LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY UPDATE Adde Transforming Guyana‟s Economy While Combating Climate Change March 2013 Office of the President, Republic of Guyana Introduction and Background “…we want to be part of a global coalition that stimulates innovation and creativity to enable us to leapfrog over the high carbon development path that today’s business-as-usual trajectory suggests we must follow… As part of our commitment, I believe that the people of this country might be willing to deploy almost our entire rainforest – which is larger than England – in the service of the world’s battle against climate change… providing this does not damage their legitimate development aspirations or impact on their sovereignty over our forest.” H.E. Bharrat Jagdeo, Former President of Guyana June 2009 In 2009, the former President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, set out a vision to forge a new low carbon economy in Guyana over the coming decade. The vision was translated into a national strategy as outlined in Guyana‟s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) - after over a year of review and consultation within Guyana, coupled with input from climate change negotiations at the United Nations. The LCDS aims to achieve two goals: transform Guyana‟s economy to deliver greater economic and social development for the people of Guyana by following a low carbon development path; and provide a model for the world of how climate change can be addressed through low carbon development in developing countries, if the international community takes the necessary collective actions, especially relating to REDD+. This update to the LCDS provides a summary of progress against both of these goals, as of March 2013 – as well as an outline on the focus of LCDS implementation for the period 2013 to 2015. 2 Transforming Guyana‟s economy while combating climate change Contents Foreword by Donald Ramotar, President of the Republic of Guyana 4 Executive Summary 6 Guyana‟s Low Carbon Development Strategy 13 2009-2013: Starting the transition to a low carbon economy 20 2013–2015: The next stage in the low carbon transition 30 A Global Model for REDD+ 41 Involving all Guyanese in the Low Carbon Transition 46 Appendices 49 3 Foreword In 2009, the people of Guyana set out to prove to the world that developing countries could lead the way towards a better future. We knew then that climate change was a clear expression of the inequality and injustice that exist in our world – as a problem caused primarily by the rich, but whose negative impact is felt primarily by the poor. We recognised that failing to avert climate catastrophe would deepen this injustice and cause unprecedented suffering for the world‟s most vulnerable people. And we called on the world to act before it was too late. But we also saw that it would be perverse if the solutions to climate change ended up creating a new wave of inequality and injustice – where the peoples and countries of the developing world had to stand on the sidelines while the rich world created a new global economy built on clean energy and sustainable land use. Not only would this be morally wrong, but it would make tackling climate change impossible as there is no solution to climate change that does not require the empowerment of billions of people across the developing world. In 2009, Guyana said that if partnership for international action was forthcoming, we were ready to play our part in facing up to this global challenge. Four years have now passed. Progress has not always been easy. Guyana‟s Government, private sector and society as a whole are implementing difficult reforms to build the long-term foundation for our low carbon economy. Alongside our international partners, we are facing the challenges involved in working with global bureaucracies that were designed for a different era. And we have to cope with an international climate change negotiation process that to date has failed to deliver the legally binding climate treaty that is essential to tackling climate change over the long term. But 2013 is proving to be a pivotal year as money flows into our priority low carbon investments after years of hard work and perseverance. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of Guyanese, and to the solidarity of international partners, we can see the contours of our new economy emerging. We are maintaining 99.5% of our forest, and the world‟s lowest rate of deforestation. We are on track to be the world‟s number one user of clean energy by 2017. Over eleven thousand Amerindian homes now have electricity for the first time – and it is clean energy. Low carbon industries are growing fast – ecotourism in the Rupununi is growing by 20% a year, and our business process outsourcing sector has more than doubled employment in four years. We are on the cusp of becoming the world‟s most inclusive digital society, as 90,000 vulnerable households gain access to computers and training. We have started to provide targeted assistance for small businesses and vulnerable communities to stimulate the creation of 2,200 new low carbon jobs in the next three years. Most of our Amerindian communities now have legal title to their land, and we have committed to completing the land titling process over the next three years, for all communities that request this to be done. 166 Amerindian villages, communities and settlements have produced impressive low carbon community development plans, and in 2013, 27 of those will start to be implemented –creating new low carbon opportunities in ecotourism, sustainable agriculture and manufacturing. Our traditional sectors are still being nurtured. Agriculture and mining are growing the contribution they make to our economy and progressively improving their environmental performance. We have some of the strongest forestry laws in the world. And we are building upon national standards, by engaging with international bodies like the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative and the European Union‟s Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Initiative. 4 How are we doing this? Through a combination of national commitment and international partnership - and I want to draw attention to three elements that created that combination since 2009. The first element was finding a progressive developed world partner in Norway who shared our values of fairness and a belief in the capacity of the developing world to lead the way to climate solutions. Because of our partnership, the economic calculations around how we use forests are starting to change, as we sell our forest‟s climate services through the world‟s second largest Interim REDD+ partnership. Secondly, we are keeping our eyes on the longer term. After the world failed to reach a global climate deal at Copenhagen in 2009, we continued to stay active in the international debate on climate change. In part, this is because the need for climate justice demands that we act as global citizens in creating a better world. But it is also because international engagement makes a real difference at home and as a Government, we will not shirk from this responsibility. Finally, the bedrock of the LCDS is built from the commitment of the people of Guyana. Our people recognised that we can be active, energetic, knowledgeable participants in the global search for climate solutions. But this bedrock can be damaged, so I hope that the solidarity which gave rise to the LCDS can be sustained in the years ahead. In particular, I hope that politicians from all parties, and leaders from civil society and the private sector, will act responsibly as we work to create a better future for all. Reforms with this scale of ambition are never without set-backs. We are building the first model of its kind in the world. But we know that ambitious reform is difficult. We saw that when we strove to return our country to democracy, and when we worked to create a new Constitution and democratic institutions. We saw it as we restored our public finances to health. We see it as we build better education and health systems that are free for all Guyanese. And we see it as we encourage private sector development and investment to generate long-term jobs and prosperity for our country. In all these areas, we have learned that when faced by set-backs, the wrong reaction is to be frightened or overwhelmed by them. The right reaction is to persevere, because Guyana‟s people benefit in the end. History will be on the side of those who stay the course. This LCDS Update sets out where we are on our journey to a new economy – and how we hope to deliver on the ambitious agenda we put forward together as a people in 2009. I hope it helps all Guyanese to understand why we should stay the course - and how working together, we can create an even better Guyana. And I hope it helps us to redouble our efforts to show how developing countries like ours can work with the international community to create a fairer world. Together, we can take on - and defeat- those who would let climate change continue on its destructive path. This is the task of our generation, and I remain confident that the people of Guyana can meet the challenges it presents. Donald Ramotar President of the Republic of Guyana 5 Executive Summary In 2009, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) set out the context for the development choices then facing Guyana, as the country reached a new stage in its national development. Over the previous two decades, Guyana had re-established a market-led economy within a multi-party democratic system.