Geographic information systems software company ESRI will provide South American nation Guyana with software to create the world’s first national low-carbon development plan.

Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo said the goal of his country’s low-carbon development strategy is to both combat deforestation and climate change without slowing down the economy.

“The emerging carbon market provides us with a unique opportunity to use the global economy to save the world’s rain forests by putting a value on them,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

ESRI will provide software for use in national carbon accounting and sustainable management of forests.

For monitoring, reporting and verification (M.R.V.) of greenhouse gases, Guyana will rely on geographic information systems.

The M.R.V. system will combine field observation with satellite imagery and other geographic data using standards consistent with the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Currently, around 80 percent, or around 15 million hectares, of Guyana’s territory is still considered rain forest.

The projects will hopefully enable the transparent disclosure of land-use dynamics and the status of natural resources for Guyana’s citizens, indigenous communities, investors, partners and the international carbon science community.

The low-carbon strategy draft is the second after a first draft presented in June 2009 which outlined ways to stimulate the creation of a low-deforestation, low-carbon, climate-resilient economy in Guyana.

The second draft was presented at the continuing Copenhagen climate change summit, where the establishment of a long-term global framework for program called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is being tackled.

Guyana has joined 34 other countries which has made proposals to achieve a 25 percent reduction in global deforestation rates by 2015 at a cost of between 15 billion euros and 25 billion euros ($21.81 billion to $36.35 billion).