Rainforest offer – a call for viable market mechanism, not handouts 

Georgetown, GINA, December 10, 2007.

Guyana’s rainforest offer to combat climate change is not about handouts, but a call for a viable market-based mechanism to reward and compensate countries that have taken deliberate policy measures to ensure sustainable utilisation of their forest resources.
            This was emphasized by Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud at the ‘ Capacity Building for Climate Change Adaptation-A Caribbean Experience’ seminar held on December 10. It was organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) as one of the side events of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (CoP) meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where Minister Persaud is leading the Guyana delegation.  
In October, President Bharrat Jagdeo said that Guyana was willing to deploy its raw forest in the service of the battle against climate change. Under this offer, not a single hectare of forest will be sold and forestry and mining activities will continue in a sustainable manner.
Representatives of the delegation include Chairman of the National Climate Committee, Shyam Nokta, Head of the National Climate Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture Gitanjali Chandarpal, Major General (rtd) Joe Singh and Coordinator of the Guiana Shield Programme Dr. Patrick Chesney.
Minister Persaud, who delivered the feature address at the seminar, said Guyana will continue to contribute to global climate change mitigation through the use of its standing forest even though the country is vulnerable to the phenomenon, and adaptation is a crucial issue. Guyana’s forest covers approximately 16 million hectares or 75 percent of the country’s total land mass.

Reference was made to Guyana’s initiatives to deal with climate change including its forest management which is based on the principles of sustainable development. This takes into account sustainable use and conservation which is evident in the work of the Iwokrama Rainforest Conservation and Development Programme.
The Minister also pointed to Guyana’s agricultural sector and its role in meeting not only its domestic food needs, but that of the region. The sector’s vulnerability to climate change and the need for greater collaboration regionally with regard to adaptation was underscored.
            Meanwhile, over the past week, Guyana’s representatives at the Climate Change Conference were involved in negotiations in the technical sessions which included meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Science and Technological Advice (SBSTA) during which one of the main topics reviewed was Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
            Guyana, along with other rainforest countries, have been lobbying for adequate compensation for standing forests and a market-based mechanism to be put in place as discussions are ongoing on a post-2012 Kyoto Protocol.
            Other issues discussed at the Conference were Adaptation Fund, Development and Transfer of Technologies and Capacity Building. The Guyana delegation will continue negotiations and will participate in important bilateral meetings with delegations from the United Kingdom among others.
            The Bali Conference is a culmination of a 12-month climate debate and is expected to encourage a breakthrough in the form of a ‘roadmap’ for future climate change deals. The ‘Bali Roadmap’ is aimed at establishing a process to work on key building blocks of a future climate change regime, including adaptation, mitigation and technology cooperation and financing the response to climate change.
            Guyana’s primary positions being put forward at the Conference are incentives for standing forests, the need for more support for adaptation measures and support with the access to technology.
Over the past years, various activities were undertaken by Government to aid mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Guyana. These include reactivation of the National Climate Change Committee, establishment of the National Climate Unit and engagement with various multi-lateral and regional bodies to address issues at the planning and project levels.
Additionally, Government  has been increasing the network of climate monitoring stations and has been designing and constructing new sea defences to accommodate varying sea levels. The rip-rap design allows the raising of defences to prevent overtopping.
            Additionally, further studies on climate change impact and a climate change vulnerability country assessment in agriculture, will be conducted.       The administration remains committed to strengthening the country’s options that will help Guyana adapt to changes in climate in both the short and longer term.

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