President Jagdeo and German President focus on global efforts to combat climate change

Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo spent today in a series of meetings with German leaders and senior officials. Discussions centered on the need for sustained political action on climate change, and in particular on Guyana and Germany's upcoming joint chairing of the Interim REDD+ Partnership from July 1, 2011. The group consists of most of the world's forest countries and key developed countries. President Jagdeo met with His Excellency, President Christian Wulff at Bellevue, the German President's official residence.

Speaking afterwards, President Jagdeo said, "In the run up to Copenhagen, the issue of climate change and green growth received an unprecedented level of first-order political attention. Sadly, that attention has faded in many cases. However, Germany has remained firm in its commitment, both to the deep emissions cuts required to stabilize our planet's climate, and to the protection of bio-diversity and the alleviation of poverty across the world. Chancellor Merkel and the German Government's leadership continue to be needed. I am confident that Guyana and Germany will both apply the necessary political leadership to the issue of deforestation and forest degradation in our upcoming co-chairing of the Interim REDD+ Partnership."

The President also met with Dr. Christoph Heusgen, Chancellor Merkel's Foreign Policy Advisor and with Mr. Wener Hoyer, the Deputy German Foreign Minister. President Jagdeo spoke of Chancellor Merkel's commitment to combating deforestation, and her decisiveness at the side meeting of the G20 in April 2009, when Guyana was one of three non-G20 countries invited to discuss how to put in place an emergency package for the fight against deforestation and forest degradation. It was the G20 side meeting which led to the foundation of the Interim REDD+ Partnership.

Speaking in Berlin, President Jagdeo said: "We cannot solve climate change without solving deforestation. And after the work initiated in 2009 at the G20 side meeting, we know that it will be possible to deliver a 25% reduction in global deforestation rates within five years."

The meetings in Germany followed President Jagdeo's trip to Korea, where he took part in the Board Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Global Green Growth Initiative. He concluded his visit to Seoul when he attended the Global Green Growth Summit, and met with Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan to talk about investment opportunities in Guyana and other bilateral matters. (Source: GINA)