…at Geneva meeting
Guyana is calling for the development of a multi-sector global framework for climate services that will support agreements on mitigating and adapting to climate change and contribute towards programmes centred on environmental sustainability and development.
Addressing the two-day World Climate Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, in underscoring Guyana’s expectations in that regard, also asserted that it is necessary “to ensure that any global framework for climate services complements and adds to existing and emerging initiatives such as. . . the preparedness for monitoring systems for green house gas inventories under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), and a forest carbon monitoring system envisaged under REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
He added that such a framework must also be flexible enough to adjust to new initiatives as new agreements are made.
Minister Persaud besides delivering an address to the conference was also scheduled to co-chair one of the high-level plenary sessions with Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland Paavo Vayrynen.
In his statement yesterday, Persaud declared that “Guyana is looking forward to the development of a far-reaching, multi-sector and robust global framework for climate services that will support ambitious agreements on mitigating and adapting to climate change and contribute towards the formulation of national, regional and global policies and programmes that will put environmental sustainability and economic and social development at their heart.”
And highlighting Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and its potential impact on the global climate change agenda, Persaud stated that, “With the resources that the LCDS seeks to secure, the development of a monitoring, reporting and verification system that is closely linked to climate services and the integration of an information management system (IMS) would be possible.”
Such an IMS would include, he noted, “climate-related variables in predictive risk mapping that will determine deforestation and reference scenario modeling at the national level.”
This initiative, Persaud contended, would enable a more integrated approach to risk management and expanding capability for adaptation to climate variability and change.
He also maintained that “real incentives to avoid deforestation can only be created if a significant investment takes place that will realign Guyana’s economy towards a low-carbon growth path and provide the same or a larger amount of income.”
Guyana, he explained, would then avoid emissions of 1.5 gigatons of C02 emissions by 2020, that would have been produced by an otherwise economically rational development path, while at the same time pursuing economic growth.
Persaud pointed out that the resources required to implement this strategy would be generated from interim forestry payments from Guyana’s partnerships with other countries and donors, and the REDD programme.
LCDS investment
He noted that the main areas for investment identified in the LCDS are promoting the generation and use of renewable energy through the building of a hydro-plant and various biofuel projects; improving access to unused, non-forested land for the purpose of high potential, low carbon sectors such as aquaculture and fruits and vegetables, promoting the service sectors in Guyana through improved fibre optic bandwidth technology and making business process outsourcing services possible and helping in building the infrastructure for sustainable ecotourism.
Identifying special advantages, Persaud said if it is implemented, the strategy is expected to deliver new economic opportunities for indigenous peoples through improved social services, including health and water, low carbon energy sources, clean water and employment which does not threaten the forest.
He acknowledged that Guyana had recognized very early that tackling the increasing challenges that climate change brings cannot be successful if initiatives to strengthen climate modeling are separated from other programmes aimed at economic development and social equity.
And reiterating the pivotal role of global support, Persaud asserted that it cannot be overemphasized in the effort to advance cooperation and technical capability in the provisions of climate services.
He suggested that “working under the `United Nations System Delivering as One’ initiative presents a good opportunity to further technical and other resource support. In developing such systems, the needs of developing countries must be taken on board in a meaningful and timely way through an inclusive and consultative approach.”
He advocated further that training and other resource support systems must be integrated into the design of the global framework, if developing countries are to participate and implement such systems.
At the same time, Persaud observed that “it goes without saying that any system would need to be adapted to local climate conditions and country-specific circumstances.”
Radical review
He also argued that, “we are at a point where our policies and technical capacities at the national, regional and global level need to undergo a radical review in order to revamp climate services and make climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation and economic and social development possible in the years to come.”Actions to address tropical deforestation must therefore consider the root causes of deforestation which for the most part is due to legitimate economic activities and creating livelihood opportunities for local peoples. In that light, Guyana commissioned a pioneering study executed by McKinsey Consulting Group, with support of the Clinton Climate Initiative, which assessed the true value of the country’s forests by determining the value they provide to the nation and the world.
According to Persaud, the study found that Guyana’s forest could generate economic value to the nation of between $430 million and $2 billion per year. This wide range relates to variability driven by fluctuating prices for commodities such as logs, palm oil and rice, but the most likely economic value to the nation is about US$580 million per year.
The World Climate Conference (WCC) is organised by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the United Nations and scores of Heads of State and hundreds of Government Ministers are expected to participate.
Under the theme of “Climate prediction and information for decision-making,” the WCC is aimed at bringing together Heads of State and Government, and Ministers and Heads of UN and other international organisations as well as climate scientists, world experts in the provision and application of climate information, concerned with the implications of climate variability and change.
The Conference also expects to identify the essential elements of a global framework for meeting the future climate information needs of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as the world heads to the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change in December.
