The Guyanese leader, the only Head of State invited to address the 17th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York, told the gathering that Guyana, through its Avoided Deforestation initiative, aims to provide the world with a model of how this could be realised in a sustainable manner.

“We believe this can be done in a way which not only protects our forests, but also re-orients our economy onto a low-carbon trajectory by utilising renewable sources of energy instead of fossil fuel; reducing overall industrial emissions from energy generation by one third without sacrificing healthy growth rates, opening up unused, non- forested parts of the country to agricultural development, and by unprecedented investment in economic opportunities within our forest communities,” President Jagdeo stated.

He reminded that for two years now Guyana had indicated its willingness to place its entire rainforest under long-term protection if the international community finds the right way to include forestry within a broader climate agreement.

The President explained that Guyana is currently working with Norway and others to ‘trial innovative ways for the developed and developing world to work together as equals to solve the climate change problem.”

Highlighting the need for an agreement to address climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, President Jagdeo emphasised that if that agreement fails to create the financial incentives to address deforestation, the cost of inaction will eclipse the investments that are necessary to solve the deforestation problem.

The President underlined that at the Copenhagen meeting, it is essential that countries make meaningful commitments to reduce emissions and the current global economic crisis should not be used as an excuse to desist from honouring these commitments, since this will send a disastrous signal to the developing world that action on climate change can only be taken during prosperous times.

“It is vital that we are bold in ambition in Copenhagen – climate change is a far greater threat than the collapse of any bank, so the world needs to act with the same urgency it displayed when wrestling with the worst of last year’s financial collapses.”

“Apart from the deep emission cuts, Copenhagen must also create financing flows and technology transfer to enable the significant abatement potential of the developing world to become part of the solution,” he stated.

This investment, he said, will not be cheap, since recent estimates suggest that the global flows to the developing world will need to be about 60 billion euros per annum by 2020. However, it will serve as a cheaper means of preventing emissions than other abatement solutions that are being pursued in the developed world.

He added that the developing world will be willing to play its part in the climate change fight once the developed countries accept their responsibilities, even though (on a per capita basis today), most developing countries account for only a fraction of the emissions of the developed world. The entire world will benefit if developing countries avoid the high pollution path that richer countries have followed, but it will be mathematically impossible to avoid catastrophic climate change without the developing world being able to take a more sustainable path to their future development.

Reiterating Guyana’s willingness to be part of the solution, the President pointed out that over 80 percent of Guyana’s territory is pristine forest and though “we want it to stay that way we are aware that preserving our forest comes at an economic cost to our nation.”

The Guyanese Leader said in comparison to deforestation which causes 17 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable use of forest and agricultural land can deliver 37 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas abatement potential between now and 2020. It also provides a more immediate abatement solution as opposed to other options such as Carbon Capture and Storage, which would take a long time before the technology is proven.

The President, Caricom’s Lead Head on Agriculture, took the opportunity to also speak on food security which is inevitably linked to climate change, as by 2030 the world will face some water shortage, and with less forest for conversion to agriculture and desertification, there will be a reduction of arable agricultural land.

Noting that the Caribbean is very conscious of the need for a partnership that brings together the best resources and a coherent set of international trade and other policies, the Head of State explained that it is for that very reason that the region has sought to focus on a strategy (the Jagdeo Initiative) to revitalise its agriculture.

Stressing that there is need for coherent global policies to help secure global food supplies, he said that this will not be achieved without meaningful reform of multilateral institutions and the creation of a new international policy environment since the challenge is now global in scope.

He said that Caricom stands ready ‘to partner with countries and institutions in advancing the regional agriculture and food security agenda’.

Concluding his presentation, President Jagdeo said that sustainable development is no longer just a slogan or a rallying cry for a campaign, ‘it is now recognised as essential to the future well-being of the world’s people, the global economy and life itself’.

He identified that political will is what is required to put the world into a more sustainable track, urging that it make the right choice.

Also speaking at the forum were U.N.Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, U.N. Commissioner on Sustainable Development Chair Gerda Verburg of the Netherlands, and Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism in Namibia.