Guyana transitioning to low carbon path – Ramotar tells LCDS update forum

“We are now well on the way towards transitioning our economy to one that is built on clean energy – sustainable land use – and maintaining our forests.” These were the words of President Donald Ramotar as he gave an update on the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) during a State House forum on Friday.
The event was attended by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, top diplomats, government ministers, and leading members of the private sector. President Ramotar launched an update on the LCDS, which provides a summary of Guyana’s progress towards achieving the goals set out in the LCDS.  President Ramotar spoke of the progress that had been made in the four years since the strategy’s launch, and said that 2013 was proving to be a “pivotal year”.

Clean energy
In the foreword to the LCDS update, President Ramotar highlighted that: Guyana is maintaining 99.5 per cent of its forest, and the world’s lowest rate of deforestation.  With the start of electricity generation from Amaila Falls in 2017, Guyana will likely be the world’s number one user of clean energy by 2017, and Guyanese homes and businesses will get a cheaper, more reliable electricity supply.
More than 11,000 Amerindian homes now have electricity for the first time – through solar systems distributed by the government.
“Guyana is on track to become the world’s most inclusive digital society, as 90,000 vulnerable households (will) gain access to computers and training – almost 27,000 have been distributed to date.  The government has started to provide targeted assistance for small businesses and vulnerable communities to stimulate the creation of 2200 new low-carbon jobs in the next three years,” Ramotar said.
New low carbon opportunities
He added that most Amerindian communities now have legal title to their land, and the government has committed to completing the land titling process over the next three years for all communities that have requested this.
“One hundred and sixty-six Amerindian villages, communities and settlements have produced low-carbon community development plans, and in 2013, 27 of those will start to be implemented – creating new low-carbon opportunities in areas such as ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, and manufacturing,” the president added.
The head of state said traditional sectors are still being nurtured, noting that the contributions of the agriculture and mining sectors to the economy are increasing and their environmental performance progressively improving.
The LCDS update also sets out the priorities for the future. President Ramotar said: “It speaks of how the government intends to pursue a once-in-a-generation investment in our adaptation infrastructure, of how we will intensify our efforts to support private sector-led growth in high-potential low-carbon sectors, and of how we will continue to deliver large-scale support for Amerindian-led socio-economic development.”
In the LCDS update foreword, the president alluded to the need to stay firm when progress was difficult, saying that reforms with this scale of ambition are never without setbacks.
Jagdeo’s vision
In 2008, then President Jagdeo laid out his vision to forge a new low-carbon economy in Guyana over the coming decade. The vision was translated into a national strategy in Guyana’s LCDS – after over a year of review and consultation within Guyana, coupled with input from climate change negotiations at the United Nations.  When he set out his vision, Jagdeo said that Guyana would aim to meet three inter-linked challenges:   How to make forests worth more alive than dead; how to stimulate future growth using clean energy and non-deforesting economic activities, and finally, how to protect against climate change.
Since then, Guyana has risen to the first challenge by creating the world’s second largest Interim REDD+ Partnership with the government of Norway, earning US$115 million to date. This revenue – combined with domestic resources and private investment – is generating the capital to invest in the other two challenges, which were the focus of President Ramotar’s remarks at the LCDS update launch.