UNDP to continue helping Guyana on climate resilient development

Adriana Dinu, Deputy Executive Coordinator, Environmental and Energy Group Bureau for Development Policy gave this assurance during a courtesy call on Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud, a media release from the ministry said.

Dinu also noted that according to the Global Footprint Network, Guyana has a significant bio capacity (about 60 global hectares per person – or over 30 times more than world average), and an Ecological Footprint of about 2.6 global hectares/pers.

Dinu said further that the government’s decision to embark on a low carbon, climate resilient development trajectory, based on its natural capital, is the only sustainable development option which will see the benefits accruing to all sectors of the society.

Meanwhile, Minister Persaud, the release stated, is enthused with the support extended by the UNDP and anticipates the formulation of UNDP’s national strategic programming framework for sustainable development in Guyana, which can also inform strategic planning in multiple sectors.

Persaud highlighted the importance of a strategic programming framework that will form the basis for leveraging financing and support for the LCDS, not just from within the UNDP, but from multiple donors and financing mechanisms. He also called on the UNDP to play a central role in supporting Guyana’s efforts to ultimately access environmental and climate financing.

Over the past week, the UNDP has been reviewing several of its projects in Guyana, which included the Second National Communication to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Land Management Project to fully understand the threats to, and Guyana’s options to achieve, true climate resiliency, the release added.