 exxonmobil foundation conservation international launch us 10m partnership exxonmobil foundation conservation international launch us 10m partnership exxonmobil foundation conservation international launch us 10m partnership webmaster thu 8302018 1216 from left to right head of the exxonmobil foundation kevin murphy communications representative of cig sara bharrat vice chancellor of the university of guyana ivelaw griffith president of conservation international jennifer morris vice president of cig david singh technical director of cig curtis bernard  conservation internationalguyana cig and the exxonmobil foundation last monday launched their us 10 million partnership which aims to advance a sustainable economy through investments in education research sustainable management and preservation of the country s ecosystem the two will be working along with the university of guyana ug and the arizona state university asu cig has come in for flak for entering this partnership with the exxonmobil foundation cig is a carbonreducing conservation organisation while exxonmobil is a carbon releaser that has been accused of denying the impact of fossil fuels on climate change at the event at the pegasus hotel curtis bernard technical director of cig noted the signing last month of the us 10 million grant with the exxonmobil foundation at their office in arlington virginia along with a memorandum of understanding mou between ug and asu who will be key partners in implementing the project under the theme guyana resilient and one this implementation he said marked the type of diverse partnerships which are needed for the country to secure its future last december as well cig launched our beyond 2020 country programme strategy in guyana and for us beyond 2020 is very important in terms of having very clear vision but also really looking at the future of guyana beyond 2020 our vision is that by 2025 guyanese will value and secure our natural heritage as a cornerstone of our wellbeing and development bernard said while emphasising that the cig s works rest on the foundation of sound science innovation and diverse partnership vice president of cig david singh also said that the project will be very significant and while it is still in its early stage of development they are hoping to have deeper engagements with many of the stakeholders to come up with the most strategic approach to invest in people and nature with the ultimate goal of increasing conservation and job and livelihood creation for a sustainable and diversified economy this is a bold task and we certainly expect to look forward to working closely with all of you even as we design our future part of that process will build on the memorandum of philanthropic and academic understanding that we have established between our key partners ug and asu this week we will start the process through a request for a proposal to carry out a scoping and design study that will detail the goals the outcomes the activities and the governance structure of the guyana resilient and one initiative singh said while noting that interested consultant firms will have three weeks to submit their proposals which they will be expected to implement by the end of december it is a short timeframe but we believe this year is absolutely important for us to know what we are going to do for the next five years i want to conclude by reflecting on the history of developing countries and what they teach us about guyana s future and this will not be determined by guyanese alone history is not a step we cannot build a wall around ourselves and neither can we sit on the sidelines and allow our story to be shaped and written by others it is our time this is our moment and it is ours to share and we certainly look forward to working with you as we shape the future of guyana singh said singh also added that they will be considering the feasibility of working on a discrete set of easily implemented early activities that will run in line with the current initiative jennifer morris president of conservation international and kevin murphy president of the exxonmobil foundation also made brief remarks at the launching along with the vice chancellor of ug ivelaw griffith this grant is for the benefit of all guyanese it is for the fishermen it is for the farmers it is for the teachers it is for the students it is for the future generations environmental protection oil and gas development and job training are things we can all agree on will benefit this great country murphy said griffith also noted that development cannot occur without the educational foundations being strengthened they will not only focus on instructional learning since a critical part of the project will deal with enabling capital development he added i view one of the important value added parts of this project is to strengthen creativity and research not only for our graduate students but also the undergraduate students griffith said  source  https wwwstabroeknewscom 2018 news guyana 813 exxonmobilfoundati  