The Prince, at a meeting of his Rainforest Fund in London on Thursday, pointed to Jagdeo’s “incredible leadership” in combating climate change by dedicating Guyana’s entire forests to the cause. “I would particularly like to thank President Jagdeo of Guyana. He has shown incredible leadership in all this,” a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted the Prince as saying. The Thursday meeting at the St James Palace was to discuss emergency funding to tackle tropical deforestation.
According to GINA, the meeting, a few weeks before the important 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to 18, arrived at a consensus which comes in the form of an inter-governmental report produced by the Informal Working Group (IWG) of 35 countries, that was set up after the meeting of the G-20 leaders, convened by the Prince in April.
The IWG report outlines a process that would reward rainforest countries for reducing deforestation rates. Payments would be made on a performance basis, and would ensure that the forests are worth more alive than dead. The financing is aimed at encouraging rainforest countries to pursue more sustainable forms of economic development, the release noted.
It stated that Prince Charles was also high in praise for the Government of Norway with which Guyana had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on November 9 that could see this country accessing up to US$250M by 2015 in return for preserving its forests.
“We also owe an enormous amount to the Government of Norway for their remarkable leadership and also, dare I say it, for their money! I really would also like to express even more gratitude to the Norwegian government for their labour of love in providing the Secretariat for the IWG,” he was quoted as saying.
According to GINA, the Prince urged the world’s governments to deliver new public finance commitments to provide the funding that the IWG has demonstrated is necessary to reduce deforestation by 25% by 2015. “When you think that 25% in global reduction could be achieved on the basis of additional financing of €15-25B, starting at about €1B in 2010 and increasing to €5.5B per year in 2015, that isn’t much money really when you think about it and if we could achieve it, it would provide the largest reduction in emissions possible over the period…equivalent to perhaps as much as seven gigatons of carbon dioxide and that’s more than the annual emissions of China or the US,” he explained.
The Prince said that it has been inspiring to hear the private sector describe how they can play their part in bringing about a future where productivity and sustainability go hand in hand, and to hear of national plans such as Guyana’s to combat deforestation. “To hear of the government-backed initiatives already underway in Brazil and Guyana that can make this (reducing deforestation) a reality in two very different kinds of rainforest nations are two messages of precious hope,” he was quoted as saying.
GINA noted that Guyana’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which was launched on June 8 and has gone through a four-month, exhaustive national consultative process, is the first national plan that seeks to combat climate change by preserving forests. It has received international recognition and many renowned personalities and organizations, including the Prince, have joined the efforts.
Conservation Internation-al, movie-star Harrison Ford, the Clinton Foundation, the Governments of Norway, and Australia, whose Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had expressed his country’s interest in collaborating with Guyana in the global effort to address climate change after lauding Guyana’s leadership on climate change during a bilateral meeting with President Jagdeo in New York in September, are supporters, the release said.
It noted that Australia has committed to support Guyana’s Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) system.
Meanwhile, it was noted that at Thursday’s meeting the United States pledged US$275M to rainforest protection, which would come from US$1.2B assistance for international programmes, part of a 2010 budget currently pending US Congressional approval.
The funds would aim “to protect biodiversity and support sustainable landscapes in fiscal year 2010 … with a focus on protection of tropical forests.”
