Former President Jagdeo in Costa Rica at Signing of GGGI Establishment Agreement

Georgetown : Former President of Guyana and current President of the Assembly of the Global Green Growth Institute, Bharrat Jagdeo, spent May 5,  in Costa Rica at the invitation of the Costa Rican Government. 

During a series of engagements, he met with key Ministers, the Vice-President and President to discuss Costa Rica’s low carbon development, and to share views on ongoing international efforts to agree a global climate deal in 2015. The former President also discussed how Costa Rica, Mexico, Guyana, Ethiopia and Indonesia were working together within GGGI on issues relating to avoiding deforestation.

During Jagdeo’s visit, Costa Rican President, Her Excellency Laura Chinchilla, signed into law the GGGI Establishment Agreement – which formalises Costa Rica’s long-standing involvement in the 23-member international organisation. She was joined at the signing ceremony by former President Jagdeo and the Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, Rene Castro.

Speaking after the ceremony, President Jagdeo said: “Costa Rica has long been a global pioneer in sustainable development and what we now call green growth. Because of their ambition to become a carbon neutral economy by 2021, coupled with their innovative public policies – to deliver economic development from clean energy, sustainable land use, responsible stewardship of forests, and clean transportation – the people of Costa Rica are providing the world with practical proof of how the new global economy can be created.  Costa Rica’s membership of GGGI, now formalised through this law, enriches GGGI tremendously. Along with other countries in GGGI, Costa Rica is showing how international leadership on green growth is coming from today’s developing world. If this leadership is matched by others, especially in the developed world, the inter-linked challenges of climate change, resource insecurity, and ensuring inclusive economic growth can be overcome.”

jag