Forest and Climate Leaders' Partnership Programme opens first meeting in Guyana

The first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) Programme opened at the Guyana Marriott on Tuesday with President Irfaan Ali expressing concern that Forest, Climate, the Environment and Biodiversity were being placed on the back burner as the world grapples with conflicts and wars.

He said world leaders are engaged in various forms of peace negotiations and conflict negotiations.

“And when we look at the policy frame of the world and the priorities of the world today, we are seeing climate, the environment, forests, much less biodiversity, being pushed further and further down the agenda, down the priority listing of what the world is looking at, and that is frightening,” the President said.

He said for that reason, the meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders is taking place at a critical time, noting that through partnerships they can fight back, and bring much needed attention to these critical areas.

The President said in Guyana, Forestry and Biodiversity are placed high up on the agenda, with the country gearing up for the launch of the Global Biodiversity Alliance. Through partnerships, he said, countries and organizations can get to protect the world’s biodiversity.

“By the time the world gets around to a serious discussion on biodiversity, we will lose 90% of our biodiversity, then it will be too late and the costs will be incredible to try to build back that biodiversity. That is why these meetings, this coming together of minds, is so key and critical. But what is most important as we confront these global challenges is the strength of our partnership, the strength of our collaboration, the strength of our cooperation and that is why Guyana and the UK, we are placing a lot of energy, a lot of resources and effort behind this initiative. We cannot afford for this initiative to fail,” President Ali said.

The President noted that Climate and Forest Leaders must accelerate their activism and the work they do through partnerships.

He said countries must strike a balance between forest preservation and development.

“We have to demonstrate how the forest can stimulate economic and livelihood opportunity, in proving the model that livelihood does not come as an opportunity cost of keeping the forest and here in Guyana, I want to humbly position that we are in the process of building a model that is allowing this aspect of the equation to be solved by investing revenue from carbon sales back into the communities that enhance livelihood options, to enhance infrastructure and to create opportunities within the forest itself. And then we have to leverage this brand,” the President said.

Mr. Ali referenced Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (2030), under which Hess Corporation is purchasing high quality carbon credits for a minimum of US$750M between 2022 and 2032 directly from the Government of Guyana. Under that arrangement, Indigenous communities across Guyana are in line to get at least US$112M to fund development projects. Already, they have begun to benefit.

President Ali said countries must leverage the “brand of forest in the world” to influence social spending and behavior.

“In Guyana, we’ve seen this firsthand. Over 1,300 projects are being led by Indigenous communities – building food systems, investing in health and education, and choosing to keep their forests standing by investing in our indigenous people today, more than 60% of the new entrance in our nursing program are indigenous Guyanese, and more than 50% of that 70% are women. These are the real stories,” the President said.

The FCLP comprises 32 countries with immense forest cover. Collectively, they advocate for climate financing to enhance economic advancement. Guyana and the United Kingdom are currently co-chairing the organisation.