Forest carbon financing…
…cites shifting of goalposts
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said that Guyana is not being critical of the World Bank when it calls for the institution not to subject Guyana to shifting of goalposts and benchmarks, and asked for there to be a clearly defined process “so we know what the next steps are.” The Minister was speaking on Monday at the commencement of the Sixth Participants’ Committee of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility at the Guyana Pegasus.
“For example, we must know what conditions we have to satisfy for disbursement of the remainder of the FCPF monies,” the Minister said.
Persaud said that the Government reaffirms its commitment to meeting its objective in the FCPF initiative. “Unless this is done in a transparent manner, it makes a mockery of the planning process; it also offers no motivation to pursue implementation of the RPP in the aggressive, comprehensive manner that our multiple stakeholders have indicated,” the Minister stated.

Citing an example, the Minister said that the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) awareness and consultations cost the Government in excess of US$200,000. “The FCPF initial grant is in the sum of US$200,000. What guarantees can we get that the disbursement of the remaining US$3.4 million will be done in such a manner that ensures continuity of the process,” the Minister said. “I am also sharing this perspective to put other members [of the] FCPF on alert,” Persaud said.

“I therefore challenge the FCPF to provide guidance in a more structured manner so that countries are well-informed and prepared for the next steps. It is also important for the FCPF to help catalyze the provision of additional funding to help countries not only in the implementation of the RPP, but also in helping to integrate it in a country’s low carbon growth model. In this regard, I hope the discussions on multilateral cooperation on REDD+ and the update on the Carbon Fund will provide much needed guidance to countries. “

The Minister said that it is also important “whilst we maintain a focus on Forest Carbon, we also try to establish linkages with other Environmental Services.” He noted that just as REDD+ is now considered an integral component of a country’s national low carbon development path, in the same manner “we must be prepared for the potential that at some point in time we will no longer be talking about forest carbon in isolation from other environmental services.”
He said that for Guyana, the principle of REDD+ is not something new or novel. “We have been implementing practices nationally that are consistent with REDD+ initiatives even before this concept became formalized,” Persaud said.
The LCDS, Persaud said, has been championed extensively both at the national and international levels by President Bharrat Jagdeo, and many other countries are now embracing this as a model for their national development.

But the Minister is concerned that the lack of strong political will and commitment in the international community will put at risk even the most comprehensive, practical, feasible and nationally supported strategies like the LCDS.

The Minister said that Guyana’s formal engagement with the FCPF started since 2008.
“Since then we have met and even exceeded in some cases, what we were required to do. We have completed multiple revisions to the Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP) through a most open and transparent public process; we have also accommodated four due diligence missions by World Bank staff and have been advised that there may now be a follow up to the last mission of April 2010 in September 2010,” he said.
The Minister said that Guyana is the first country to publicly declare that a democratically elected indigenous people’s organization, the National Toshaos’ Council, would lead the consultations in the indigenous villages with interpretation in the relevant local dialect. “I am also proud to say that we will be allocating US$70,000 from the initial FCPF grant of US$200,000 to support this,” he said.
Speaking in response to the Minister’s opening remarks, Joelle Chassard, Manager Carbon Finance Unit of the World Bank, said that the Minister’s comments have been taken on board. She said that the participants would have been working very hard over the duration of the meeting “to see how we can better serve countries and be more effective.”
She said that the World Bank will be looking to see how finances could come into the country. Chassard also thanked the Government of Guyana for hosting the meeting.