Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo has defended Trinidad and Tobago’s level of carbon emissions and suggested that Caricom could further reduce environmental pollutants by one day buying timber from Guyana’s vast forests.

During the taping of an upcoming interview for the BBC’s Hardtalk programme, Jagdeo said he was asked to comment on Trinidad and Tobago’s high level per capita of carbon emissions.

Trinidad and Tobago produces a ’tiny fraction’ of emissions compared to large, developed countries around the world, Jagdeo said.

He was speaking during an open lecture hosted by the University of the West Indies entitled ’Sustainable Development or Climate Change: Preparing for the Copenhagen Summit’ at the university’s Learning Resource Centre, St Augustine.

Jagdeo said Caricom countries would be well represented during the climate change talks in Denmark and it was hoped that they would have a level of influence on how climate change issues would be addressed.

Suggesting that billions of dollars would be needed to solve problems like rising sea levels and food production, Jagdeo said it was hoped that the makings of a binding legal agreement could be forged in Denmark to support measures to address climate change matters.

He said issues like deforestation, which is responsible for the production of 20 per cent of greenhouse gases, was also a problem that needed to be urgently addressed.

Asked a question related to Guyana’s forestry industry, Jagdeo said it was possible that Caricom countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, could one day establish trading in carbon products and reduce dependence on other fossil fuels.