FOREST PLEDGE - President says will keep forest intact for economic rewards

FOREST PLEDGE
- President says will keep forest intact for economic rewards
By Neil Marks
Guyana Chronicle, 16 October 2007
http://www.guyanachronicle.com/topstory.html

PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo last evening pledged to preserve the nation’s
pristine rainforest – the size of England – if he gets partners willing
to pay in the interest of fighting further changes in the world’s
climate.

Mr. Jagdeo said he was throwing out the offer because countries which
face the devastating effects of climate change do not need lectures on
the trouble it causes, but rather they want to see the global community
take action to resolve the matter now.

He threw out the offer in addressing Commonwealth finance ministers,
who control the development budgets of some of the countries most
vulnerable to climate change.

“We stand ready to work with any bilateral or commercial partner who
shares our vision of sustainable development where our long established
and world leading commitment to sustaining our forest can be matched by
economic rewards which support our national development efforts…,” Mr.
Jagdeo said.

President Jagdeo told finance ministers at the National Cultural Centre
opening ceremony that they cannot afford not to pay attention to
climate change like he did when he was finance minister in 1997 when
the first global agreement to fight climate change was inked in Kyoto,
Japan.

Today, Mr. Jagdeo is one of those knocking the Kyoto Protocol for
providing perverse initiatives, largely ignoring countries which have
preserved tropical rainforests.

The protocol is being replaced in the next five years, and Mr. Jagdeo
told finance ministers he hopes their conclusions on the matter will
help to carry a stronger voice when global crusaders on the issue
converge on Bali, Indonesia in December.

“We must urgently change the current perverse arrangement within the
climate change framework which provides a disincentive for forest
conservation and protection,” Mr. Jagdeo argued.

He said although Guyana faces extreme vulnerabilities to climate
change, this country continues to contribute meaningfully to mitigate
this phenomenon. He mentioned projects like Iwokrama, for which one
million acres of forest in Guyana are being used to demonstrate how
money can be made from the forest without destroying it.

The scientific community believes that the global climate is changing
or warming because of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities,
including industrial and manufacturing processes, fossil fuel
combustion (gas) and changes in land use, such as deforestation.

President Jagdeo said in the negotiations to replace the Kyoto
Protocol, there should be support for country-led adaptation
strategies.

Here in Guyana, the authorities believe the 2005 floods which
devastated the coastland were brought on by unseasonable rainfall due
to changing weather patterns.

Also, with Guyana below sea level, global sea level rise could cause
further flooding.

A report prepared by the Commonwealth Secretariat indicated that rising
sea levels will result in tens to hundreds of millions more people
flooded each year with warming of 3 or 4°C and increasing pressures for
coastal protection in South East Asia (Bangladesh and Vietnam), small
islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and large coastal cities,
such as Tokyo, New York, Cairo and London.

According to one estimate, by the middle of the century, 200 million
people may become permanently displaced due to rising sea levels,
heavier floods, and more intense droughts.

Finance ministers will discuss the challenges they face in detail at
the Guyana International Conference Centre today.

Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh said no country of the world is
exempt from the devastating effects of climate change and therefore “we
can no longer postpone consideration of its implications.”

Deputy Commonwealth Secretary General Mr. Ransford Smith said finance
ministers and global financial institutions have a role to play in
advancing adaptation and mitigation efforts.

He said he hopes today’s deliberations will enable finance ministers to
better understand the economics of climate change and take action.

Photos in digital saved as: Jaggy group, commonwealth delegates,
ransford smith