he deepens the narrative to consider tensions that developed well before 1620 when the Pilgrims in the Mayflower landed at Plymouth and lasted long after the devastating war of 1675.  These events  trace the Wampanoags' ongoing struggle for self-determination up to this very day. The unsettling history reveals why some modern Native people in the USA hold a Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving, a holiday which to them  celebrates a myth of colonialism and white proprietorship of the United States. This Land is Their Land shows that it is time to rethink how as a pluralistic nation, Americans tell,  understand and celebrate the true history of Thanksgiving.
 
A glance at received wisdom reveals that:

•  During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, 
• 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; calling upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. 
• His successors, John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.
• 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national holiday to commemorate a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621

 
While recounting these essential elements in the history of Thanksgiving, Silverman offers an eye-opening and vital reexamination of what he calls “America's founding myth."  400 years after that famous meal between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, he  sheds profound new light on the events that led to the creation and bloody dissolution of this alliance. It is as revelation of fact vs. fiction as well as the complex relationship between the Wampanoag Indians and Pilgrims, their declared friendship, and the commitment to mutual defense that became a war just one generation after the so-called “First Thanksgiving.”
 
 
Inventing the Truth 
 
The Thanksgiving myth suggests celebration of the first thanksgiving feast in 1621 was an initial encounter between English and the  Wampanoag Indians  which ended with the war between them in 1675. Yet historical records show encounters between the two groups dating back to 1500s.  Silverman points out that it is convenient to demarcate 1621 -1675 because it allows for a counter narrative of white American triumphalism and manifestations of white nationalism to propagate the conversion of native Indians to Christianity  and underestimate  the prominent role of the Wampanoag leader Pumetacom and the native Indians who fed the Pilgrims at Plymouth , taught them farming techniques that saved their lives from the ravages of diseases. At the same time it fails to describe that the resistance of the Wampanoagians collapsed because native Indians surrendered and joined the English in 1675; that contrary to promises made, the English seized all Wampanoag  property, made them bound labourers, held massive executions and sold them into the horrors of Caribbean slavery.  
 
Silverman illustrates that throughout 17th Century  to the early 19th Century  Thanksgiving bore no actual association between Indians and pilgrim.  The link between the holiday and history is propagated in a book, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers   by Rev Alexander Young which mythologized the first Thanksgiving as the first harvest festival in what Silverman describes as the most famous footnote ever as it  was subsequently disseminated by authors, lecturers, artists until in it was taken for granted.   The 'gift of citizenship'  to the Wampanoag that contributed to them surrendering in the 1675 war  was indeed a trojan horse that robbed them of their remaining land. According to Silverman,  “White Americans reduced Indians to bit parts. Pilgrims emerged as founding father at the time of cultural anxiety that the lands were being overrun by immigrants especially Catholics from Ireland and Germany". 
 
A most vital contemporary exposure of the myth of Thanksgiving identified in the book is that of Frank James a Wampanoag,  born in Martha's Vineyard 1948 who became Director of the  Conservatory in the North East.  He condemned  what was supposed to be the 350th anniversary of Thanksgiving in 1976,  as Plymouth’s manufactured history,  a contribution to perpetuation of slavery and  the betrayal of the native people who helped the Pilgrims to survive. Thanksgiving Day is therefore a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture. It was advocated as a Day of Mourning.  James' Thanksgiving speech was a pertinent eulogy: “Participants in this  National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression that Native Americans continue to experience.” 
 
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/native-america/2020/november/frank-james-and-the-history-of-the-national-day-of-mourning/
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
As we celebrate Thanksgiving day in the USA and elsewhere in the world and even at different times, especially in this COVID 19 era,  it is useful to reflect on  the religious interpretations and  draw on the two pillars: gratitude and thanks. In a programme on NBC Today (November 24, 2021) Michael Curry the presiding bishop and primate of the   Episcopal Church of the USA,  described gratitude as  an attitude and giving thanks as an action. In other words gratitude appreciates the blessings in one's life, but on its own, is insufficient. Christians to whom Lincoln appealed in his thanksgiving proclamation in 1863  are called to be doers of the word (James 1:22). They are required  to go beyond being grateful and be intentional about giving thanks.  
 
What are the implications for us.   In a most basic sense we need to be grateful  for being alive and sharing in the blessings of this life. More concretely we need to give thanks that children and more people are getting vaccines; for a world hopeful about the end of COVID 19 ; for a global wave  that is becoming more aware and taking action (even slowly) on climate change to save the planet;  and most of all,  that we have an opportunity to reimagine and take action toward a different way of living based on social justice for all. Silverman teaches us that in celebrating Thanksgiving  "we do ourselves no good by hiding from the truth." 
 
 
Eddie Greene 

What's The Caribbean Response to the Legacy of COP 26 in Glasgow

In presenting the outcome document from COP26, Alok Sharma, President  of the Conference pronounced"We kept 1.5 degrees alive but its pulse is weak. This is the moment of Truth for the planet".  John Kerry softened the embarrassing disappointment by saying "Glasgow was not the finishing line  and was never going to be. Nations will still have much more to do on their emissions cutting goals to ensure the 1.5 limit"  The truth for the Planet  is that the majority of the 20 largest countries contribute to 80 percent of the global emissions . Consequently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that if all the current long term commitments were fully followed through the world would limit heating to 1.8 degrees in the long term.  However the gap between the long term ambitions and countries' crucial short term targets for 2030 would result in heating of 2.4C. 

This is far removed from the six key demands put forward by Small Island Development States (SIDS)  and Climate Justice advocates.   As Hon. Gaston Brown, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and  chair of both  SIDS and the CARICOM Community puts it: these six key demands for World Leaders that, if met, should ensure our  nations are not entirely submerged by rising sea levels. They include:

• Decarbonize by rapidly phasing out fossil fuel extraction and ending subsidies.
• Commit to climate finance for small island states to mitigate and adapt.
• Ensure international institutions push harder for cooperation.
• Cancel developing countries debt so they can deal with the impacts of climate change.
• Implement a climate damages tax to make corporations compensate countries for climate related damage.
• Commit to limit global heating by  1.5°C.

As Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley so emphatically and persausively pronounced at  the opening plenary : ‘1.5°C is what we need to survive, 2°C is a death sentence... We do not want that dreaded death sentence, and we've come here to say, try harder.’
In the final analysis, not one of these key demands by SIDS was met in its entirety. While pondering the discussions on the mixed results of Glasgow, few may recall that "1.5 degrees to stay alive"  was the clarion call of the Caribbean at COP15  in Copenhagen, 2009 based on  research by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. More immediate however, are  the implications for the Caribbean of two interrelated concerns: (a) Is CARICOM paying heed to the results of related research from our Universities and Scientists? Are our Universities maximizing  the benefits of a collaborative approach to public education and dissemination of their  research findings?        
 
A Vibrant Ecosystem of Research: Keeping Hope Alive in the Caribbean 

COP26 left no doubt that the world is in a race towards renewable energy sources. Even before Glasgow, this was  fully recognized in the seminal  work, The State of the Caribbean Climate by The  Climate Studies Group at UWI Mona, UWI, led by Professor Michael Taylor  in collaboration with The Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology led by Dr. Cedric J Van Meerbeck and funded by CDB, April 2020. ( See  link)  It is important to note a companion Report by the Organization Eastern Caribbean States Climate Trends and Projections for the OECS Region which presents the OECS Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan (April 2020). 
https://pressroom.oecs.org/oecs-commission-releases-climate-trends-and-projections-report-for-the-oecs-region. 
​Like the UWI study, it   advocates for adaptation  of climate services involving  preparation and delivery of climate information to meet users' needs with partnerships among providers, researchers and users of climate services. 
The UWI study however is more expansive in advancing policy options,  which can in turn play a key role in facilitating the Caribbean's transition to a resilient future.  Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires far-reaching transformations across power generation, buildings, industry, transport, land use, coastal zone management, and agriculture, as well as the immediate scale-up of technological carbon removal and climate finance. Accordingly, it promotes decarbonizing by focusing on Power.  It presents the case that wind and solar power generation technologies which are already available at scale, would be the quickest sector to decarbonize. The demand for power would double as other sectors switch to electricity and green hydrogen, requiring renewables production and storage capacity to be rapidly scaled up.  Similarly for transportation, the trend to carbon neutrality in the next decade is based on adoption of electrical vehicles and for agriculture,  using more efficient sources of energy.   The policy guidance from these two  studies but particular UWI's,  revolves  around  three pillars of functional' cooperation:
   

• Plan for current climate but be guided by the lessons of the past.
• Plan for the future climate but do it collaboratively. 
• Prioritize harnessing and enhancing regional strengths and expertise in support of improved decision making regionally.

The directives from these studies   identify underlying conditions that enable adequate        responses to climate change.  They include supportive policies, innovations, strong institutions, leadership, and shifts in social norms.  It is interesting to note that The Watchdog Climate Action Tracker (CAT) states that global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will still be roughly twice as high as what's necessary to limit warming to 1.5 degrees — a threshold scientists have said the planet should stay under to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. The net-zero goals of 40 countries account for 85% of global emissions cuts, but the group found only 6% of those emissions were backed up by concrete plans. At this rate Finance for climate action, one of the major demands from SIDS, for example, must increase nearly 13-fold to meet the estimated need in 2030.

Glimmers of Hope through Coalitions of the Willing 

There are however glimmers of hope that even the watered down commitments from  Glasgow will reshape the Global Agenda as coalitions of the willing continue to work on critical solutions. It is apparent that the net-zero imperative is no longer in question. Among the limited  successes for SIDS to be built on are that  more than 130 countries that represent more than 85% of the planet's forests pledged last week to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, and more than 25 countries have so far signed on to an agreement to stop financing fossil fuel projects abroad but no mention of doing so at home. 
 
Many of the net-zero commitments made in Glasgow came from coalitions of the stakeholders—governments, financial institutions, companies, multilateral organizations, civil society, youth and others. This is a major shift in gears among coalitions since Paris, who must participate if systemic problems are going to be solved. How can Caribbean Countries tap into these sources  and/or create necessary coalitions in the region and globally are to be found  in  a  very useful analysis of McKinsey Sustainability Report (November 12, 2021) that    published a summary of five key priorities coming out of Glasgow: 

• Companies can gain competitive advantage from translating net-zero pledges into netzero plans
• The money to finance the transition is forming; markets and institutions are needed to channel capital
• Securing green materials and decarbonizing assets will mitigate risk amid shortages and price volatility
• Measurement and disclosure are unavoidable; using digital to create transparency can have benefits
• Investments in resilience can protect people and companies from physical climate hazards

 
Conclusions: Reimagining Climate Resilience - Building on the work of Caribbean Scientists 
​
The big questions of financing adaptation and mitigation remain  critical for  SIDS and CARICOM. To what extent is the Caribbean Agenda totally dependent on external sources? Are carbon credits and  carbon taxes (raised in a previous blog) viable  options for reducing dependence of SIDS/CARICOM? What's to be done? . 
GOFAD has previously advocated for a greater level of cooperation among Caribbean Universities to advance the Region's achieving  2030 Sustainable Development Goals.  Capability for intellectual leadership in these endeavours is clearly illustrated in several ways. These include  the UWI Climate Studies Group referred in this blog; the  Green Environment Workshop of the University of Guyana Green Institute;  the UWI Resilience Network  established to contribute to the sustainable and resilient development of the Caribbean; the Centennial Legacy of Agriculture at UWI St Augustine to mark 100 years of the establishment of the Imperial College Tropical Agriculture August 30, 1921, which became known  as the University  College of the West Indies St Augustine in 1960, the University of Guyana (Berbice)  Campus Microbiology Training Workshop;  and the Human Heredity Environment and Health in the Caribbean (H3EC) Initiative  involved in genomics research. In addition, Vidia S Roopchand, a UG graduate lead researcher for the Pfizer COVID- 19 vaccine is an outstanding example. More than ever GOFAD reaffirms its "Random thoughts on Universities  in the post COVID 19 era: Time for a regional conversation" (GOFAD Blog 4/29/21)     
https://www.globalonefrontier.org/blog/random-thoughts-on-universities-in-the-post-covid-19-era-time-for-a-regional-conversation
 
 
Eddie Greene 

​The 2015  Paris agreement  (COP25)   provides a useful benchmark by which to judge the results of COP26  in Glasgow which comes to an end the day after this blog has been posted.  However, from all reports and our judgement having been part of the virtual audience at several of the main sessions and side events, the reviews of COP26  are mixed.  While Greta  Thunberg mocks the failure of the conference to offer concrete results as Blah, Blah, Blah,   Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission and a key negotiator at COP26,   optimistically pronounced that  “the glass is half full”. 
 
Context 
 
Recall that the 2015 Paris agreement adopted by 197 countries  aimed to reduce carbon emissions and limit the increase of the global temperature to well below 2°C . Then countries committed to decarbonize their economies and build climate resilience.   While  Small Island Development States (SIDS) continue their chant  “1.5°C to stay alive”, the  Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) supports their view that limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of the century is still possible, but  will require rapid, immediate, and economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, as well as the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. The conclusion to be drawn is that near-term actions to halve GHG emissions by 2030 must be pursued alongside longer-term strategies to achieve deep decarbonization by 2050. 
 
The Downside
 
According to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT)   of the 123 countries that submitted new national determined contributions  (NDC) targets by October 2021, twenty two  (22) including the European Union (EU) as a block submitted stronger targets  while 12 did not increase ambitions.  As many  as 89 countries that are not analyzed by the CAT submitted NDC targets.  Among them are many Caribbean, Pacific, African,  South East Asian and Eastern European countries all of whom  contribute minimally to GHG emissions. According to research  published in Glasgow (November 9), the  world is on track for disastrous levels of global heating far in excess of the limits in the Paris Climate Agreement, despite a flurry of carbon-cutting pledges from governments at the UN Cop26 summit. Temperature rises will top 2.4C  by the end of this century, based on the short-term goals countries have set out. 
 
Prospects 
 
China and USA, the world’s two biggest emitters unveiled a joint declaration  for close cooperation on emissions cuts that scientists say are needed in the next 10 years to stay within 1.5C.  According to the declaration, the two countries will “meet regularly to address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process, focusing on enhancing concrete actions in this decade,”
 
At the same time India, the world’s third largest carbon emitter and one of the few countries is  yet to announce a timeframe to reach net zero emissions.  Surprisingly,  because of the dominance of its coal industry,  India is likely to  exceed two key commitments of  the Paris Agreement.  First, according to Environmental Research India looks likely to reduce emissions by as much as 45 percent by 2030, far surpassing its Paris target.  This is due to its pledge to increase the share of power-generation capacity  from renewable, hydroelectric, and nuclear sources. The other commitment is to reduce carbon emissions by 33 to 35 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2030. Today, India  is claiming the moral high ground by pointing out its per capita emissions are much lower than comparable nations and that the same rich nations that polluted their way to riches in the 19th and 20th centuries are now scolding developing countries when they follow the same route. Interestingly Vivek Wadhwa writing in Foreign Policy (October 22 2021) illustrates from empirical  data that  India is already far exceeding its renewable energy goals.
 
 
Climate Technology and Climate Finance Critical Indicators 
 
These  issues are indeed critical and need  to be explored in greater depth than this Blog will permit.  Suffice it to say that limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires far-reaching transformations across power generation, buildings, industry, transport, land use, coastal zone management, and agriculture. It also requires an immediate scale-up of technological carbon removal and climate finance. 
 
In an interesting side event by the Commonwealth Foundation,  the  point of departure was that  an ever-shrinking carbon budget does not accommodate delay. To reach a net-zero future, it is imperative to  ignite fundamental change across nearly all systems, from how we move around the world and build cities to how we grow food and power industry. These systemwide transitions will depend on the massive scale-up of finance, technology, and capacity building for countries that need support. That the G20 countries have reneged on their  pledged contribution of 100B per year since Paris erodes the  trust required to propel the world’s system toward Climate justice and equity. Uncertainty about the availability of financing for innovation  will limit capital formation and slow scale-up. Integrating most climate technologies into existing infrastructure, hardware, software, and operational systems  is critical. 
 
Conclusion: Changing Mindset 
 
As COP26 enters its closing stages it is to be hoped that  the  chasm between aspirations and policies will narrow and that governments will  change their mindset by putting global interests before national interest, thereby saving this planet from destruction.  A most sanguine expression of this aspiration is provided by ,” William Nordhaus argues. “Why Climate Policy Has Failed And How Governments Can Do Better” Foreign Affairs,  October 12, 2021
 
Greta Thunberg and the young  activists took a stand with a massive demonstration in Glasgow last Friday (November 5).  They continue to nudge and advocate for  governments to do better  After all the futures of their generation and the generations to come are  high stakes. 
 
 
Eddie Greene 

​Guyana has an excellent opportunity to be one of the best resource-rich countries. However, it  needs to  reorganize creative  institutional approaches, while   establishing and adhering to accepted principles, values and norms for achieving sustainable development. The big picture should  focus on What’s the future for Sustainable Development should look like in Guyana and the Caribbean?  My response assumes  a long term 20-50 year perspective  with emphasis on the acceleration of a low carbon and climate resilient agenda aligning oil and gas and a green economy.   It  straddles three areas: Governance and Institutions; Social Justice and Sustainable Business Approach. 
 
Governance and Institution Strengthening 
The overall focus ought to be on a broader sustainable development approach including  the economic, social and environmental. Therefore legislative, administrative and institutional reforms are critical to effective  governance towards Guyana becoming a model for climate change.

• Legislative reforms require resolving the tensions between International Investment Law, International Human Rights Law and Environmental Laws. For example are the issues around mangroves and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA);   decisions around Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs);  and compliance with the Environmental Protection Act.  It is important to note that traditionally, International Investment Law, to a large extent, takes  precedent over Human Rights and Environmental Laws. However there is now an opportunity for Guyana to harmonize or bring a greater degree of balance between investment, human rights and environmental laws in Guyana and the Caribbean. It is also feasible to develop a  project to focus on an examination of the conflicts and tensions between International Investment  and  International Human Rights Laws  through a collaborative venture including, for example,   the University of Guyana's Green Institute (UGGI) and the Faculty of Law.

 

• Institutional Reforms are critical. A relevant example is the Pact of Mexico which was the agreement between the three major political parties in Mexico that allowed for legislative, administrative, and institutional reforms and ushered in a new era of changes in the economic structure of the energy markets that  opened the hydrocarbons industry in Mexico.

 

• Social Justice  is a key component around which Guyana has to build  a model oil and gas producing country, as well as having a green economy focus. This model must reflect best practices in the redistribution of power and wealth to enhance the well-being of citizens through equal access, for example to healthcare, education, justice, and economic opportunities. 

 
The Necessary Enabling Conditions 
The development of reforms is one dimension. However,  their effective implementation requires a series of enabling conditions, among them access to resources: equity, diversity, inclusivity 

• Access to Resources is a main principle of social justice. As a model oil and gas producing country, in pursuit of  a green economy, Guyana’s development strategy must ensure equal  access to education, employment and health care, among others. As a resources-rich country combining oil and gas and the green growth economy, there is need to develop and implement public policy  that ensures better access to resources by citizens. In other words development must not only be seen, it must be felt also.

 

• Equity  is not the same as equality. As such, the aspiration should be to ensure that in order to achieve social justice and ensure equal opportunities for its citizens it is important to provide and distribute resources equitably. This means focusing on the specific needs of different communities and the individuals within them. Being a resource-rich country creates greater opportunities for policies to reduce systemic barriers and for policies to be implemented in more inclusive ways. Some  examples of resource-rich countries which are using their resources to advance development are developed countries – United States, Canada, Australia, and Norway; while developing countries are: Botswana and Chile.

 

• Diversity: As a model resource-rich country Guyana will have an opportunity to make resources available for better assessments of factors that create barriers in the society and develop programmes to overcome those barriers.

 

• Inclusivity and Participation are critical elements for Guyana to become a model country. Being a resource-rich country presents another opportunity to not merely develop policies in an inclusive way but also to implement them in an inclusive manner. There are opportunities for greater collaboration between UG and organizations such as, the Guyana Extractive Industries,  Transparency Initiative – Multi-Stakeholder Group (GYEITI- MSG) to increase participation of a wider cross section of the society - public, private, and civil society sectors.  There is also the elements of citizens and the development research, capacity building, etc. on the benefits of an inclusive approach to oil and gas governance and green growth. A CARICOM approach is a useful pursuit. 

 
Greater participation and inclusion would also reduce management conflicts by  fostering multi-stakeholder participation in the development of international investment agreements, not necessarily on the details but on  the broad components which can include various stakeholders, for example civil society. In this regard, Canada provides a good example of devising and implementing environmental protection policies. 

• Human Rights: Adhering to human rights obligations is a prerequisite for  Guyana being a model country.  Human rights are closely connected to social justice and it is  impossible to have one without the other. Within the University of Guyana,  UGGI can collaborate with the Law Faculty to promote the harmonization of environmental  and human rights obligations as well as  norms and more human rights compliant investments.

 
 
Sustainable Business Approach 
A sustainable approach to business and investment is critical. It will need to focus on integrated policies, strategies, and programmes in the economic, social and environment approaches to sustainable development.  Lessons to be learned exist in some private sector examples. These include the Business Roundtable which consists over 200 top corporations in the United States formed in 2019; United Nations Global Compact. Most appropriate however, is the CARICOM option for an energy partnership between Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. (Please see link https://villagevoicenews.com/2021/10/28/proposed-guyana-trinidad-and-tobago-and-suriname-regional-energy-partnership/)
 
Conclusions 
My response to the question -- What would you like to tell Caribbean leaders and their delegations to COP 26-- is that emphasis should be placed on:

• Governance and Institutions: rethinking economic practices combined and human rights.
• Social Justice: fostering access to resources, diversity, equity, inclusivity and  participation
• Sustainable business approaches which highlight integrated policies, strategies, and programmes in the economic, social and environment approaches to sustainable development.
• Building a viable  post COVID-19  Guyana and Caribbean economy working on achieving  a regional energy policy combined with climate resilience strategy. 
• Sustainable and creative leadership: A good example of new thinking around this area is the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) programme, ‘The Future We Want’  https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/news/blog/developing-leadership-future-we  00224841846c) want?_cldee=dGhvbW9neUB5YWhvby5jb20%3d&recipientid=contact-5e7b5a49ce56e011b3ed7aeffdc904e0 9ed9aef7337d44739f0ddf84d01d18fc&esid=c81e947f-2630-ec11-b6e6-00224841846c)

 
About the author Ms. Audreyanna Thomas is Managing Director - Global Perspective Inc. (GPI) in Guyana and former  steering committee member of the SIDS Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).  She has been  engaged in research in foreign direct investment, cross sectoral governance, the rule of law,  human rights and gender  in Oil and Gas/extractive  industries  with special reference to Guyana’s economic transition. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from UG and a post graduate degree from Loyola, University Chicago and  post graduate attachment to  and University of Cambridge, UK. 
 
 
 

GOFAD is pleased to bring this special report issued on the day that the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties. (COP) 26  begins in Glasgow, UK. Various forms of   Carbon Taxes  have been part of the discussion among academics, policy makers,  media commentators and executives in the Oil and Gas sectors globally.  Most recently, the topic has engaged participants at   the UN General Assembly (September 2021)  and the   IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings (early October 2021). The Green Economy Workshop at which Dr.  Thomas Singh presented a paper on the upstream carbon tax provided a point of departure from many of the other contributions on this issue and is worth the consideration of our readers. This is especially the case given  the thrust of Guyana’s  President Irfaan Ali’s  statement last week to the UN Preparatory  Session for COP 26, including   over  200 civil society organizations from more than 40 countries that  called for an end to international public financing for fossil fuels. President Ali  pointed out that Guyana, a  low-lying country  which is engaged in a major offshore oil exploration push with ExxonMobil—already uses seawalls to protect its coastal cities. https://www.theenergymix.com/2020/03/08/hope-for-stability-fades-as-guyana-becomes-nascent-petro-state/  President Ali  aptly highlighted  the situation   when he said “climate emergency will kill far more people than the COVID-19 pandemic” , adding that  “We hold out hope that the world’s worst emitters of greenhouse gases that are affecting the welfare of all mankind will also come to the realization that, in the end, it will profit them little to emerge king over a world of dust”  
 
At the Green Economic Workshop,  an interactive panel  considered another perspective  by engaging  participants in a discussion,  Can Guyana be a Model for Climate Resilience: Aligning Oil and Gas with a Green Economy. At the same time CARICOM Climate Change Ministers this week issued a call for Climate Justice in a Declaration ahead of COP26.  These among others  form the  context for the Report that follows.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________
 
The Background to a Game Changing Proposal
 
A carbon tax is one way of “putting a price on carbon”, the other being to establish a carbon emissions trading system (ETS).  Carbon pricing causes economic agents who are transacting in a market to recognise third party costs as part of their production costs.  As such, an explicit carbon tax that leads to a reduction in crude oil production is associated with a certain amount of “avoided emissions.”
The Upstream Carbon Tax at the Wellhead (UCTW), discussed on Day 1 of the 2021 Green Economy Workshop is a game-changing one that will in fact address all four objectives of COP26: Climate Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance and Cooperation. A  “Pigouvian tax” [meant to equal the cost of the negative external effects] that will be set equal to the best measure of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC),   will achieve the climate mitigation objective by ensuring that oil producers internalise the full cost – including the “third party cost” or negative externality imposed on all of us when CO2 emissions are released on combustion - of their activities. As it is a tax the UCTW will also generate revenues, which could be earmarked for climate adaptation, in the jurisdictions that adopt it. In other words, the UCTW will achieve enhanced ambition in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, but without the usual concerns about a reduction in revenues. Cooperation as envisaged in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement will therefore be “incentive compatible” for Guyana and Suriname, which could be seen as achieving enhanced ambition as a regional climate club, an idea that has been promoted by Economics Nobel Laureate, William Nordhaus.
 
Distinguishing between Up Stream and Down Stream versions
 
The carbon tax is administratively simple, but one must distinguish between an upstream and a downstream version. The downstream version of the carbon tax is one that is levied at the petrol pump. It has become a focal point for the global effort to reduce emissions from fossil fuels, receiving strong support in the US from the Climate Leadership Council (CLC), which calls it the "bipartisan climate solution”; and wider support from Leaders around the world from government, private sector, academia, and civil society organised as the Carbon Pricing Leadership Council. Both the World Bank and the IMF have endorsed carbon pricing, the Managing Director and staff of the latter even being more specific in their advocacy of a minimum carbon price floor to be adopted by the full G20.
 
Timing, however, is of the essence, and not just because the imminent COP26 will probably finalise the Rulebook for Article 6.  Rather, if a developed country were to adopt a carbon tax first, then it will no doubt impose a border adjustment on oil imports from countries that do not have a carbon tax, ultimately causing those latter countries to pay their carbon tax, without being able to earn any revenues from it. This could well be the fate of crude oil extracted from the Guyana-Suriname Basin if the UCTW is not adopted first. On the other hand, countries that import oil from the Guyana-Suriname Basin will be penalised by having to pay higher, UCTW-inclusive prices and losing the opportunity to earn corresponding revenues unless they themselves adopted a higher carbon tax. Because carbon taxes cannot be successfully challenged either under WTO rules or international investment dispute settlement mechanisms, the adoption of the UCTW in the Guyana-Suriname Basin will provide an important nudge to the process of putting a price on carbon. Universal adoption of carbon pricing, which seems inevitable, would itself ensure that there will be no significant loss in the competitiveness of crude oil produced in the region, nor would there be any carbon leakage due to the transfer of oil production to other regions.
 
The upstream carbon tax, levied at the wellhead in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, is notably superior from a national (Guyana or Suriname) perspective to the downstream version that is being advocated, the CLC downstream version applies to consumers in the US. Thus the tax revenues would increase in the US and other developed countries that adopt the proposal. This, of course, is in the nature of taxes: they are earned in the tax jurisdictions in which they are levied or implemented. The "irrelevance-of-who-pays the tax" logic would guarantee that the climate mitigation effect of the tax is identical, regardless of where it is levied - at the petrol pump in developed countries or the wellhead in the Guyana- Suriname Basin. What is wholly different is the "distributional effect”, because it is only in the case of the latter that Guyana and Suriname would earn revenues from the measure. Thus, if Guyana's oil production were to remain at 120,000 barrels per day, the Government of Guyana (GoG) will earn about USD750 Million annually if an average carbon price of say US$40/tonne of CO2 equivalent were to be assumed. And in Guyana’s case, this could be a simple administrative charge levied by the Guyana EPA, requiring no new legislation or regulation.  Indeed, the very same provision Section 4 (4) (a) Environmental Protection Act 1996 that was used to introduce a charge on excess flaring emissions in the Stabroek Block, is available for the introduction on this UCTW.
 
Carbon Tax Climate in Guyana -Suriname Basin & Climate Financing for CARICOM 
 
A key design element of carbon taxes - upstream or downstream - relates to the use of the revenues that would be raised by the tax. The general principle is that the revenues must be earmarked for activities that will not lead to a leakage, or an increase in CO2 emissions elsewhere; or may even reduce them further. In the case of the UCTW, the revenues ought to be thought of as self-generated climate finance, to be used for adaptation, and perhaps for loss and damage, and climate resilience; and also for immediately fulfilling the unconditional and conditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) made under the Paris Agreement. Moreover, this self-generated climate finance will be controlled and distributed in an institutional framework that would allow countries that have generated the emissions reductions to have a say in the use of the funds. Finally, while the commitment by developed countries to US$100 Billion annually to climate finance seems as elusive as the quest to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the Guyana-Suriname Basin can generate enough climate finance for the region to even consider making subscriptions to start a Regional Climate Adaptation Fund to support other countries.
 
By adopting the UCTW, Guyana and Suriname will therefore be able to address the deep paradox of producing a commodity that increases CO2 emissions at the very time that net-zero has become critically important, while also being renowned for the positive externalities of rich biodiversity and significant carbon sequestration services it provides as part of the Guiana Shield. The development in the Guyana-Suriname Basin is also coming on stream at a time when the International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued a call for an end to new investments in fossil fuels, rather than making the phasing out of unabated power plants in advanced countries the priority. Beyond the mitigation it would achieve, the UCTW could, if adopted, be invoked for the role it will play in providing a much-needed nudge to the rest of the world to adopt carbon pricing, while providing a positive response to the IEA’s call in a way that respects the common but differentiated responsibilities to address climate change among countries.
 
Carbon Pricing Essential to Achieving net Zero Emissions
 
In contrast, the ETS is a 'cap-and-trade' scheme which requires the regulatory agency to set limits or caps on emissions, allocate allowances, and then let participants trade allowances in order to meet their regulatory requirements. A carbon price emerges from this trading. One key difference between the two forms of carbon pricing therefore is that with carbon taxes prices are known, while with the ETS, the carbon price is very uncertain. It is for this reason that even oil majors such as ExxonMobil have publicly announced their support for carbon taxes as the most effective way of stabilising the global climate. In fact, Exxon Mobil has even adopted the stance that carbon pricing is "essential to achieving net-zero emissions”.
 
The upstream version of the carbon tax, levied at the "wellhead," or on each barrel of oil produced in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, is superior to the alternative of establishing an ETS in which oil companies would participate. For one thing, unless allowances are sold or auctioned when being allocated at the outset, governments earn no revenue at all from the operation of emissions markets. Second, the ETS creates great uncertainty about the ensuing carbon price for investors, whereas carbon taxes give companies a chance to take stable and explicit carbon prices into account when making decisions. From a climate mitigation perspective, one should further point out that while the ETS and carbon taxes would, with the right assumptions, have the same effect of reducing emissions, it is far easier to get the carbon price "right" in the case of the carbon tax than in the case of ETS.
 
Conclusions: Carbon Tax and the Fundamentals of Social Justice 
 
The upstream version of the carbon tax is also clearly superior to any of the voluntary "private-public" schemes that are now emerging.  One such is the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, which is itself a voluntary coalition that seeks to match buyers and sellers of carbon offsets. Its Call for Proposals indicates that these offsets are designed for "voluntary, not international compliance purposes”, and therefore should be seen as complementary to other measures such as the UCTW, and not an alternative to it. It should be emphasised that Guyana stands to earn revenues from carbon offsets generated by LEAF projects only in stage 5 or 6 of the LEAF cycle, after emissions reductions (ERs) have been verified, the credits have been paid for by a third-party agency, due diligence has been done, and so forth. Indeed, in posting an update that lists the jurisdictions “eligible for purchase agreement discussion with Coalition participants”, the LEAF Coalition states clearly that “This posting does not guarantee a transaction. LEAF Coalition transactions are conditioned on the ability of a jurisdiction to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of v2.0 (or other applicable version) of The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) ... and the terms of the Call for Proposal issued on April 22, 2021.” This contrasts with the assured climate finance that could be generated from a UCTW, but it is important to point out that the two carbon mechanisms are not in any way mutually exclusive.
 
For all these reasons therefore, and because of the resounding climate justice that would finally be infused in a mitigation mechanism, the just-concluded 2021 Green Economy Workshop hosted by the University of Guyana GREEN Institute (UGGI) recognised the urgency and the importance of an Upstream Carbon Tax at the Wellhead in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, and by this statement, requests that governments of the region give serious consideration to it.
 
 
About the Author 
 
Thomas Singh is currently the Director of the University of Guyana GREEN Institute and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics.  He has worked in academia, the public sector and the private sector.  His research interests are generally in applied microeconomics, particularly environmental and natural resource economics and the economics of trust and social interactions.  He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Kent (UK), MA Temple University and B.Sc Soc SC UG.  An active member of civil society, he is also President of the Epilepsy Foundation of Guyana.                                                                  See UGGI Website: https://greeninstitute.gy/
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

​Image: Jeanne Menjoulet/Flickr
 
One joke making the rounds in Kabul’s diplomatic circles these days is that the power transition in Kabul from the Ghani government to that of the Taliban was smoother than the one that took place in Washington D.C. earlier this year. That may be a (slight) exaggeration, but there is little doubt that the swiftness with which the Taliban entered the Afghan capital caught most observers by surprise.
 
After twenty years, the notion that a decision to end America’s longest war was due is uncontroversial. Beyond Afghanistan, however, the question is what will happen next in Central Asia, and how will the security deficit there be addressed. Who wins and who loses with the U.S. withdrawal from the “graveyard of empires”? What will its effects be on China and on India, the two “Asian giants” whose own bilateral links have been on a downhill course recently?
 
A standard rationale for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is that it was done to end the “distraction” of a war in a “secondary theater”, so that Washington could focus on its main concern – that is, China. This would be in line with the U.S. shift in emphasis from NATO to the Quadrilateral Strategic Dialogue (the “Quad”), whose inaugural summit, in March 2021, was the first international meeting hosted by President Biden after he took office. It would also correspond to the recent AUKUS deal to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, creating a major diplomatic rift with France.
If Afghanistan were to become a hotbed of international terrorism, and provide once again a base for the Eastern Turkmenistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) of Uighur militants bent on Xinjiang’s secession from China, this could become a headache for Beijing. This was one reason the PRC never recognised the previous Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001. Yet if, as all indicates, China reaches an agreement with the Taliban, both sides have much to gain. Afghanistan has enormous mineral riches (valued at up to US 1 trillion dollars), mostly in copper and lithium (some refer to it as “the Saudi Arabia of lithium”), both in high demand by China for its E-V industry. China could also build much of Afghanistan’s infrastructure. If the Taliban government is able to guarantee security and law and order (a big if), it is possible to imagine an influx of Chinese mining and construction companies that could do much to bolster the Afghan economy – exactly what the new regime in Kabul needs.
 
China’s long-standing partnership with Pakistan, the country where the single biggest Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project, the US$ 46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is located, and whose intelligence services created the Taliban in the first place, also gives Beijing some leverage. India, on the other hand, may find itself holding the short end of the stick. Having bet heavily on the Hamid Karzai government first, and the Ashraf Ghani government later, it has had a rocky relationship with the Taliban from the word go. India was left out of many of the recent multi-party negotiations regarding the future of Afghanistan, and New Delhi will not find it easy to reclaim its diplomatic footing there again.
 
The larger issue, though, is the changing configuration of Eurasia, what Kent Calder has referred to as the “Super Continent”, rejoined by the technologies of the new century, including bullet trains and mobile telephony. The return of the Taliban opens new doors to the two players that have been reshaping it over the past decades, that is Russia and China. Seeing the writing on the wall, Moscow carried on talks with the Taliban for years, and its Embassy in Kabul is open for business. As the newly independent “Central Asian Five” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), the old former Soviet republics, struggle to find their place in the sun, Moscow and Beijing vie to establish their predominance in an area where Afghanistan is at the very centre. China’s BRI was initially all about connecting the world’s fastest growing region, East Asia, with the world’s biggest market, the European Union, while bringing into play these new, until now marginalised countries, rich in natural resources, thus recreating the old Silk Road.
 
Russia, though uneasy about it at first, as it saw BRI encroaching on its own turf, has ultimately played along, as a way of consolidating a condominium of sorts with China in what has traditionally been considered the geopolitical centre of the world. A rich panoply of regional entities, like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), aim to redefine a space that Russia considers its “near abroad”, and China sees as critical to its New Silk Road.
 
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the earlier closing of U.S. military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, means that China and Russia will now have more of a free hand to proceed. India’s putting all of its eggs in one basket in Afghanistan, and its early rejection of the BRI, leaves it with a weak hand to help shape the new regional security and economic architecture in Central Asia, though its membership on the SCO and old ties with Moscow mean it is not totally cut off from the action.
 
For much of human history, Eurasia, which Halford Mackinder referred to as “the world island”, has been at the very centre of geopolitical conflicts and contests. During the 20th century, it disappeared from our vocabulary, but has now made a triumphant return. As we brace for what Kishore Mahbubani forecasts will be “the Asian century”, there is no reason to think Eurasia will recede from view. In that perspective, the fall of Kabul may be more than a historical footnote.
 
Let us recall that the Afghan capital was once a key caravan stop of the Silk Road traversed by Marco Polo. It may yet become one once again, this time of the New Silk Road being forged these days across the vast expanses and indomitable mountains of Central Asia.
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Jorge Heine, a former Chilean ambassador to China (2014-2017) and to India (2003-2007) is a research professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, and a Wilson Center global fellow.

​This week GOFAD shines a light on His Excellency  Kevin Isaacs, St Kitts/Nevis High Commissioner to the UK. While being a Diplomat is his designated occupation he has a passion for poetry and is quite accomplished.  I have attached a link to his Podcast of what he calls verbal photography.  Out of his vast collection on a  variety of subjects, I am fascinated by the one entitled,  “Paper Cup. “  It prepares me fully for my immediate future. I invite you to explore the link to Kevin Isaac's  website after listening to the Podcast and get acquainted with this fascinating artist and his work. https://verbalphotography.com/2021/03/28/paper-cup/
       
Over the past year, other poets from among GOFAD readers have sent copies of their work.  It occurred to me that I could share these from time to time since some among you may find them a diversion that is soulfully fulfilling. 
  
 
See Kwame Ryan Conducing on YouTube 
 
You would recall that in last week’s blog that featured  Maestro Kwame  Ryan, it was indicated that the premier of the opera, “Time of our Singing” may be viewed on YouTube.  For those who are interested, please subscribe to opera vision (link below) for notification and access to Time for our singing on Friday 24, 2021. https://youtu.be/HuA7CX4QFYA
 
Enjoy 
 
 
 
Eddie Greene

​This Blog is being  written after the incredible opera conducted by Kwamé Ryan has been premiered in Brussels on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 and may be viewed via web stream online from Friday, September  24 at 1.00 pm EST (March 2022).  According to the text of the programme booklet,   The Time of Our Singing, published in a Dutch and French translation,  the Opera is based on “a magnificent, multifaceted novel about a supremely gifted―and divided―family, set against the backdrop of postwar America, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and bestselling author Richard Powers” 
 
In celebration of this occasion, GOFAD had intended to review the novel, but having read the amazing connectedness  of Maestro Ryan to this novel-opera, thought it best to let readers experience  his unadulterated views  of  what he labels  of “Mixedness - Unified in Time” 
 
The Essence of the Novel 
 
Glimpses of  the novel’s  power and meaning   should be a further enticement.
 

• The Time of Our Singing  is a story of self-invention, allegiance, race, cultural ownership, the compromised power of music, and the tangled loops of time that rewrite all belonging”

 

• “The plot concerns a family essentially brought into being by racism. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused the outstanding black contralto Marian Anderson use of the premier concert venue in Washington D.C.  As a result, she gave a free open-air concert to 75,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.”

 

• “Jonah, Ruth and Joseph [the main characters in the novel]  are the children of mixed-race parents determined to raise them beyond time, beyond identity, steeped in song. Yet they cannot be protected from the world forever.”

 

•  “From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author  —— an enthralling, wrenching novel about the lives and choices of one family, caught on the cusp of identities.”

 
You may read the  documentation of Kwamé Ryan’s connectedness as a conductor to the orientation of the novel  in this link: https://www.lamonnaie.be/en/mmm-online/2141-mixedness---unified-in-time
 
 
An Eloquently Profound  Preview of the Opera 
 
It is further worth your time to listen to the  YouTube  preview of the opera, by conductor  Kwamé Ryan, whose production was delayed  due to the COVID 19  pandemic. Bringing to life 'The Time of Our Singing', Kris Defoort's latest opera based on the novel by Richard Powers, Kwamé  states:  “This production would have been immensely relevant one year ago, and it's even more important to create it today". See link https://youtu.be/v8A9O0Ye1J0 
 
 
Who is  Kwamé Ryan? 
 
Kwamé Ryan was born in Canada and grew up on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where he received his early musical education. He completed his studies reading musicology at Cambridge University, and specialising in conducting at the International Eötvös Institute. He held the position of General Music Director of Freiburg Opera between 1999 and 2003, and that of Musical and Artistic Director of the National Orchestra of Bordeaux Aquitaine between 2007 and 2013. When not on the podium, Kwamé Ryan dedicates his time to educational and community development work as Director of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy for the Performing Arts (APA) and Chairman of the youth art Non-Profit Organisation Searchlight International. 
 
For those wanting to connect more directly with Kwamé  and his work, you may explore his new website www.kwameryan.com
 
I am sure Kwamé would appreciate your comments. 
 
 
Eddie Greene