The future of the Guyana-Norway forest protection agreement which has been mired in uncertainty was discussed at a meeting in Paris, France yesterday between the two countries and there was agreement that US$80m which had been earmarked for the Amaila hydro-power project could go to other energy initiatives in the event that the project doesn’t go ahead.
Held on the side lines of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21), the meeting was conducted in the presence of key representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with which the US$80M has been deposited. A Ministry of the Presidency release yesterday said that Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman reported that both parties agreed to formulate a document which will look at the future of the relationship and how best it can serve both countries.
The ground-breaking deal between Guyana and Norway in 2009 was meant to enable payments of US$50M per annum for five years based on performance relating to limiting emissions from deforestation and further decreasing forest degradation.
However, Guyana’s limited execution capacity has seen only a portion of the funds actually spent on projects,