Brazil’s Amazonian Forever Summit: Guyana’s approach to climate finance has evolved into a market-based mechanism – Min Bharrat

…says Guyana set to receive over US$1B in carbon credit sales

Guyana’s innovative approach to climate financing was presented by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat at the Amazonian Forever Summit, which was held in Belem, Brazil from July 26 to July 27, 2024.
The Minister outlined Guyana’s model under its visionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which shows how economic development and environmental sustainability can be achieved harmoniously, specifically, through effective ecosystem valuation of forests.
During his address to the summit, which saw the attendance of Ministers from Amazonian countries, Bharrat presented Guyana’s progress on climate action, including maintaining a low deforestation rate.
He explained that Guyana’s model commenced with international public financing and has since evolved into a market-based mechanism with private financing.

Further, he informed the summit that Guyana had earned US$224 million under a bilateral agreement, based on verified results, with the Government of Norway and only recently a market-based agreement was finalised with Stabroek Block partner Hess Corporation, for the sale of carbon credits worth over US$750 million.
He added that already, more than US$230 million of the revenue from that sale has been received by the Government and 15 per cent has been distributed to over 200 Amerindian communities.
The Minister further emphasised the need for a scalable, replicable, and sustainable model for climate finance utilising a low-carbon development approach and highlighted Guyana’s model in taking this forward.
With this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) meeting on the horizon, the Minister also took the opportunity to outline the priorities of Guyana and those of the Amazon region. He indicated that the region would use these opportunities to emphasise the importance of climate finance, the protection of forests, and the ecosystems they support, including watersheds and biodiversity.
Amazonia Forever, a holistic umbrella programme, was launched by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It aims to scale up financing, share strategic knowledge for decision-makers, and enhance regional coordination to accelerate the sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development of the Amazon region.
The announcement was made in July 2023 after a meeting between the IDB’s Governors for Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname. The Governors, who are Ministers of Finance, Economy, Planning, or other top officials, had signed a joint statement in support of the new programme.
Amazonia Forever will address the following priority areas: local people; sustainable agriculture and forestry; the bio-economy; infrastructure; sustainable cities; and connectivity. It will focus on promoting the inclusion of women, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and local communities; climate and forest conservation; and strengthening institutional capacities and the rule of law.