Guyana has already started to take action to build resilience to change impacts and to enhance capacities to adapt. Indeed, the Government of Guyana (GoG) is committed to a green economy to sustain economic prosperity, environmental security and social well-being. Policies which support this vision include the Low Carbon Development Strategy, the Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the National Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan, and the National Adaptation Strategy to Address Climate Change in the Agricultural Sector. Guyana has also made progress in implementing adaptation and resilience building actions principally through interventions to the drainage and irrigation and sea defence systems to reduce the risks of flooding. Guyana has accessed external finance to support the implementation of these actions from several sources including through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Norway, the European Union and multilateral arrangements.
Despite these strides, Guyana still requires an overarching framework for planning and implementing climate resilience actions so as to achieve the Government’s ‘Vision 2020’ for a green economy. This Climate Resilience Strategy and Action Plan for Guyana (CRSAP) addresses this gap and aims to provide a comprehensive and overarching framework for adapting and building resilience to climate change impacts. The CRSAP builds on the work that has been in Guyana over the years and identifies key climate risks and priority resilience building actions. The Strategy and Action Plan are underpinned by the five cross-cutting pillars of adaptation identified in the Second National Communication namely information, research and systematic observation; institutions and capacity building; policy and legal frameworks; infrastructure and technology; and finance.
Specifically, the CRSAP provides:
- A roadmap for the next five years.
- Project Concept Notes for four priority climate resilience programmes which can now be developed into full proposals and submitted for funding.
- A summary of the most significant climate risks and required resilience actions across 15 key sectors. These actions are proposed as the basis for the design of new interventions and a pipeline of projects which can be presented for funding and implemented within five years and beyond.
- A set of capacity building actions that enhance Guyana’s capacity for national adaptation planning and becoming climate resilient to be undertaken within the next five years.
- A strategy to finance the CRSAP inclusive of the PCNs.