…with continuing efforts at wide stakeholder awareness
THE Office of Climate Change (OCC) and Project Management Office (PMO), within the Office of the President, are currently working towards moving forward with activities as part of Guyana’s climate initiatives and the LCDS, according to a press release from the Climate Change Office yesterday.

Multilateral Engagements
At the multilateral level, Guyana has been an active participant and advocate in the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change negotiations, participating at the recently held Conference of the Parties Meeting in Durban last December, which produced some positive outcomes.
These included an agreement in principle for a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, albeit with a reduced number of participants; the establishment of a process to achieve a legal global agreement on climate change that includes all parties (the Durban Platform);  the establishment of the Green Climate Fund, and a decision on REDD Plus financing options.
Agreement was also reached on the establishment of the adaptation mechanism and technology transfer mechanism.
In 2011, Guyana also led the international dialogue on REDD Plus by co-chairing the International REDD Plus Partnership, advocating for the conservation and sustainable management of tropical rainforests in return for appropriate financing that compensates the opportunity cost of conservation and also the ecosystem services that our forest offers. Under its tenure as Co-Chair, Guyana led significant advances in the area of REDD Plus financing options, reference levels for HFLD countries such as Guyana, MRV systems, and REDD safeguards.
As part of the follow up to the Durban conference, Guyana will further pursue the establishment of MRV systems, reference levels, safeguards, and REDD financing, both at the level of public and private finance, and will also actively explore and move forward in the area of adaptation to take advantage of multilateral funding opportunities for adaptation measures such as flood management, conservancy management and drainage and irrigation.

The LCDS
Efforts are currently underway to progress the LCDS and the Guyana-Norway partnership, which is the second biggest Interim REDD+ agreement in the world.
Since 2009, the two countries have been working to devise a global model for aligning low carbon development with the global fight against climate change. Reporting and independent assessment of Guyana’s performance for 2011, in accordance with the agreed requirements of the Joint Concept Note (JCN) and Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and Norway, will be carried out in the coming months. The level of support depends on Guyana’s delivery of results as measured against two sets of indicators:
(1) Performance against a set of REDD+ Enabling Activities and
(2) REDD+ Performance Indicators.
To date, Guyana has successfully met the performance requirements for two consecutive years, earning approximately US$70M which has been transferred by Norway into the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), and which will be used to support LCDS Initiatives. Guyana and Norway are continuing to work in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank, on the delivery of GRIF financing to support LCDS Initiatives.

LCDS Initiatives
In 2011, government successfully launched several LCDS initiatives, including:
(i) Hinterland electrification project, which will see the installation of 11,000 solar home systems in 150 hinterland communities
(ii) Institutional strengthening programme that will enhance national institutional capacity of Guyana to address climate change and implement the LCDS
(iii)  Micro and Small Enterprise Development programme which seeks to address the major bottlenecks in the development of a robust entrepreneurial and small business sector in Guyana
(iv) One Laptop Per Family project which seeks to engender the building of a knowledge based society as Guyana charts an ambitious new development frontier path with Information Communication Technologies (ICT), and
(v) E-Governance Fibre Optic Cable project which will serve as the backbone of a larger ICT strategy, as the government seeks to improve and lower the cost of access to information and essential government services.

In 2012, government envisions the advancement of a number of core LCDS initiatives:
(i) Most notably, government will seek to enable construction on the Amaila Falls Hydro project. This project will see the removal of 99% of Guyana’s energy related emissions and bring on-line a reliable source of energy that will thereby reduce end-user tariffs in Guyana
(ii)  Amerindian Land Titling will fast-track the titling and demarcation process for all eligible villages and communities and ultimately strengthen land-tenure rights and improve long-term community development
(iii) The Amerindian Development Fund will channel funds directly to Amerindian communities to support economic development through the development of community-identified priority projects
(iv) The Cunha Canal rehabilitation, which is the first adaptation project under the LCDS, will increase the canal’s discharge capacity and contribute to reducing the risks of the embankment overtopping and the flooding of areas along the East Bank of the Demerara River, and
(v) The Centre for Biodiversity to be based at the University of Guyana will see investment in infrastructure, personnel, facilities and equipment to develop a self-sustaining scientific research centre.
Both Guyana and Norway are deeply committed to seeing a hastened flow of financing for LCDS projects and are therefore working jointly to improve the effectiveness of the mechanism. A new secretariat to the GRIF will be announced shortly and its aim will be to support the facilitation of this mandate.

National Engagements on climate change and the LCDS
In 2012, the OCC will continue efforts aimed at wide stakeholder awareness and engagements on Guyana’s climate initiatives and the LCDS.
The Multi-Stakeholder Committee for the LCDS will soon convene for its 1st meeting of the year. This Committee was established at the time of the preparation of the LCDS, and has actively overseen the launch, extensive national stakeholder awareness and consultations, and the implementation of the LCDS.
The MSSC has wide representation from a broad cross-section of national stakeholders, including indigenous NGOs, conservation NGOs, the private sector, labour, youth, women, and civil society, and whose collective input and representation of the LCDS has been one of the pillars of the LCDS’s successes to date.