9 October 2010: Norway has pledged US$30 million to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), entrusted to the World Bank, with the aim of supporting Guyana’s policies for limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and its progress in governance-related indicators.

Guyana will invest the payments it receives, and any income earned on them, in its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Norway’s payments to Guyana may amount to approximately US$250 million over the period up to 2015, depending on Guyana’s performance according to a methodology set out by the two countries. On 9 November 2009, Norway and Guyana set out a joint partnership to “work together to provide the world with a working example of how partnerships between developed and developing countries can save the world’s tropical forests.” The partnership is based on the concept of “payment for ecosystem services” and aims to contribute to the creation of a global regime to assign economic value to standing forests.

The establishment of GRIF is a core part of the partnership between Guyana and Norway. It aims to create a potential model for climate finance that ensures Guyanese sovereignty over LCDS decisions at the same time as it demonstrates adherence to internationally-accepted standards, such as financial, social and environmental safeguards. To develop a globally relevant model and therefore help give insights that may advance the negotiations, the Governments of Guyana and Norway will invite internationally reputable institutions to act as GRIF partner entities, starting with the Inter-American Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and specialized agencies of the UN that are members of the UN Development Group (UNDG). [World Bank Press Release]