Guyana signs on to Paris COP 21 climate change treaty

As the world joined in the celebration of World Earth Day, Guyana also joined over 150 countries in the signing of the climate change agreement in Paris on Friday.
President David Granger joined hundreds of world leaders to sign the 2015 agreement, which was crafted in December last year in Paris.
The expected key result of the agreement is to set a goal of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the 21st century.
Parties to the agreement will also pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The 1.5 degrees Celsius goal will require zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050, according to some scientists.

President Granger, delivering at the session, said Guyana has signed the Agreement on account of its recognition of the need for resolute action to combat the challenges of climate change. He said his country will ensure the deposit of the instruments of ratification this year.
According to him, Guyana, through the pursuit of a green economy, will spare no effort to contribute to both a sustainable future and to an effective global response to climate change.
Guyana is a net carbon sink, he said, as its forests seize more carbon than the country’s human activities generate. He said Guyana, with the world’s second highest percentage of rainforest cover, commands important carbon stocks.
It nevertheless, is fully committed to contributing to limiting the rise in global temperature to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The President said Guyana intends to implement initiatives in the forest and renewable energy sectors, including through the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus programme.
“We will move closer towards a 100 per cent renewable power supply by 2025, conditional on appropriate support and adequate resources. Our proposed commitments, through avoided emissions, can contribute the equivalent of up to 48.7 million metrictonnes of carbon dioxide to the global mitigation effort”, President Granger said.
According to President Granger, Guyana is prepared to sustainably manage, conserve and protect our national patrimony and place our ecological resources at the service of humanity.
He said Guyana in the short-term, up to 2020, will improve timber monitoring and maintain a high level of timber legality; increase value-added activities in the forestry sector so as to augment carbon storage in long-use wood products; intensify the sustainable management of our indigenous communities which own and manage 14 per cent of our national territory; introduce a national Emissions Reduction Programme (ERP) to add two million hectares under conservation, encourage more efficient mining and logging activities and implement Reduced Impact Logging(RIL); invest in solar power, wind power and hydropower to transition more rapidly to renewable sources of energy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
The Paris Cop21 Agreement came into being in December of 2015 in Paris, France. The agreement was adopted by all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 12, 2015. It has been hailed as the most ambitious international environmental agreement in history.
The Caribbean Community  (Caricom) played a significant role in the crafting  the agreement with a set of  negotiating positions articulated in the Barbados Declaration of Climate Change which was later adopted by the Caricom Heads of Government in July of 2015.
For the agreement to be entered into force and be legally binding at least 55 countries, which account for 55 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions must ratify or approve the agreement through their own domestic legal systems.