Guyana gets US$250M to save rain forests

Norway is offering Guyana US$250 million if the country makes an aggressive effort to protect its forests.

The Scandinavian country's offer is part of a global push on climate change. Under a memorandum of agreement between the two countries Norway will provide the money over five years to boost Guyana's development efforts.

According to the deal Guyana has promised to ensure sustainable mining and forestry practices, maintain the open and transparent dialogue on climate change that has been occurring during the past four months and use the funds provided "accountably and transparently".

It's another in a line of sector-leading firsts for Guyana, which includes the successful completion of the due diligence study under the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), from which the country will also receive funding.

Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo has called it "a real watershed moment" for the country.

"At no time in the past in our entire history has so much money been pledged to our country in a single initiative. No time," he said.

"On an annual basis, this works out to more than the loans and grants that we receive from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the European Union (EU) combined," Jagdeo noted adding that the deal is a validation of Guyana's efforts.

"We have had the most comprehensive debate on climate change...during the past four months and now we're the first country in the world to ink a deal with a developed world counterpart that could serve as a model for the Copenhagen discussions," the President said.

The United Nations is bringing the global community together in Copenhagen next month to try to conclude a climate change agreement.

Jagdeo said if the meeting in Copenhagen fails to reach a consensus, Guyana would still be ahead since it has been already sealed an alternative arrangement to support its development drive.