– adopts unified position for Copenhagen summit
THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has agreed to back Guyana’s call for financial compensation for its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) in the global climate change programme.

The agreement emerged from the special ministerial meeting on climate change and development on Tuesday in Saint Lucia where they also agreed that the region must present a consolidated and united front in the run-up to and at the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

The communiqué from the meeting said it acknowledged that Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) was a strategic component in the efforts to fulfil the global commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It agreed that the region should consolidate its position to support avoided deforestation and back Guyana’s LCDS “which sought to attract compensation for the preservation of its forests as a model for developing countries.”

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, who was at the meeting, told the Guyana Chronicle this was a significant development for Guyana and the region, noting the precedent was in the Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change which CARICOM leaders adopted at their summit in Guyana in July.

The Liliendaal Declaration did not include any reference to compensation for Guyana’s LCDS and Mr. Persaud said the community has now agreed, as part of its consolidated position for the global negotiations, to include support for financing for Guyana’s model.

He said CARICOM negotiators will now take an uncompromising and “consolidated, single position” in the negotiations on the road to Copenhagen.

The communiqué said the ministerial meeting also recognised the value and potential of standing forests and affirmed its potential contribution to REDD and “agreed to support forest conservation or avoided deforestation and sustainable management of forests as important mitigation tools against climate change, consistent with the Liliendaal Declaration”.

CARICOM Chairman President Bharrat Jagdeo sent an urgent call to ministers at the meeting to remain consistent in the negotiations leading up to Copenhagen and urged them to honour the spirit of the Liliendaal Declaration. His remarks were delivered by Persaud.

President Jagdeo stated that CARICOM was at a critical milestone on the road to a new ambitious climate change agreement that could go down in history as the accord that enabled the global community to change course from the destructive path it had taken.

However, he observed that the UN negotiations remained in deadlock because of lack of consensus on critical issues and expressed concerns that even at the level of the groupings such as G77 and AOSIS (Association of Small Island States), disagreements persisted.

Against this background, he cautioned CARICOM negotiators not to allow difference of opinions to weaken the community’s cause. “We share a common vulnerability and therefore we need to act in a united front,” he said.

STAYING RESOLUTE
The CARICOM Secretariat said he joined CARICOM Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington and Saint Lucia Prime Minister Stephenson King in underscoring the importance of maintaining a resolute position for greater reduction in Green House Gas emissions as this was crucial “if we are to avert catastrophic global climate change.”

“The primacy of the Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change and Development cannot be overstated in this process and our positions must be consistent,” he asserted.

President Jagdeo called on the meeting to give priority to five critical strategic and policy areas, chief of which was adaptation to climate change.

He recommended a multi-window insurance facility and adequate and predictable financing for adaptation and asserted that those must be made available to the Caribbean as soon as possible.

He also stressed the need for the Caribbean to increase its call for enhanced investment and action in research and development, diffusion and transfer of technology for adaptation, including the removal of barriers in overly stringent intellectual property rights.

With regard to mitigation, the CARICOM Chairman said the community needed to be steadfast to its call for deep emission cuts based on scientific findings.

The fourth priority area, he said, was the adoption of a “forest based solution to mitigation” and cited the LCDS as a critical component in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and as such, a model for developing countries.

President Jagdeo called for a “strong and unyielding position” on a shared vision on climate change, noting that the basic principles underlying such a vision should include: common but differentiated responsibilities; historical responsibility; Polluter-Pays-Principle and the Precautionary Principle.

He urged the community to work together to give a strong cohesive mandate to the negotiators in the critical weeks ahead as reflected in the Liliendaal Declaration.

The meeting acknowledged that financing for both mitigation and adaptation actions in developing countries was pivotal to the final outcome of the Copenhagen conference, and in noting the several challenges of SIDS (Small Island Developing States), agreed to support the call for a comprehensive financing package which should include the provision of new, additional and predictable financial resources to underpin the implementation of national and regional adaptation plans and strategies.

The ministers also agreed that negotiations should emphasize priority access to financing adaptation for the SIDS and Lesser Developed Countries as the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and that in respect of grants, the Polluter–Pays Principle should be adopted.

The secretariat said the Saint Lucia meeting provided a forum for the political directorate and other policy makers within CARICOM to become involved in the negotiations processes; appreciate a better understanding of the key issues at stake and be able to give strong support to the positions of the negotiating teams.

At the opening, Carrington emphasized the importance of re-shaping the global architecture in the response to climate change to facilitate and promote the development of developing countries.
The secretariat said he urged the region’s policy makers to be vigilant and resolute in their position on the formulation of a new agreement.