The Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the unprecedented initiative of President Bharrat Jagdeo, is the first development model in a country to ever endure such extensive planning.
The strategy is one which seeks to promote Guyana’s 15 million hectares of forests in the fight against climate change, and calls on the international community to recognise the need for a compensatory mechanism for the environmental services which these forests provide to the world.
President Jagdeo intends for this model to be presented at the upcoming 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this year.
It replaces the Kyoto Protocol agreement of 1997 which established a legally binding international agreement whereby all participating nations commit themselves to tackling global warming.
Under the protocol, the industrialised nations, termed as the Annex 1 countries, had agreed to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2012.
However, the upcoming convention in Copenhagen replaces the Kyoto protocol and will be the forum where President Jagdeo intends to push for the inclusion of forest preservation in the agreement.
Guyana’s model is however still in the draft stage, and its completion will be determined by several factors, foremost amongst which are forest preservation, low carbon activities, climate change adaptation measures, and the inclusion of all Guyanese in a consultation process.
The latter has been successfully accomplished through a national consultation and awareness process which started on June 8 with the launching of the LCDS by President Jagdeo, and continued throughout the period June 26 to July 15 in Regions One, Two, Six Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten.
President Jagdeo is optimistic that this consultation will prove Guyana’s willingness to promote forest protection and climate change mitigation to the rest of the world.
“This is exciting for us, and as a country, we should be participating in this (LCDS) with vigour because we are trying to build a model that no other country has done before,” President Jagdeo said.
The Head of State has expressed all confidence in the model, which he described as an open and transparent process, that won the participation of as many stakeholders as possible rather than a select few.
“I’ve never seen any country in the world go through this extensive process of creating their model…we can say to the world that our model was not a model that just a few people came up with.” President Jagdeo said.
He alluded to the recently announced British Government policy on climate change and the United States Congress on Climate Change, both of which lacked countrywide consultation in their formation.
Although the multi-stakeholder committee has completed the list of Regions targeted for consultations, the process will continue as President Jagdeo intends for it to be a long-term process.
Discussions have already been held with the University of Guyana officials to coordinate efforts to take the initiative into schools and equip them with user-friendly materials.
The LCDS has already won the patronage of the Norwegian Government, commitment from the British, Prince Charles Rainforest Project, the Clinton Foundation and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Very soon World Wildlife Federation (WWF) and Conservation International (CI) will be partnering.
If successful, the model will transform Guyana into a low carbon economy where the financial resources will be available to invest in infrastructure such as hydropower, nurture high potential, low carbon sectors such as fruits and vegetables, aquaculture and sustainable forestry and wood processing, to expand access to services and new economic opportunities for indigenous people and other Guyanese through improved social services including health and education.
“Its success is dependent on what happens internationally. Will a market be created for forest carbon and will there be sufficient funds to preserve trees, because our model is built on using those points to build economic activities,” President Jagdeo said.
He said the LCDS is not to be confused with an environment or a biodiversity protection strategy. It is a development model that focuses on creating greater wealth for Guyanese. (GINA)
