Guyana first country to benefit from World Bank's FCPF
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| Published on Saturday, November 7, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Guyana is the first country to complete its due diligence study under the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), with the country being granted access to the resources of the programme.
This will enable government to conduct greater advocacy on climate change, information sharing on the Reduced Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) mechanism and the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), and to prepare the country for any proposal for trading in forest carbon that may arise out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Copenhagen in December.
This was announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference today at the Office of the President.
The President was referring to the five-member World Bank team, led by Dr Laurent Debroux, Senior Natural Resource Economist, who had arrived in Guyana to conduct a due diligence study on October 6, and which was done through dialogue and observation.
The study follows up on the June FCPF Participants’ Committee meeting where Guyana, Panama and Indonesia, were the first countries, out of 37 in the Readiness Mechanism of the FCPF, to have their Readiness Proposal Plan (RPP) approved, and a first due diligence mission in July.
The general objective of the mission was to advise and exchange views with the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and other Government institutions on compliance with the Bank's safeguards and operational policies. The mission's objective was also to hear the views and exchange ideas with representatives from civil society, Amerindian communities, and other stakeholders regarding Guyana's participation in this FCPF/REDD preparation phase.
The World Bank staff were part of a 22-member team representing Government, civil society, and donor representatives that met with 16 indigenous communities, at Iwokrama, Kamarang and Nappi to discuss the LCDS to keep Guyana forests standing, store carbon and in return, receive payments from the international community to pursue national development initiatives.
As a result of Guyana being approved to participate in the FCPF, a US$200,000 seed grant is accessible, that will fund technical studies coordinated by the GFC and information efforts and community awareness activities coordinated by the National Toshaos Council (NTC).
Also, Guyana will be able to access up to US$3.4 million to fund its RPP. | | | | Reads : 494 | | | |
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