– Jagdeo
There can no longer be any denial of the threats of climate change since abundant scientific evidence now exists confirming the reality of global warming, President Bharrat Jagdeo said in his Commonwealth Day message yesterday.
He said that Guyana had been brought face to face with this reality pointing to the Great Flood of 2005 and the recent La Nina- associated heavy rainfall.
“As a small low-lying coastal state, which is perennially vulnerable to changes in the weather patterns, Guyana has had to respond to these phenomena by formulating a Climate Change Action Plan that addresses our commitment under the International Convention to undertake the measures to reduce our vulnerability through clear strategies aimed at adaptation, mitigation, capacity building and public awareness,” he said. He added that to be successful the strategies will require the full support of all Guyanese.
Jagdeo said the government has taken a number of initiatives to contribute to a global response to the need to protect and preserve the national environment. He pointed to the government’s dedication to the international community of almost one million acres of pristine forest for research in biodiversity and the sustainable development of its forestry resources. “At the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda, I announced a plan that would place our standing forests at the disposal of the Global Campaign against Climate Change while earning carbon credits for Guyana to assist with its national development.”
He noted that Guyana last year had hosted the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting where the focus was on climate change and on ways and means to address this issue. “The Government of Guyana urges not only our sister Commonwealth member countries but also other countries around the globe to recognize the cost of inaction and to make whatever contribution they can to diminishing the environmental dangers which now surround them.”
The President said that this year’s theme of ‘The Environment – Our Future’ is both timely and appropriate calling attention to the dangers posed by climate change to the Earth. He paid tribute to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II for her role as the Head of the Commonwealth in furthering its principles and purposes within the wider community of nations.
He said that the government takes the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to the ideals of the Commonwealth and to working towards the common good. “May the Commonwealth family long continue in service not only to its members but also to the world,” he said.
