Guyana’s President gets kudos from Prince Charles

“I would particularly like to thank President Jagdeo of Guyana (pictured above). He has shown incredible leadership in all this,” the Prince said. (File photo: un.org)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, November 23, 2009 – Britain’s Prince Charles has praised Guyana’s President for taking the lead in combating climate change by dedicating Guyana’s entire forests to the cause.

He gave the kudos at a meeting of his Rainforest Fund at St James’s Palace, London to discuss emergency funding to tackle tropical deforestation.

“I would particularly like to thank President Jagdeo of Guyana. He has shown incredible leadership in all this,” the Prince said.

The meeting, held a few weeks before the important 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to 18, arrived at a consensus which comes in the form of an inter-governmental report produced by the Informal Working Group (IWG) of 35 countries, that was set up after the meeting of the G-20 leaders in April.

The IWG report outlines a process that would reward rainforest countries for reducing deforestation rates. Payments would be made on a performance basis, and by ensuring that the forests are worth more alive than dead the financing is aimed at encouraging rainforest countries to pursue more sustainable forms of economic development.

Prince Charles was also high in praise for the Government of Norway with which Guyana had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on November 9 that could see the country accessing up to US$250 million by 2015 in return for preserving its forests.

“We also owe an enormous amount to the Government of Norway for their remarkable leadership and also, dare I say it, for their money! I really would also like to express even more gratitude to the Norwegian government for their labour of love in providing the Secretariat for the IWG,” he said.

The Prince noted that it has been inspiring to hear the private sector describe how they can play their part in bringing about a future where productivity and sustainability go hand in hand, and to hear of national plans such as Guyana’s to combat deforestation.

“To hear of the government-backed initiatives already underway in Brazil and Guyana that can make this (reducing deforestation) a reality in two very different kinds of rainforest nations are two messages of precious hope,” he said.

Guyana’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which was launched on June 8th and has gone through a four-month, exhaustive national consultative process, is the first national plan that seeks to combat climate change by preserving forests.

It has received international recognition and many renowned personalities and organizations have joined the efforts. Among the supporters are Conservation International, movie-star Harrison Ford, the Clinton Foundation, the Governments of Norway, and Australia, whose Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had expressed his country’s interest in collaborating with Guyana in the global effort to address climate change.