COP21:Norway will support Peru’s  bold quest for deforestation-free development

Dear Minister Pulgar-Vidal,

ladies and gentlemen.

I am truly pleased to be here today.

It has been more than a year since we signed our Joint Declaration of Intent. I know that Peru has been working very hard since then.

Peruvian forests are among the largest, most diverse and best preserved tropical forest areas in the world. They provide shelter, food, and environmental services for the people living in them, for Peru and for the world.

It is our common responsibility to assist Peru in preserving this important heritage – to the benefit of the country, the Peruvian people  and the global climate.   

The first phase of our forest partnership is about to be completed. Norway will keep our part of the agreement. I hereby announce that a first disbursement to Peru is to take place shortly after the climate negotiations. We have agreed with the Peruvian Government to channel approximately 5 million dollars through the United Nations Development Programme.

The progress of this partnership is a result of the collaboration between several ministries.  Under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Vice ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been participating actively.

Present here today are also the leaders of the two organizations representing the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, AIDESEP and CONAP. I am particularly thankful for your participation. 

More than 350 000 Indigenous People live in the Peruvian Amazon. Some of the peoples have chosen to live in isolation. They have never had contact with the outside world. Illegal activities are threatening their isolated lives.

Peru will use the first disbursement to advance in key activities that will contribute to reduce deforestation. Among the planned activities are enhancing the participation of the regional governments, land use planning, identifying the impacts of extractive industries on deforestation and forest degradation. But I would like to emphasize that an important share of the funds will be used to secure indigenous people's land rights. It will contribute to indigenous peoples own way of sustainable forest management. This has proven to be an effective way to protect forests.

The role of Norway in this partnership will be to support Peru’s bold quest for sustainable, inclusive, deforestation-free development. It will be challenging, but it is possible.

We are proud to confirm we are a long-term and predictable partner to Peru.