-Guyana in push for faster REDD+ financing
MORE than 60 leaders from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in Madrid, Spain this week to discuss climate change and other issues, and Guyana is involved in efforts to speed up financing to preserve the world’s tropical forests.
A government source yesterday said this country is participating in the Paris-Oslo process, aimed at getting financing for REDD+, the name given to efforts to establish a global scheme to reduce greenhouse emissions, by preventing deforestation and degradation, and enhancing forest-based carbon stocks.
REDD+ was the one of the areas of climate negotiation that saw the most progress at the Copenhagen, Denmark climate conference in December last year, and President Bharrat Jagdeo said Friday that Guyana can take much credit for gaining this advance because of its national-scale Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) model.
Hopes are high that a detailed agreement might be possible by this year’s conference in Cancun, Mexico in December.
A fast-track process to this end has been initiated by France and Norway following the Copenhagen summit, and a Paris-Oslo conference is billed for May 27 in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the government of Norway.
The purpose of the meeting is to establish an interim partnership arrangement for REDD+ and the official said Guyana is a key participant in the process. This partnership would aim to ensure rapid implementation of a global coordinated effort to preserve the world’s tropical forests, in line with UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) decisions.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat here said heads of state and government from CARICOM and the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific (CARIFORUM) states will this week meet their counterparts from Europe in Madrid for the Sixth Summit of the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean (EULAC).
The secretariat said the EULAC summit on Tuesday provides a platform on which both regions will endeavour to forge common approaches to a global agenda, which includes critical issues of the environment, climate change and energy;  international financial architecture, education and migration; science, technology and innovation; peace and security; and trafficking in illicit drugs.
EULAC Ministers of Development are to meet today under the theme `Fighting Climate Change: An opportunity for Development’.
At a ceremony Friday honouring him for his recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 2010 Champion of the Earth award, President Jagdeo stressed that while climate change poses the biggest challenge to Guyana’s development, it also offers huge opportunities for taking this country forward.
Addressing hundreds at the appreciation ceremony organised by the government at the International Convention Centre, Liliendaal, he said the green economy is the next catalyst for Guyana’s leap forward, and it could become the largest sector in the economy.
Climate change also featured in the landmark meeting between France and Guyana last week when teams from the two countries met at the International Conference Centre.
The French team was led by Richard Barbeyron, French Ambassador to Suriname, and the delegation also held extensive discussions with President Jagdeo.
A joint statement said the two sides viewed the bilateral meeting as a practical step towards the deepening of ties between Guyana and France, and in particular closer links with French Guiana as part of the Guiana Shield.
“They exchanged views on key issues of mutual interest on the international agenda, including the global financial and economic crisis and climate change,” the statement said.
The two also discussed cooperation in several areas relating to security, the environment, agriculture, tourism, health and consular relations, and a delegation from Guyana would visit French Guiana this week for further discussions on matters pertaining to security, the environment and rice cultivation.
Both sides agreed on closer collaboration between the private sectors of Guyana and French Guiana, and welcomed the invitation extended for the private sector of Guyana to visit French Guiana next month.
The CARICOM Secretariat on Friday also reported that the Japan-CARICOM Friendship and Cooperation Fund under the Private Sector Fund has approved a US$267,466 project which will ultimately allow energy planners in CARICOM to assess the impacts of climate change on the sector.
The project will be managed by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and piloted in Barbados, Dominica and Guyana. However, it is anticipated that the model will be applicable region-wide, the secretariat said.
It added that the initiative is being pursued to improve the inadequate framework and build expertise in the community to address adequately the impacts of climate change and climate variability on future energy demand and supply.
The project identifies several CARICOM countries as developing energy policies to guide their economic development over the next 20-25 years, thereby calling for “well-defined approaches” to help energy planners account for the effects of climate change on the sector.
The goal of the project is to “enhance capacity and capability within the Caribbean Community to adequately inform national and regional decision-makers, policy specialists, and utility companies of the likely impacts of climate change and climate variability on the energy sector in the Caribbean.”
The secretariat said that in this attempt to boost CARICOM’s capacity to forecast and prepare for the energy demands resulting from climate change, the project will utilise sector specialists who will work in tandem with the University of the West Indies (UWI) in research and analysis of the required data.
This collaboration with UWI is expected to provide a cadre of future experts to bolster the region’s capacity in this area, it said.
A framework for evaluating the impacts of future climate change and climate variability on energy demand and supply, and the transfer of technology among local, regional and international organisations are among some other expected outcomes, it stated.