Norway yesterday announced that it would release all remaining payments – amounting to around US$50M – under an historic 2009 forest protection accord with Guyana which was worth US$250m.
Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams and Norway’s Minister for Climate and Environment, Ola Elvestuen, yesterday, met on the margins of the UN Climate Summit in New York and welcomed successes and results achieved under the partnership between Guyana and Norway.
This is according to a statement yesterday from the Ministry of the Presidency.
In accordance with the bilateral agreement between the two countries, the statement said that the two Ministers agreed that Guyana has met its commitments and therefore Norway would disburse all final payments totalling approximately US$50 million, equivalent to the remainder of the pledge made in 2009. The disbursement of the monies will be made to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund, GRIF, administered by the World Bank.
Of the payments by Norway, around US$80M was set aside last year for renewable energy programmes. It had originally been earmarked for an equity stake for Guyana in the proposed Amaila Falls Hydropower Project but this was not proceeded with by the APNU+AFC government.
Hastings-Williams acknowledged that at this juncture both countries would have met their responsibilities with the final release. She also highlighted important successes of the partnership and how it yielded enhanced forest governance. She added that Guyana is better placed through institutional strengthening to deliver the Green State Development Strategy. With the final payment, Hastings-Williams has pledged to significantly increase the resources for the Opt-In project.
With the Guyana Government in caretaker mode and Parliament not functioning it is unclear how plans will be made for the utilization of the funds.
The statement said that Elvestuen emphasized at the meeting that Norway is impressed with the continued low deforestation rates in Guyana over many years, and also with the substantive progress made on forest governance. The world looks to Guyana for what sustainable development in forest rich countries can be, Elvestuen said, according to the statement.
