Norway has committed up to $250 million to preserving tropical rain forests in Guyana, a country that has been praised internationally for pursuing the Low Carbon Development Strategy launched by President Bharrat Jagdeo last year.
Environmental advocacy groups called Norway’s plan “monumental” for its new approach of rewarding a government for combating climate change.
Norway will make an initial payment of $30 million into Guyana’s Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation development fund. Additional financial support will be awarded at a level determined by Guyana’s success in limiting emissions, according to a memorandum signed Monday by Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim and President Jagdeo. Norway has donated more money globally to slowing tropical deforestation — $530 million per year — than any other country in the world.
In advance of next month’s Copenhagen Climate Conference, some leaders in the hemisphere, including U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have called for more regional climate change cooperation. Kerry calls for the United States to support existing efforts throughout the hemisphere to combat climate change and identify sources of renewable energy in the Fall issue of Americas Quarterly. Heads of state from countries with Amazonian territory will convene in Manaus, Brazil, on November 26, for an environmental summit hosted by President Lula da Silva.
