President Bharrat Jagdeo greets John Rankin, Director of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, at State House, as British High Commissioner to Guyana, Fraser Wheeler, looks on

Showing that Guyana’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) is receiving widespread support, President Bharrat Jagdeo met with a British team yesterday at State House to discuss matters concerning the Strategy.

The President met with John Rankin, Director of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, and British High Commissioner to Guyana, Fraser Wheeler, and they were later joined by Simon Bond, Deputy British High Commissioner to Guyana and Mark Montgomery of the Department for International Cooperation, Guyana/Caribbean.

After the meeting, High Commissioner Wheeler noted that the British authorities have been working closely with Government on the LCDS, funding some activities.

“We’re very supportive of the whole strategy, very supportive of the concept of avoided deforestation and we want to work closely with the Government on the run-up to Copenhagen so we can do a deal,” he stated.

Britain’s Prince Charles and his Rainforest Project have also been supporters of Guyana’s LCDS.

“Just two months ago, Guyana was one of only three non-G20 countries invited by the Prince to meet with the leaders of the most powerful countries in the world to examine possible solutions to deforestation during the G-20 summit in London,” President Jagdeo has stated previously.

Other supporters include the Norwegian Government, the Clinton Foundation, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, who has promised to include the issue of deforestation in the agenda of the ongoing G-8 meeting, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of the United States, who has pointed out that addressing forestry can also help accelerate a greater global understanding of the need for action on the broader climate change agenda. (GINA)