British high commissioner lauds LCDS as a model of what is possible – at Queen’s birth anniversary reception

Guyana’s revolutionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) was on Wednesday evening lauded by British High Commissioner to Guyana Andrew Ayre, who described it as a definitive model of what is possible in a densely forested developing country.

The strategy, which seeks to transform the country’s economy on a pathway to sustainable development, has identified hydropower, a biodiversity research centre, Amerindian community development and Information Communication Technology (ICT) among the priorities to be buttressed in the economy, said the Government Information Agency (GINA).
The strategy, pioneered by former President Bharrat Jagdeo who was named one of Time Magazine’s ‘Hero of the Environment’ and awarded the 2010 ‘Champion of the Earth’ award, is the country’s model for tackling climate change.
The phenomenon is one in which Guyana and the United Kingdom share similar positions, particularly as it relates to addressing manmade causes like greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.
“I hope that a legally binding post-Kyoto agreement on greenhouse gas emissions can be reached soon,” Ambassador Ayre said at a reception at his Bel Air Gardens residence on the occasion of the 87th birth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II.
The occasion was marked with a toast by President Donald Ramotar, First Lady Deolatchmie Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, in the presence of other dignitaries.
Guyana looks forward to partnership with UK
Guyana has gained admiration from the British, and the rest of the world for proving that it is possible for developed and developing countries to establish partnerships that promote funding for sustainable development practices.
A model forest carbon services agreement between the government of Guyana and the Kingdom of Norway has to date seen emoluments to the tune of Gy$ 115 million channelled to Guyana through a Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF).
It follows a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Jagdeo and former Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development Erik Solheim in 2009 for forest-based remuneration of US$ 250 million up to 2015.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been an implementing partner in aspects of the GRIF funds dedicated to Community Development Programmes (CDPs) designed and approved in Amerindian communities.
President Ramotar, in his remarks, said Guyana will continue to play an integral role in the REDD+ partnership that “provides for the establishment of a global initiative by which countries can be incentivised for reducing emissions through avoided deforestation”.
Support from the UK has been pledged to the efforts to reduce the threat of transnational crimes, which take the form of drugs and arms, trafficking in persons or money laundering, and, defending the country’s territorial integrity from threats, Ambassador Ayre said.