Guyana was one of only three non-G20 countries invited to the meeting, which was convened by Britain’s Prince Charles at Clarence House in London.

According to a statement from the Guyana High Commission in London, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton; French President Nicolas Sarkozy; German Chancellor Angela Merkl; Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso; Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi; Australian Prime Minister Kevin Ruded; British Foreign Secretary David Milliband; the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban ki-Moon; the President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick; the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barrosso; the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia; Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim; Canada’s Finance Minister, James Michael Flaherty and Indonesian President Dr Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono represented G20 nations and organisations attending the G20 summit in London.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Gabonese Minister of Defence Ali Bongo Ondimba joined Prime Minister Hinds from the non-G20 countries – Guyana, Gabon and Norway were invited because of their countries’ globally leading positions on combating deforestation.

Speaking after the meeting, Prime Minister Hinds said: “For Guyana to be asked to attend this meeting during the G20 summit is an unprecedented global endorsement of Guyana’s leadership on addressing deforestation, and in particular of President Jagdeo’s recent international advocacy. I told the leaders of my belief that the majority of Guyana’s population support global efforts to combat deforestation,” reported the High Commission in London.

On December 5, 2008 President Jagdeo unveiled the first part of Guyana’s low carbon development strategy — a paper which sets out Guyana’s view on how the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change can create incentives to avoid deforestation. President Jagdeo said: “Guyana has one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world and we want this to continue. But in common with other rainforest countries, we face huge development challenges. We need to train our teachers and hospital staff, we need to build schools, hospitals and roads, and we need to create economic opportunities and generate jobs for our citizens. Developing our economy to provide resources to fund these and many other social and economic needs has to be a responsible Government’s top priority. If we are to reconcile this with the world’s need for forests to be kept intact, we must find a way to make national development and sustainable use of our forests complementary, not competing, objectives.”

The remainder of Guyana’s low carbon development strategy will be published in Georgetown before the end of May. This will lead to a period of national consultation on how Guyana can create new low carbon economic alternatives whilst also dealing with the need to protect people and productive land from changing weather patterns. According to the President: “we will gather further input on this throughout the national consultation, but it is built on the premise that if Guyana is remunerated for the forest climate services we provide, then we have a responsibility to ensure that the money earned is spent in a manner which is environmentally sound, financially prudent and delivers a step change in our efforts to create a socially just and prosperous Guyana.”

Prince Charles has repeatedly highlighted Guyana’s leadership on climate change and forests. In a September 2008 address to almost 300 of London’s most influential business representatives, he said that “one of the most optimistic developments is the leadership on this issue shown by President Jagdeo of Guyana.

“The challenge is how we, in the developed world, respond to it. Clearly, if we want to continue to benefit from the services provided by the rainforests, we have to start paying for them. But we cannot afford to lose this opportunity to demonstrate what can be done and to respond to the President’s remarkable offer,” Prince Charles said.

Following President Jagdeo’s December speech and the publication of the first part of Guyana’s strategy to create a low carbon economy, the Guyanese head of state and the Prime Minister of Norway met in Oslo on February 3, 2009. According to a joint statement from the two leaders: “In cooperation with Guyana and its multilateral partners, [Norway] will contribute to the development and implementation of the necessary strategies and reforms, capacity building, and developing, funding and implementing suitable low-carbon and adaptation investments.

Norway and Guyana will work together both on climate change issues in general and on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in particular, and invite other countries to join their efforts.” Norway has been leading efforts within the OECD to ensure that deforestation receives appropriate attention within the UNFCCC.

The Prime Minister attended yesterday’s meeting in place of President Jagdeo, who had to return to Guyana for the funeral of former President Janet Jagan.

Guyana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr. Laleshwar Singh and Presidential Advisor, Mr. Kevin Hogan also attended the meeting.