— Reaffirms support for LCDS
NORWAY’S Ministry of Finance has withdrawn comments that seemed to express concern over operations of the Barama Company Limited (BCL) here and has reaffirmed support for this country’s low carbon development thrust.

“Norway strongly supports and is impressed by the efforts of the Government of Guyana to create a low-carbon and low-deforestation future and remains a committed partner to Guyana in these efforts”, Hilde Singsaas, State Secretary in the Norwegian Finance Ministry said.

Singsaas, in a letter to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud yesterday, explained that the recommendation to censure applied to BCL’s parent company Samling Global Ltd and its activity in Sarawak, Malaysia.

“The description regarding…Barama’s activities in Guyana primarily relates to events that took place some time ago and as such would seem to reflect criticism of Barama already expressed publicly by Guyanese authorities”, she said.
“The recommendation of the Council on Ethics does not opine on the extent of deforestation, forest degradation or environmental damage in Guyana, nor does it assess the forest policies of the Government of Guyana”, the letter added.

On Monday, Norway’s Ministry of Finance announced that it has excluded Samling and two Israeli companies from the portfolio of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).

“The decision to exclude these companies from the GPFG is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity,” Minister of Finance Sigbjorn Johnsen had said in a statement.

“The Council on Ethics has assessed Samling Global, and concluded that the company’s forest operations in the rainforests of Sarawak and Guyana contribute to illegal logging and severe environmental damage.

“I have therefore chosen to follow the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and exclude the company from the GPFG’s investment portfolio,” he had said.

Minister Persaud on Tuesday rejected the Norwegian report and denied that BCL operations have resulted in serious damage to the environment.

In a statement, he said that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), which monitors BCL’s operations continuously “has found little evidence to substantiate such a position.”

However, he admitted that “some deficiencies” were identified in Barama’s operations.

BCL also said that the characterization of the company by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund was inaccurate and not based on complete information.

In a statement Wednesday, Mohindra Chand, Head of Corporate Affairs and Forests Planning at Barama, said the company had invited the Norwegians to visit their operations “for first-hand knowledge of our business and to clarify issues, but with no response”.

He said the company remains committed to the continual improvement of its sustainable forest management processes and practices within the laws under which it operates.

“However, it is not our policy to comment on the decisions of investors”, he said.
Singsaas said the GPFG has divested from 51 companies on the basis of recommendations from the Council on Ethics which makes its recommendations independently of the Norwegian Government.

The council’s mandate is to recommend to the Minister of Finance companies where an investment by the GPFG risks breaching the ethical guidelines of the fund, she said.

“It is a principle that the recommendation should be forward looking and assess future risks and also that it shall concern itself with companies’ subjective activities”, she added.

Singsaas further advised Persaud: “The minister’s final decision on whether or not to divest from a company is made on the basis of the council’s recommendation. This does not mean that the minister has made an independent assessment of every claim or opinion in the council’s recommendation, but rather that the minister is satisfied that the recommendation document established beyond sufficient doubt that an investment in the company represent an unacceptable future risk of violating the ethical guidelines.”

“On behalf of the Norwegian Government, I would like to emphasise that we look forward to continued good cooperation between Guyana and Norway in our common quest to create a low-carbon and low-deforestation future”, Singsaas said.

Norway and Guyana last year signed an agreement under which Norway will provide US$250M to support this country’s LCDS over five years.