Rodrigues calls for standing forests to be recognized in future protocols

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues is calling for the recognition of standing forests in future protocols and compensation for developing countries that provide ecosystem services.

The foreign affairs minister made this statement while speaking at the two-day Sixth UK/Caribbean Forum in London, which ends today. 

In a session on Sustainable Development (Climate Change, Eco-Tourism) Rodrigues  asserted: “We are of the view that standing forests should be recognized in any future protocol and compensatory measures must be included for developing countries that have made efforts to reduce deforestation and
manage their forests sustainably,   thereby providing much needed ecosystem services.”

She further  drew to the attention of her colleague ministers of foreign affairs  that  Guyana’s President Bharrat  Jagdeo and several other Caricom leaders had announced a plan, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda in 2007,  that would place their countries’  standing forests at the disposal of the Global Campaign against Climate Change while earning carbon credits to assist them with their national development.

And welcoming the United Kingdom’s commitment to support the setting up of a Regional Tourism Investment Fund, Rodrigues also urged the UK to continue championing the cause of small developing states, which are vulnerable to climate change, in the various international fora.