Government intends to advance projects in sync with Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) even as efforts are underway to ensure that the Amaila Falls hydro project access road is completed. Upon completion, the project will remove 99 percent of the country’s energy related emissions and provide a reliable source of energy in Guyana. The Office of Climate Change (OCC) in a press release issued today, outlined among the LCDS priority projects for 2012 the Amerindian Land Titling and Demarcation programme; establishment of the Amerindian Development Fund; the Biodiversity centre and the rehabilitation of the Cunha Canal.
The Cunha Canal rehabilitation is the first adaptation project under the LCDS which is aimed at increasing the canal’s discharge capacity and reducing the risks of the embankment overtopping and flooding along the East Bank of the Demerara. These projects are in addition to the hinterland electrification project which will see the installation of 11,000 solar home systems in 150 hinterland communities; the One Laptop Per Family project and the E-Governance Fiber Optic Cable which will serve as the backbone of a larger ICT strategy to improve and lower the cost of access to information and essential government services.
Guyana and Norway are working jointly to improve the effectiveness of the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) mechanism with the establishment of a GRIF Secretariat to support the facilitation of this mandate and serve to hasten the release of the Norway funds. The Guyana-Norway partnership is the second biggest Interim REDD + agreement in the world and, according to the OCC; Guyana’s performance for 2011 will be conducted in the following months in accordance with the agreed requirements of the Joint Concept Note (JCN) and Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and Norway.
The level of support depends on Guyana’s delivery of results as it relates to performance against a set of REDD+ Enabling Activities and REDD+ Performance Indicators. Guyana has successfully met the performance requirements for two consecutive years, earning approximately USM which has been transferred by Norway into the GRIF and, which will be used to support LCDS initiatives.
The OCC aims to continue wide stakeholder awareness and engagements on Guyana’s climate initiatives and the LCDS.
Meanwhile the Multi-Stakeholder Committee for the LCDS will convene its first meeting shortly.
The MSSC comprises national stakeholders including indigenous and conservation Non Governmental Organisations, the private sector, labour, youth, women, and civil society whose collective input and representation contributed one of the pillars of the LCDS’s successes.
The level of support to the GRIF depends on Guyana’s delivery of results as measured against two sets of indicators; performance against a set of REDD+ Enabling Activities and, REDD+ Performance Indicators. Guyana and Norway are continuing to work in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank on the delivery of GRIF financing to support LCDS Initiatives.
