Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Guianas project needs to be reformulated to make it more aligned towards providing support to the wider objectives of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and REDD+ initiatives.
REDD+ stands for countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Persaud advanced Guy-ana’s position on the matter in his brief address on Tuesday last to the WWF’s Third Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Guianas Sustainable Natural Resourc-es Management Project held at the Grand Coastal Inn, East Coast Demerara.
He pointed out that Guyana feels it is opportune for the WWW Guianas project to be revised, according to a copy of his address made available to Stabroek News.
Persaud also pointed out that “this was articulated by the consultants in their project review and is absolutely necessary and relevant since we would only make a global impact in the reduction of GHG’s gases and global warming by adopting a low carbon growth path at the national level.
“Guyana can be considered to be a model maker, but organizations like WWF have to work synergistically with other like-minded entities to support implementation of our model which can then serve as a pilot to be replicated by countries with similar national circumstances.”
In this respect, Persaud called on participants at the forum “to vigorously advocate for a new international agreement that recognizes the vital role of sustainable natural resource management in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change.”
And this agreement, Persaud contended, must guarantee a combination of adequate grant funding, performance based payments, and finances flowing from a market-based mechanism.
He said further that in the interim, as a collective, the countries involved in the project must emphasize the need for immediate financial and technical support and guidance to help them in navigating unchartered territories such as REDD+ and MRVS (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System).
Only then, Persaud concluded, would they be able to make a difference in their quest to reduce global warming.
