— Urges businesses to seize climate change opportunities
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo last night reiterated that international funds flowing to this country from its proposed Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) will be subject to stringent accountability measures and urged business firms to seize looming opportunities in the climate change battle.

At the opening of the annual GuyExpo at the Sophia Exhibition Complex in Georgetown, he said that contrary to some rumours spread particularly by some politicians, “we have always made clear that forest payments will not be administered by my office.”

The LCDS logo at the entrance to the GuyExpo 2009 exhibition site.

He assured that the investment fund likely from putting Guyana’s forests in the service of the global climate change cause will be under the full oversight of the National Assembly with monitoring by an international financial institution, most likely the World Bank.

All funds will be audited and an annual report will transparently lay out for all to see how the REDD (Reduced Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation) fund is being invested, President Jagdeo stated.

His assurance came against the backdrop of the theme of the trade fair and exposition `Promoting Business in a Low Carbon Environment’ which, like the LCDS, he said is also truly a world-leading move.

With two glowing promotional blimps from Digicel and Thrill hovering in the night sky over the exhibition site, he pitched his message directly to the business sector.

Mr. Jagdeo said it will take some time for the new low carbon economy to take root and there will be setbacks along the way.

But, he said, those companies that identify and seize the opportunities to participate now will prosper in the years ahead as they work out two things:

** How to develop low carbon products and services in Guyana, and

** How can they benefit as national development is accelerated using the new resources that the forests can generate for the country.

“It doesn’t mean that overnight every business in this country will become a low carbon pioneer, but it does set the challenge for every business to start thinking about the fundamental shift in the world economy which can be of benefit to themselves, our country and its people and to the wider world”, he said.

He pointed out that many countries have already identified how low carbon development can lead to competitive advantage and are working to make this advantage real, referring to the optimism about low carbon development and the green economy by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and United States President Barack Obama.

“Unless we act, most future growth in emissions will come from the developing world, therefore most of the innovations and new ideas to solve climate change will need to be devised and implemented in the developing world.

“And those companies and countries that grasp this now will be those that are positioned best for the new economy as it emerges in the coming years”, Mr. Jagdeo said.

He added that countries which deploy their forests to combat climate change are particularly well-placed to seize these opportunities, noting that if the world is to stabilise greenhouse gases by 2030, about 40 percent of the solution in the next decade must come from the forestry sector worldwide.

“We are already one of the first countries — developed or developing – to recognise this and our Low Carbon Development Strategy is one of the first in the world.

“It was never intended to replace either our National Development Strategy or the National Competiveness Strategy but instead to augment them with more modern thinking on how we can accelerate our own national development while at the same time acting in solidarity with the rest of the world and working in partnership to avert climate catastrophe”, he said.

The President urged business people to closely follow three developments on the horizon that will start making the implementation of the LCDS a real possibility:

** Further details to be announced within the next two months about cooperation with the government of Norway to provide the world with a working model for REDD+ which is the mechanism through which international payment for avoiding deforestation is likely to be integrated into a global climate deal after the United Nations summit in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. Guyana will hopefully start to receive payment for the climate services its forests provide based on performance shortly afterwards.

Mr. Jagdeo praised the government of Norway as one of the most forward thinking in the world on this matter and said he looks forward “to our two countries showing the world what can be done to address climate change when true partnerships are formed.”

** An upgraded version of the LCDS is to be published based on the three months of national consultations that have just concluded. “This will further develop the ideas we set out in the initial draft on how we can use forest payments to shift our entire economy on to a low carbon trajectory and the upgraded document will incorporate the many excellent ideas suggested by individuals, organisations and companies across the country”, the President said.

** Copenhagen will set the parameters for how progress might be made in building a new global economy in the years ahead. These negotiations are frequently tortuous but the people of Guyana can feel proud of the role its team has played in progressing the REDD and low carbon development agendas as well as the international recognition it gets for these efforts.

The President assured that Guyana will not be found lacking in the run-up to Copenhagen and called on all businesses in Guyana to take note of these three events as they unfold.

“Each will present new opportunities for our economy to grow and prosper and for new forms of partnership in new sectors to take our country forward. Importantly, our forests will start to be valued for the climate services they provide and this will lead to a steady build-up of payments which will be used to accelerate our national development”, he said.

New avenues include supporting the move to renewable energy by opening up non-forested parts to agriculture; by getting young people into low carbon industries such as business process outsourcing and eco-tourism and by enhancing the competitiveness of industries through new investments in many areas, he said.