And according to a joint press release issued by the Government of Guyana, the Government of Norway and the World Bank, the first payment from Norway of approximately US$30 million is now being processed.
The GRIF is the financial mechanism for the ongoing cooperation on climate change between Guyana and Norway. Norway will pay for Guyana’s performance on limiting greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and for progress made against governance-related indicators. Guyana will invest the payments it receives, and any income earned on them, in its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
Guyana and Norway have asked the World Bank to act as the trustee of the GRIF, the release said. Norway’s payments to Guyana may amount to approximately US$250 million over the period to 2015, depending on Guyana’s performance, according to a methodology set out by the two countries in November 2009.
“Today represents a big step forward in our joint efforts to show that we can create a low deforestation, low carbon, climate resilient economy in Guyana,” said the release quoted Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh as saying. “Our two countries are forging new ground in trying to work out how REDD+ can help to reconcile the world’s need for urgent action to avert climate catastrophe with Guyana’s sustainable development.”
“Today, Guyana, the World Bank and Norway have shown the world that developed and developing countries can solve complex problems together for the good of all,” said Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway Erik Solheim was quoted as saying. “We have agreed on an innovative mechanism for conservation and sustainable use of rainforest. I believe our achievement shows that when we pull together, we can deliver in a way that is of benefit to countries like Guyana and to the wider world’s efforts to combat climate change.”
“It is very important to support climate change financing, particularly in the forestry area,” said World Bank Vice President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships Axel van Trotsenburg was quoted as saying. “In this context, we are very pleased to support Norway and Guyana in their innovative results-based approach by providing the financial platform for this important initiative.”
The release said the governments of Guyana and Norway, along with the World Bank, will release a fact sheet, explaining the GRIF’s operations in more detail, here next week.
On November 9, 2009, Norway and Guyana set out a joint partnership to “work together to provide the world with a working example of how partnerships between developed and developing countries can save the world’s tropical forests.” The partnership is based on the concept of “payment for ecosystem services” and aims to contribute to the creation of a global regime to assign economic value to standing forests, the release said.
The establishment of GRIF is a core part of the partnership between Guyana and Norway. It aims to create a potential model for climate finance that ensures Guy-anese sovereignty over LCDS decisions at the same time as demonstrating adherence to internationally accepted standards, such as financial, social and environmental safeguards.
Both Governments believe that the issue of safeguards must be resolved within the UNFCCC negotiations, but this issue is still being discussed. To develop a globally relevant model and therefore help give insights that may advance the negotiations, the Governments of Guyana and Norway will invite internationally reputable institutions to act as GRIF partner entities, starting with the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and specialized agencies of the UN that are members of the United Nations Development Group.
The safeguards of any one of these organizations, which are internationally accepted, will be used in the implementation of the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund.
As on all other aspects of the agreement, adjustments will, if necessary, be made whenever agreement on a REDD+ mechanism is reached under the UNFCCC, to ensure conformity with that agreement, the release added.
On September 30, when he formally opened GuyExpo, President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that “though six months late the first payment of US$30 million is now being processed. It will be deposited in the GRIF in the next 10 days.”
