Dr Clive Thomas

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Articles by Dr Clive Thomas

Operationalising Climate Funding in a Hostile Financial and Economic Environment

In Retrospect Eight months ago, on November 29, 2009 and the eve of the Copenhagen Climate Summit (COP15) I began in this column what I projected then would be an extended series of analyses and commentary on the LCDS; the Agreement between the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway; the accompanying Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Joint Concept Note; and, related matters pertaining to the problems created by global warming and climate change.

‘Gaming’ the carbon market with toxic forest-carbon offset projects

A widely shared view among operatives on the global climate exchanges as well as most governments of rich countries is that, from a global perspective, forest carbon capture by poor rainforest countries constitutes ‘low-hanging fruit’ available for cheap harvesting through market-based efforts to combat global warming and climate change.

LCDS transitional arrangements

Wrap up This week I wrap up that part of my assessment of the LCDS that focuses on the several misstatements and computational errors found in the draft text and related official documents, especially as they pertain to such basic data as the area under forest and estimated rates of deforestation for Guyana.

LCDS: Stepping-stone to a global forest-carbon market!

Recap In last week’s column I made a digression to deal with a few issues raised by Ambassador Brattskar, head of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative and the lead negotiator for the Norwegian government as they were reported in the Stabroek News, (March 21, 2010).

Norway’s disingenuousness once more

Digression In this week’s column I shall temporarily digress from my originally intended topic, which was to continue the discussion centred on the fuzziness in the LCDS and other related official documents about the size of the total forest area that is being pledged under the strategy, as well as that found in the publication of recent data on Guyana’s deforestation.

Guyana’s LCDS: Lost in the forests

With an estimated 4 billion acres of forests worldwide covering 30 per cent of the earth’s land area, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has reported overall progress in recent years in the utilization of sustainable forest management practices.

Managing the world’s forests: Performance and outcome

In my column last Sunday I indicated that the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) recent assessment of the state of the world’s forests had observed that, on balance, progress is being made around the world in giving priority to the sustainable management of forests.

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