PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo and other members of the United Nations High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing met on October 12, 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a final round of talks aimed at identifying potential sources of funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Following the meeting in Addis Ababa, the Advisory Finance Group is expected to complete its report by the end of October and present it to the 16th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico, by the end of November 2010.

The AFG met in London and New York earlier this year.
The AFG is chaired by the Prime Minister of Norway, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, and includes two other heads of state – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, and President Jagdeo.

Other members of the Group of Experts come from Brazil, China, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, and the U.S.A. Distinguished private experts include Mr. George Soros of Soros Fund Management, and Prof. Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics.

During the Copenhagen Summit in December 2009, it was agreed that a US$10 billion “Fast Start” fund would ‘kick-start’ adaptation mechanisms in vulnerable countries including small island developing states (SIDS) and Africa.

It was also agreed that a sum of US$100 billion per year would be raised by 2020.

Guyana has been actively involved in efforts to address global climate change.

Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy has received national and international support and a number of countries around the world are now studying Guyana’s approach which is based on avoided deforestation. Deforestation is one of the major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing between 17-20%.

President Jagdeo has noted that climate change is too dangerous for low-lying coastal countries like Guyana to ignore, and too important to be left to philanthropy.
The Copenhagen Accord reached at December’s United Nations conference in Copenhagen aims to jump-start immediate action on climate change and guide negotiations on long-term action, with developing countries to be given US$30 billion until 2012 and then $100 billion a year until 2020.
Flawed as it is, the Copenhagen Accord also includes an agreement to working towards curbing global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius and efforts to reduce or limit emissions.
At the launch of the Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing in February this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon said that there will be an even balance between developing and developed countries in the Group.
The Group is tasked with creating practical proposals to boost both short- and long-term financing for mitigation and adaptation strategies in developing countries.
“Developing countries need to move as quickly as possible toward a future of low-emissions growth and prosperity,” Ban stressed in February, noting that millions of people in Africa and around the world are suffering from climate change’s effects.