– Jagdeo upbraids APNU+AFC for killing ‘big, green’ initiatives

By Navendra Seoraj

GUYANA has leveraged its environmental assets over the years to earn revenue from the Kingdom of Norway and the new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has already started to re-engage the European nation on this area of support.
In signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Guyana on November 9, 2009, the Government of Norway had committed to providing financial support of up to U.S.$250 million for results achieved by Guyana in limiting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
As part of the agreement, the two countries had agreed to establish the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) as the financial intermediary mechanism for the performance-based payments from contributors to Guyana.

The GRIF represented an effort to create an innovative climate finance mechanism which balances national sovereignty over investment priorities, while ensuring that REDD+ funds adhere to the Partner Entities financial, environmental and social safeguards.
Norway in December had announced the release of $393.4 million Norwegian Kroner or G$9.1 billion, its final disbursement to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund. The fund, administered by the World Bank, is used to finance developmental projects here in Guyana.

Vice-president Bharrat Jagdeo, however, said that Norway had put the last tranche on hold because of the “lack of democracy.”
“We have started to engage Norway to move forward again,” the vice-president confirmed during the final day of the Budget 2020 debate.
Jagdeo said the country was able to benefit because it is a carbon sink– any reservoir, natural or otherwise, that absorbs more carbon than it releases– and thereby lowers the concentration of CO 2 from the atmosphere.

“Guyana is a carbon sink and we have to leverage assets to bring money into this country to support economic development,” said the vice-president, noting that this is what the past PPP/C administration sought to do through the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

REVOLUTIONARY PLAN
In June 2009, the then Government of Guyana launched its LCDS, which aimed to transform Guyana’s economy on to a low-carbon, sustainable development trajectory, while simultaneously combating climate change.

The LCDS was geared at protecting and maintaining the forests in an effort to reduce global carbon emissions and at the same time attract payments from developed countries for the climate services that the forests provide to the world.

This strategy was, however, cast aside by the former APNU+AFC administration, which released its “Green State Development Strategy.”
“The green state strategy was a sham… they farmed it out to the international consultants, so it was not grounded in the Guyanese reality and could not solve our problems,” Vice-president Jagdeo argued, noting that the former administration practically ‘killed’ the “big green” initiatives such as the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.
The Guyana Chronicle had reported that the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, which is being re-examined by the new government, is expected to cost just under US$1 billion and will be able to generate 165 megawatts of stable and reliable electricity for 11 solid months of the year, with the additional month during the dry season being used for scheduled maintenance.

The last time this newspaper checked, the project is still bankable, meaning that the financiers are still open to the idea of funding the project and all the technical studies are still relevant. Therefore, the restart timeline is expected to be much shorter than it was before 2015.

The Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) currently sells electricity to the nation at about US$0.33 per kWh and this is expected to be reduced by 25 per cent within the first year of the operations of the Amaila Falls project, and by 50 per cent within five years; and by the end of 20 years, by as much as 80 per cent.