Mr Frans Timmermans, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, is due to visit Guyana, marking the highest-level visit from the EU to Guyana to date.
Timmermans’ visit was announced by EU Ambassador to Guyana, Rene Van Nes on Tuesday night at a reception to mark Europe Day.
His visit comes as the EU Delegation in Guyana takes on sustainable development as its new programme, putting emphasis on the forest, the Savannah and biodiversity.
“…the EU supports countries like Guyana in protecting its tropical forests, which play a crucial role in mitigating climate change.
“It is vital that people who live in and off the forest can create a sustainable livelihood, that they can use the forest in such a way that their children and grandchildren can do that as well,” Ambassador Van Nes stated.
President Irfaan Ali, speaking at the same reception, said the protection of Guyana’s forest is testimony to its commitment to climate security.
He said preserving the rainforest, which stores 19.5 gigatons of carbon, was done “in the interest of every global citizen.”
He noted that last year the EU and Guyana signed a number of landmark agreements, including the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on the Forest, Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), and a Memorandum of Understanding for a Forest Partnership.
“And that is unique as Guyana is the first country to have signed both the VPA and a Forest Partnership Agreement,” Van Nes stated.
He pointed out that the VPA will ensure that timber products exported from Guyana to the EU are legally sourced in a sustainable manner and that the benefits of the trade are shared fairly among all stakeholders.
The Forest Partnership, which the EU signed with only five countries in the world, Van Nes said is a recognition of the commitment of Guyana to the highest standards of forest management.
“This Partnership will allow the EU to mobilise its full set of tools and instruments to ensure the sustainability of the Forest in a social, economic, financial and environmental way,” the Ambassador stated.
Recently, the EU Deputy Secretary General Helena König formally handed over to President Ali a support programme to underpin this Forest Partnership with five million euros, equivalent to almost 1.2 billion Guyanese dollars.
