Climate change policy nears completion

April 10, 2019

[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtZYmlI7j8o” width=”100%” height=”315″]

─ stakeholders urged to be more active

─ vision to be achieved through 12 “high level” goals

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Stakeholders were, on Wednesday, urged to be more active in the fight against climate change as measures are being taken to complete the final draft of Guyana’s National Climate Change Policy and Action Plan (NCCPAP). During the fourth engagement held at Cara Lodge, which was aimed at adjusting the draft produced from previous consultations, participants discussed the national goals for climate change.

Head of the Office for Climate Change, Janelle Christian.

Participants at the Stakeholder Validation Workshop for the National Climate Change Policy and Action Plan (NCCPAP).

National Climate Change Policy and Action Plan, Project consultant, Dr. Kalim Shah.

While providing stakeholders with an overview of the NCCPAP, Project Consultant, Dr. Kalim Shah stated that the vision of the policy and action plan can be achieved through twelve “high-level” goals which were identified through previous consultations.

NATIONAL GOALS FOR ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE
No.	National Goals
1	Reduce climate related loss and damage across all productive sectors.
2	Promote community development and redirecting economic activity away from vulnerable areas.
3	Reduce poverty, loss of livelihoods and food insecurity.
4	Promote a clean and healthy environment for all.
5	Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHSs) across all sectors.
6	Transition to climate resilient infrastructure and integrated physical land use plans.
7	Promote holistic development planning utilising environmentally friendly materials.
8	Build institutional and human capacity to plan and respond to climate change.
9	Adopt new technologies and early warning systems.
10	Develop and implement sustainable land management best practices to combat land degradation with focus on the Hinterland.
11	Transition to renewable energy sources and energy efficiency practices.
12	Improve availability of and access to climate change data and information.

Guyana’s climate change policy integrates the socio-economic and environmental challenges of climate change into national sustainable development planning, that generates strategic actions at all levels for adaptation, mitigation and resilience.

Shah emphasised that as Guyana moves towards implementing a climate change strategy, there is the need for engagements on all levels from both the public and private sectors.

“We don’t want things to be working in parallel, we want the building of resources and capacities and different kinds of capital to tackle climate change, so we do need to have that sort of unifying approach and again this is what the policy does.”

Head of the Office for Climate Change, Janelle Christian, in her remarks, stressed that informal environmental practices become “ingrained in our policy”.

Christian added “we need to ensure that action is taken across all of government, horizontally and vertically way down to the community level,” explaining that it is the people on the ground that are most affected by climate change due to rising sea levels, droughts and floods.

The development and implementation of a Climate Change Policy and Action Plan are in line with Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) Vision 2040. The Stakeholder Validation Workshop was attended by representatives from key public and private sector agencies who play an integral role in the fight against climate change.

Anara Khan.

Images: Marceano Narine.