Guyana assumes co-chair of enviro body

Guyana will assume the role of co-chair, along with Germany, to the Interim Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation or REDD+ Partnership on July 1.

The REDD+ Partnership is an interim initiative for partnership among countries to scale up actions and finance for initiatives to reduce emissions from REDD+ in developing countries with focus on support for developing capacity building and performance based REDD+ efforts, based on individual national circumstances.

Under the agreement, meetings will be co-chaired by one developing and one developed country partner representative, both selected for non-renewable terms through an inclusive and transparent selection process.

The co-chairs are obliged to report to the Partnership, and be responsible for soliciting and communicating Partner views, tasking secretariat services based on guidance from the partnership, and proposing meeting agendas to the partners for approval.

When appropriate, co-chairs may draw support from the former and upcoming co-chairs.

"We have to go into this partnership first of all to ensure that the resources that are pledged don't just remain pledges, that they are disbursed to our countries," said Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo.

An annual pledge of US$10 billion per annum was made by countries at the 16th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

But Jagdeo said the funds have been slow in coming.

"We don't see any evidence of this disbursement. I come from the Caribbean and there are 15 countries in CARICOM, 10 are considered the most vulnerable to climate change because of hurricanes etc ... and not a cent has reached any of those 15 countries for adaptation," he said.

"We are part of South America and not a cent has reached any part of South America pledged in Copen-hagen for mitigation purposes. So where is this money going?" the Guyanese president asked.

Guyana has so far acquired US$70 million through payments received from the world's second-largest forest climate services arrangement with Norway.

In April last year, Guyana and Germany signed an agreement for an additional €5 million (US$7.3 million) available to fund the protection of one of the most important ecosystems of the world.

- CMC