-As US$40M released for forest services
Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development, Erik Solheim, at a reception at State House Thursday evening, commended Guyana for maintaining a deforestation rate that is even lower than that outlined in the agreement with Norway, according to the rate used by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation for Guyana. “That is very positive,” Minister Solheim stated. 
Norway has announced the immediate release of US$40M to Guyana for fulfilling the conditions outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in November 2009, and for maintaining one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world.
The Norwegian minister also disclosed that a subsequent discussion involving the Guyana Government and the visiting Norwegian delegation will explore ways of hastening the disbursement process for the fund into Guyana’s economy.
Minister Solheim alluded further to the significant development that has taken place in Norway’s partnership with Guyana.
He added that the partnership is itself a new development, since it explores ways of linking economic development, while maintaining sustainable environmental practices and policies.
“There will be mistakes…but we are also making history,” he said.
The Guyana/Norway agreement is the first of its kind in the world and Minister Solheim is confident that there will be more in the future.
Referring to Guyana’s influence in the world as it relates to climate change issues, Solheim noted , “Guyana has much greater influence when it comes to international climate talks and international environment affairs than any other group of 700,000 people.”
Noting the advancement that has been attained over the last 10 years, the Norwegian Minister stated that today countries do not have to choose either economic development or environmental protection as they can occur simultaneously.
He cited Guyana and Brazil, which have demonstrated to the world that there is a new development path and countries do not have to make that choice since both can be achieved with economic development taking place within the framework of sustainable forest management.
This is also one of the reasons  Norway is proud to partner with Guyana so that this new model can be explored, he said.
On November 18, 2009, Guyana and Norway, through the signing of an MOU, designed a model to show how partnership between developed and developing countries can save the world’s forests.
Over the past 15 months, Guyana and Norway have been working with national and international partners to further develop the model that will see Guyana receiving US$250M over a five- year period.
Thus far, Guyana has received US$70M from Norway, of which US$30M has been deposited into the Guyana Redd Plus Investment Fund (GRIF). (GINA)