THE Guyana/Norway forest agreement has been hailed by new Ambassador of Switzerland to Guyana, Markus-Alexander Antonietti, as a model to be emulated by the rest of the world.
Presenting his Letters of Credence to President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Office of the President Wednesday, Ambassador Antonietti spoke of climate change as his priority area of focus during his tenure in Guyana.
“… the low carbon scheme which you are doing together with Norway is one of the leading examples now in the world,” Ambassador Antonietti said.
After hearing of Guyana’s achievements at reaching the historic forest deal with Norway, Ambassador Antonietti said he is eager to have more information and held a discussion with his Norwegian colleague in Caracas who confirmed its details and merits.
On March 31, Minister of Environment and International development Erik Solheim announced the release of US$40M into the Guyana REDD Investment Fund (GRIF) and commended Guyana for maintaining a deforestation rate that is even lower than that outlined in the agreement signed in 2010.
GRIF is a financial mechanism for the ongoing cooperation on climate change between Guyana and Norway, which the former will receive based on its performance on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).
On October 10, the GRIF was established and the first payment from the Norway fund of approximately US$30M was processed.
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.
Switzerland has had its fair share of climate change related problems, so much so that tourism markets that depend on the winter season have languished because of the unusual weather patterns.
Ambassador Antonietti explained further that the country has also battled with inundation.
“We realized that small countries of the north are as touched as other countries in other parts of the world. It is not something which just stops at the border, it is really something that is having an impact on the whole of the world, directly or indirectly,” Ambassador Antonietti said.
Climate change is also high on the agenda of the French Ambassador to Guyana, Joel Godeau, and Swedish Ambassador to Guyana, Claes Hammer, who both presented their Letters of Credence to President Jagdeo Wednesday.
When asked about the cooperation prospects between Guyana and Sweden, Ambassador Hammer pointed to regaining momentum in the climate change negotiations and the efforts to convince the heavy polluters to cut their emission levels steeply.
“We already have good contracts and we want to see how we can coordinate our decisions and get the negotiations in climate change moving again, and we hope that the big courtiers who are hesitating, United States and China, would be able to take some new steps,” Ambassador Hammer said.
Ambassador Godeau told members of the press that environmental protection will be among his priority approaches in deepening the relationship between Guyana and French Guiana.
(GINA)