— at wrap-up of Rio +20 Summit
AS THE curtains came down Friday on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCED)in Rio de Janeiro, Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar attributed much of what Rio +20 was able to achieve to the forging of strong partnerships, and friends in Norway.
This was largely achieved, he said, by way of the world’s second largest functioning Interim Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) deal.
Speaking at the conclusion of the two-day meet, which ran from June 20 to 22, the President described Guyana’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as an international partnership between Guyana and Norway, and expressed the hope that other international partners would also follow the example set by the two countries at reference.
Noting that the LCDS is a Guyana-led effort to effect radical transformation in its future development trajectory, he told fellow world leaders gathered at the auspicious meet that 10% of Guyana’s population participated in the initial consultation to create the proposal, which occupies a central place in Guyana’s national development dialogue.
He said that while he was eternally grateful to the Norwegian government for the role they’ve played in the initiative, he is of the firm belief that most of the credit should go to the people of Guyana.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of his predecessor, Mr Ramotar said former President Bharrat Jagdeo had the perspicacity four years ago to envision that Guyana could lead the world in demonstrating how a developing country could make “combating climate change and supporting national development compatible, not competing, objectives, if the right international conditions were created.”
Jagdeo was adamant that the idea that developing countries could not lead was not only wrong, but dangerously so, because the bulk of our planet’s natural capital, including forests, is in today’s developing world. And he did set Guyana out on a path to prove this.
According to President Ramotar, though Guyana is still working its way through a multitude of problems, it is edging ever closer to very soon seeing this vision become a reality.
“We are maintaining 99.5% of our forest cover. That is the highest rate in the world. By 2017, our clean energy programme will see our energy-related emissions reduced by 92%. That is more than even the most progressive Annex I countries; and with the greatest of respect, I include Norway in that,” the President said.
He further explained that Guyana is investing heavily in social priorities, such as land titling for its Amerindian communities; new low carbon employment opportunities for vulnerable citizens and communities; and in bringing clean energy to every citizen, including through the distribution of 11,000 solar panels to hinterland households.
In addition, he said, Guyana is investing heavily in eliminating a digital divide from emerging in the country by distributing laptops countrywide, and offering training in communication technology to low-income households; and by bringing high-speed bandwidth to new areas to enable low-carbon employment.
“We are not locking off agriculture or traditional industries. The world needs food, minerals and metals. Without them, we might save forests and protect the climate, but we would cause food insecurity and poverty across the world. So the challenge is not to prevent these activities, but to do them right. And we are putting large amounts of money and effort into upgrading these extremely valuable sectors,” the Guyanese leader added.
He boasted that Guyana is one of the countries with the most positive ecological footprints in the world. But according to the IMF, our Low Carbon Development Strategy will add about 1% to annual GDP growth in the years ahead. That is a very real indicator that Guyana is making combating climate change and its national development compatible, not competing objectives.
“And while I say that much of this emerging success is through the efforts of Guyanese citizens, there is one other critical ingredient: the thing that is underpinning this systemic shift in our economy is the fact that we are now one of the few countries in the world to be paid for selling environmental services. These payments we receive from Norway are acting as a proxy for an international system where the world pays for the climate and other benefits it receives from forests,” he asserted.
According to him, these payments are not all one-way. It is evident that Guyana’s LCDS is not beneficial simply to the country, private sector and people.
He explained that the strategy is also creating hundreds of millions of US dollars in private sector opportunities for global companies which are active in green investment.
He also informed the conference that one of the biggest investors in Guyana’s clean energy programme is a private equity firm from the United States of America. Noting that a Danish company won the tender to provide the first batch of 11,000 solar panels for indigenous and other forest communities, he said that private companies from New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom are part of the capabilities Guyana is building for the sale of environmental services.
Guyana is seeing in a very real, measurable way that green growth creates new economic openings, not just for countries, but also for international companies with vision, he said.
The first lesson that Guyana has learnt in this regard is that piecemeal activity, while sometimes valuable, is not sufficiently transformative.
He added that projects serve their purposes, but national-scale transformation requires systemic shifts. “And that is why we have found such common cause with Norway. We are working together to do REDD+ safely, respecting safeguards and building proper monitoring, reporting, and verification capabilities. But we are also both committed to economy-wide transformation. We know that that takes time, and we know that it requires a commitment to stay the course through good times and bad.”
The President is of the view that sustainable development is not universally accepted. He noted that there are regressive forces in every country in the world who either don’t believe in acting to prevent climate change and other environmental problems, or have their own vested interests which make them try to stop action on these problems.
“The international community needs to recognise the need for available and accessible financing. As I said, Guyana’s success to date is dependent on the right international conditions being in place,” he added.
“For Guyana, our partnership with Norway means that our two countries are effecting the systemic shift that starts to make forests worth more alive than dead; and we are seeing the dramatic transformation that can occur, even if we still have problems with the functioning of the financial intermediaries,” Ramotar asserted.
Ramotar added that most countries are in a worse position; they have no access to large-scale payments. “We need the rest of the world to do more, much more. And this is not unaffordable. If the developed world lived up to its commitments under the Cancun Agreements – for US$30 billion in fast-start funding, leading to US$100 billion per annum by 2020, a sensible percentage of that — about 20% by our estimates — would be more than enough to fund the kind of reductions in deforestation and forest degradation that other forest countries are willing and able to deliver,” he stated.
He opined that the world needs more Norways, “and I’m confident (that) if we get them, the world will have more Guyanas. And if that is the case, the forest countries of the world can deliver – before 2020 – the biggest contribution to combating climate change the world has ever seen. We will stay the course. I have every confidence that Norway will as well. So we should work with progressive forces from across the world to make global collective action a reality, not a vision,” the President said.
On Thursday, 21 June, Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar wrapped up a packed two-day visit to the Brazilian city. Along with over 100 other Heads of State and Government, the President participated in the main Rio conference, as well as many other events and meetings.
On Tuesday, President Ramotar led Guyana’s own side event, which ended up being a standing-room-only event for the large group of people in attendance.