Dear Editor,

There is an ongoing debate in the dailies on the merits and demerits of the Low Carbon Development Strategy being promoted by President Jagdeo’s administration.  I now read that President Jagdeo has been invited to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s climate session at the UN on Sept 22, suggesting that Jagdeo is held in high regard on the LCDS.  I was in Denmark and the Nordic countries earlier this month and I can vouch that there appears to be overwhelming support for LCDS among the population of those countries.  This leads me to believe that money will be forthcoming for LCDS and I hope the amount is significant enough to help eradicate poverty and promote development.

In the Nordic countries, I spoke with people at random everywhere I visited, both in the cities and the countryside. Although it was by no means a scientific opinion poll – and lest it be misunderstood, no one sent me to the Nordic countries to conduct a poll – people are concerned about rising global temperature and climate change.  They wholeheartedly support efforts being made by their governments to reduce global warming as well as to help poor countries alleviate suffering. They are concerned about the environment and in fact they do not feel enough is being done by their governments to reduce global warming. They want their countries to pressure the other developed countries to pursue more effective measures against global warming. Also, they support measures to give aid to countries willing to protect their forests, like the LCDS now being advocated by Jagdeo.  I was informed that the governments of Norway and Finland are currently experimenting with such an aid programme.  I was told Sweden had not made any firm commitment to financial aid for LCDS but was likely to give a large amount of aid.  But Denmark will give huge amounts of aid to poor countries committed to a LCDS.  There is talk among citizens of the Nordic countries that combined (with Denmark and Sweden in the lead) they would commit billions of dollars to such a programme over the next decade.  The people will pressure the governments to take the lead in Copenhagen. Other developed countries have not been making similar commitments.  Rising temperatures should spur them (more than the Nordic countries) to put their hands in their pockets to pay for protecting the environment since it is their development (resulting in high carbon pollution) that has destroyed the environment and threatens the lives of all. But I believe they will come around at the Copenhagen summit and we are likely to see a huge pool of development aid for poor countries with large forests. We ought to be pressuring or lobbying the governments of the developed countries, such as US, UK, Canada, etc, to make a firm commitment of long-term aid to poor countries (which have signed on to an LCDS) so these countries can access significant funds to transform their economies, thereby alleviating poverty.

Money to poor countries should and would have conditionalities. Preferential development should be given to those communities with people living in or dependent on the forests for survival. Government should encourage sustainable development for our native population.

I do not think we should knock the LCDS strategy but suggest ways to refine it so that Guyana maximizes the benefits from it while preserving the forests and our national sovereignty.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram