Former Norwegian minister exposes Kaieteur News’ lies – demands apology for grossly inaccurate article

Former Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim has written to Kaieteur News demanding an apology for a grossly inaccurate article published recently on the Guyana/Norway forest partnership pact.
Solheim, who is currently the Development Assistance Committee president for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was quoted in a letter to the newspaper, saying: “I have been grossly misrepresented in your article of March 21 on the Guyana-Norway climate and forest partnership. I have not made any statements along the lines you propose to ‘quote’ in this article. It is simply an untruth, and I expect an apology.
“Moreover, your article as a whole does not give anything near a fair and accurate representation of the Guyana-Norway partnership.”

Underlining some of the reasons for entering into a partnership with Guyana, Solheim spoke of the country’s high political commitment which it continues to show on keeping deforestation low and embarking on a low carbon development path.
Besides, he pointed to Georgetown’s high forest cover and exceptionally low deforestation rate, noting that 20 per cent of the world’s remaining tropical forests are in such countries and that it is crucial to the health of the planet that these countries are incentivised to keep it that way.
“Guyana’s commitment to use the funds generated through the partnership on low- carbon development, in particular as regards putting the country on a clean and renewable energy trajectory and investing heavily in adaptation to unavoidable climate change,” he said.
He added that the pay for performance-partnership could serve as a model for the world, as developing and developed countries alike struggle with the defining challenge of our time – avoiding catastrophic climate change.
“This is a first-of-its- kind partnership. That is a challenging position to be in. One of the core merits of this partnership is that we solve the challenges – for real, not on paper – of climate change partnerships, and learn real, not theoretical lessons, that could be of immense value to the world. I believe Norway and Guyana have made admirable progress since we started our work in 2009.
“Obviously, much remains to be done. However, I am confident that Norway continues to be committed to the partnership with Guyana and that the two countries will succeed with their joint efforts to keep deforestation low and to create a low-carbon development path for Guyana.
“I would like to reiterate that this [KN] article presents an unbalanced view of the Norway- Guyana partnership and contains some gross misrepresentations. I would also like to point out that parts of Heidi Bjørkto Bade master’s thesis are misrepresented in this article. But she is fully capable of correcting those misrepresentations herself.
“The people of Guyana should be proud of this partnership. Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. Guyana and Norway are trying very seriously to deal with it. That, in itself, is an example to a world which will have to change, urgently, if certain disaster is to be avoided,” Solheim posited.