Preparations heighten for Bali climate change conference

Preparations heighten for Bali climate change conference
Kaieteur News, 13 November 2007
Incentives for the country's standing forests will be among the major
proposals to be put forward by Guyana at the 13th Conference of Parties
(CoP13th) to be held as part of the United Nations Climate Change
Conference in Bali , Indonesia , next month.

The Bali Conference will be a culmination of a momentous 12-month
climate debate and is expected to encourage a breakthrough in the form
of a ‘roadmap' for future climate change deals.

The ‘Bali Roadmap' is aimed at establishing a process to work on key
building blocks of a future climate change regime, including
adaptation, mitigation and technology cooperation and financing the
response to climate change. Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud
explained that the proposal seeking incentive takes into account
conservation and preservation of the standing forests within the
context of Guyana 's developmental needs.

This position, previously outlined by the President, indicates that
countries such as Guyana which is among the world's top six States with
largest forest cover and in which there is still 36 percent unallocated
forests, should be compensated for its contribution to stalling the
effects of climate change.

Another proposal that will be presented by Guyana is the need for more
support for adaptation measures. This will be made in the context of
the country's vulnerability, taking into consideration Guyana 's
location below sea level and the high cost associated with implementing
and adjusting various projects and plans to ensure adaptation.

It is expected that following the (CoP13th) there will be more support
from the international community for adaptation to climate change
measures in developing countries such as Guyana .

Support with the access to technology will also be part of Guyana 's
position at the conference since it is recognised that the cost of
technology and access to such facilities can be a deterring factor.

Minister Persaud expressed optimism that the response and outcome of
the CoP 13th will be favourable for Guyana , taking into consideration
the greater level of awareness and acceptance of the impact of climate
change on the world. Reference was made to the UN's Secretary General's
commitment to prioritise climate change as part of his mandate.

“Climate change is no longer an issue beyond our heads. It is a reality
and we have seen the impact with sea level rise, erratic weather
pattern which resulted in flooding in 2005 and 2006 and increase in
temperature,” Minister Persaud said.

“The CoP 13th has to be seen in the wider context of developing a
post-Kyoto Protocol framework and we must ensure that very early,
Guyana's positions and the views of our partners are reflected in that
framework, which must address emergency awareness in which the whole
world must tackle the effects of climate change,” he added.

Preparations for Guyana 's participation in the conference are
intensifying as stakeholders' contributions are being mobilized
nationally, regionally and further at the multilateral level to gain
support for the country's position. This will be presented at several
major upcoming events such as the Regional Meeting of Ministers,
Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Zambia and the
International Parliamentary Conference on Climate Change to be held
shortly.

Over the past years, various activities were undertaken by Government
to aid mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Guyana . These
include reactivation of the National Climate Change Committee,
establishment of the National Climate Unit and engagement with various
multilateral and regional bodies to address issues at the planning and
project levels.

Additionally, the administration has been increasing the network of
climate monitoring stations and has been designing and constructing new
sea defences to accommodate varying sea levels. The rip-rap design
allows the raising of defences to prevent overtopping.

It was also noted that further studies on climate change impact and a
climate change vulnerability country assessment in agriculture, will be
conducted.