Norway’s Ministry of Finance yesterday admitted that recently highlighted concerns about Barama’s activities in Guyana relate primarily to past events.
“The description regarding Samling Global Ltd’s daughter company Barama’s activities in Guyana primarily relates to events that that took place some time ago,” it said in a letter to Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, adding that “[it] would seem to reflect criticism of Barama already expressed publicly by Guyanese authorities.”
Additionally, the Norwegian Ministry added that the recommendation to exclude Samling Global from its investment portfolio largely concerned itself with the company’s activity in Sarawak, Malaysia. “[It]… does not opine on the extent of deforestation, forest degradation or environmental damage in Guyana, nor does it assess the forest policies of the Government of Guyana,” the letter, signed by State Secretary in Norwegian Ministry of Finance Hilde Singsaas, said. “Norway strongly supports and is impressed by the efforts of the government of Guyana to create a low-carbon and low-deforestation future, and remains a committed partner to Guyana in these efforts.”
On Monday, Norway’s Ministry of Finance announced that it has excluded Malaysian company, Samling, which is Barama’s parent company, from the portfolio of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) on the Council on Ethics’ assessment that it was contributing to or is itself responsible for grossly unethical activity. The Council on Ethics assessed Samling Global and “concluded that the company’s forest operations in the rainforests of Sarawak and Guyana contribute to illegal logging and severe environmental damage.”
Since then, Persaud and Barama have rejected the report. Barama said on Wednesday that the characterization of the company by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund is inaccurate and not based on complete information. In the statement, Mohindra Chand, Head of Corporate Affairs and Forests Planning at Barama, said that the company had invited the Norwegians to visit their operations “for first-hand knowledge of our business and to clarify issues, but with no response”.
He said that the company remains committed to the continual improvement of its sustainable forest management processes and practices within the laws under which it operates. “However, it is not our policy to comment on the decisions of investors”, he had said.
Persaud on Tuesday rejected the Norwegian report and denied that BCL operations have resulted in serious damage to the environment. In a statement, he said that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), which monitors BCL’s operations continuously “has found little evidence to substantiate such a position.” However, he admitted that “some deficiencies” were identified in Barama’s operations.
In the letter to Persaud, Singsaas said on behalf of the Norwegian government, “I would like to emphasise that we look forward to continued good cooperation between Guyana and Norway in our common quest to create a low-carbon and low-deforestation future”.
The letter explained that the Council on Ethics makes its recommendations independently of the Norwegian government.
The Council’s mandate is to recommend to the Minister of Finance, companies where an investment by the GPFG risks breaching the Ethical guidelines of the Fund. It is a principle that the recommendation should be forward looking and assess future risks and also that it shall concern itself with companies’ subjective activities.
“The minister’s final decision on whether or not to divest from a company is made on the basis of the Council’s recommendation. This does not mean that the Minster has made an independent assessment of every claim or opinion in the Council’s recommendation, but rather that the Minister is satisfied that the recommendation document establishes beyond sufficient doubt that an investment in the company represents an unacceptable future risk of violating the ethical guidelines,” the letter said.
Forestry partnership evaluation
Meantime, a Norwegian-contracted team is here on a routine visit to evaluate the forestry partnership with Guyana. The team met with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Persaud on Tuesday. It met with the GFC and other stakeholders yesterday. The team will be here for two weeks, Persaud explained. He said that it was “routine stuff.”
The team is here under the auspices of the Norwegian Government’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, which was launched in December 2007.
The initiative pledged up to 3 billion Norwegian kroner per year to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD).
“In order to progressively assess the results of the Initiative with regard to its objectives and the general objectives of Norwegian development cooperation, Norad’s (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) Evaluation Department will organise a real time evaluation starting in early 2010,” a brief said. A consortium of independent consultants and experts led by LTS International has been assigned to carry out the evaluation under a framework agreement covering a four-year period (2010-2013). “The real-time evaluation shall provide timely information and rapid learning opportunities about the fast-moving developments on REDD,” a brief on LTS website says. “The approach will involve a range of evaluation activities to be repeated at regular intervals during the life of the Initiative, as well as stand-alone evaluations of specific thematic or geographic areas.”
The objectives of the real-time evaluation are to assess the results of the Initiative’s support: for improving the prospects of the inclusion of a REDD mechanism in a post-2012 climate regime; for the preparation of mechanisms and implementation of activities to attain verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; for the conservation of natural forests to maintain their carbon storage capacity; and with regards to the general objectives of Norwegian development cooperation, such as those related to livelihoods, economic and social development and the environment.
The main period under study is from the start of the Initiative, including its initial preparations until the end of 2013. The evaluation will focus primarily on the work of the major recipients of funding, and cover: management and administration in Norway; multilateral, bilateral and nongovernmental agencies funded by the Initiative; international negotiations and related global and regional policy processes; and national REDD processes, plans and actions. “The evaluation will cover ongoing as well as concluded activities, comprising both desk studies and fieldwork. Early in the evaluation, there may be an emphasis on reviewing current knowledge, as a foundation for assessing later developments.
The real-time evaluation is intended to serve both a documentation function and a learning function. The concerned partners will therefore be actively consulted during the evaluation process, also on issues related to the terms of reference and timing of the different evaluation activities. Evaluation reports will be made available to the general public,” the brief adds.
Guyana and Norway last November inked a Memorandum of Under-standing which sets out how the two countries will “work together to provide the world with a relevant, replicable model for how REDD+ can align the development objectives of forest countries with the world’s need to combat climate change.” Norway committed to providing financial support of up to US$250 million by 2015 for results achieved by Guyana in limiting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
