As of April 30, US$70.8M was disbursed from donors to Guyana to support the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and REDD+ efforts out of a total commitment of US$255.4M.
US$70M in performance-based payments from Norway was deposited into the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) but no cash has been released to Guyana yet. US$450,000 has been disbursed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) while US$ 399,604 was released to Guyana from a Conservation International/German Development Bank (CI/KfW) grant, which committed US$627,257 for support to the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS)-related activities.
The figures were posted on the LCDS website, days after Stabroek News reported that the government had failed to meet a deadline to establish a dedicated website to show pledges of funding and disbursements of money for REDD+ and LCDS projects. Under its forests saving agreement with Norway, the government committed to establishing the website “by the end of April 2011” to facilitate transparency. Political parties and civil society members have consistently highlighted corruption fears in spending money earned under the pact worth potentially up to US$250M by 2015 for results achieved by Guyana in limiting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Under a revised Joint Concept Note (JCN) agreed to in March, it was stated that transparency around funding is critical for REDD+ to function well. “To facilitate such transparency, the Government of Guyana will – by the end of April 2011 – establish a dedicated website, containing an overview of all committed international funding for activities relevant to REDD+ and LCDS efforts in Guyana,” the revised JCN says. “This will ensure easy access to transparent information on contributors to Guyana’s REDD+ and LCDS efforts. The website will track pledges of funding, commitments of funding, and actual disbursements,” it said.
The dedicated website is yet to be established, Stabroek News understands. Efforts to reach relevant officials were futile. Head of the Office of Climate Change (OCC), Shyam Nokta has consistently been unavailable whenever this newspaper contacts his office. An official at the OCC had directed this newspaper to Steven Grin, who heads the Project Management Office, but efforts to contact him were in vain.
A breakdown of figures shows that Norway has pledged US$250 million over the period 2010-2015 in performance-based payments under the Guyana-Norway Agreement. US$70M has been deposited into the GRIF as payments for 2009 and 2010 performance. The LCDS project management office in the Office of the President coordinates activities and funds will be used to implement projects identified under the LCDS.
In terms of development assistance, the OCC in the Office of the President is implementing an IDB/Government of Guyana Technical Cooperation Grant of US$450,000 which aims to provide support to the government in the process of establishing the LCDS. Principal activities include strengthening institutional capacity for addressing climate change and to implement nation-wide consultation on the LCDS.
CI/KfW has committed US$627,257 to support the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) in implementation of initial MRVS activities. Of this, US$399,604 has been disbursed. Principal activities are commencement work on forest carbon stock assessment and degradation monitoring.
No money has been disbursed from another IDB grant of US$735,000 for support to the GFC and the REDD Secretariat to strengthen the capacities of the Commission and the REDD Secretariat in implementing REDD+ activities.
As well, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility has committed US$3.6M to support the implementation of REDD+ readiness activities with the ultimate aim of supporting Guyana to develop capacities to access forest carbon financing but no funds have been disbursed yet.
A note on the LCDS website notes that Guyana continues to receive international financial support to invest in the LCDS and REDD+ efforts.
The bulk of this investment will be funded from performance-based payments based on the extent to which Guyana’s forest provides climate change mitigation services, as set out in the Guyana-Norway Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Concept Note, it says. As well as performance-based payments, Guyana is receiving overseas development assistance, it added.
