Last year, Guyana utilized $833 million of the funds under the Norway forest protection deal, according to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
The sum was allocated to various projects including the strengthening of institutions critical to Guyana’s efforts to keep deforestation levels at or below the agreed level. These institutions include the Climate Change Office and the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Speaking yesterday at the signing of a sea defence deal with the European Union, Singh also said that the government is in the process of executing the Amerindian Land Demarcation Project and establishing the Amerindian Development Fund.
These projects are aimed at titling land belonging to the indigenous people, as well as looking at various ways to enhance their economies.
The Finance Minister promised that a more comprehensive report will be delivered during the presentation of the 2014 budget.
Following the signing yesterday, the ministry released a statement clarifying remarks made by Singh.
The statement said that whereas Singh had referred to an approximate figure of $800m for 2013, the actual figure was $833m.
Furthermore, the statement said that another $839m was spent in 2012, bringing the total expenditure on the Norway-funded projects to $1.672b.
The Norway financing, potentially US$250M over five years is being managed by the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF).
GRIF was set up in October 2010, with the World Bank as Trustee, following an agreement signed between Guyana and Norway in November 2009, in which Norway agreed to provide Guyana with US$250M by 2015 in performance-based payments for avoided deforestation.
The latest assessment has shown that Guyana is at risk of losing some of the Norway funds this year as deforestation has been higher than it should be.
