Carbon credit sale: “We have a lot of success stories” – NTC chair on investment projects by 243 villages

As many as 243 Amerindian communities have benefitted from the carbon credit initiative, with both President Dr Irfaan Ali and National Toshao Council chair Derrick John expressing satisfaction with the way these communities have gone about implementing their projects.

During the opening of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the use of allocations from carbon credits was discussed. Since last year, 243 communities have received grants from the $4.7 billion that was earmarked from Guyana’s sale of carbon credits to Hess Corporation.
According to President Dr Irfaan Ali, he is satisfied with the way the communities have been spending this money, as well as the support the Government has given. Further, he pointed out that communities formed their own plans for spending their money.
“This is their money. They’ve earned it, they’ve opted in. And they have designed their programme of activities, what they want to invest that money in. The Council and community would have decided on that.”
“They have their programme of activities and I’m very confident, especially with the type of support we’re giving the communities, in training and capacity building, that they’ll be able to do a great job of implementing it.”
In an interview with this publication, NTC Chairman, Toshao Derrick John of Moraikobai also lauded the way the monies have been used by individual communities to improve themselves. In fact, John explained that during the conference some of these success stories will be revealed.
“As the National Toshao Council chairperson, I’m very satisfied with projects that villages have implemented and invested their carbon credits in. We have a lot of success stories. As the National Toshaos Council Conference commences today, we will have a lot of success stories where villages will be able to report on the progress they’ve made so far since they’ve received funds from the carbon credits.”
“A lot of villages have invested in various activities. Some in eco-tourism. Some in transportation services, livelihoods and various other things that we have evidence and later on this afternoon some of the Toshaos will do powerpoint presentations on some of the projects that they have completed so far,” Toshao John said.
Guyana signed a contract with Hess Corporation in December 2022 which will see the nation earning US$750 million within a ten-year period. While 85 per cent is being invested in multi-community and national priorities, 15 per cent ($4.7 billion) is allocated towards Amerindian development.
To date, a number of villages have had their plans approved and already began implementing their projects. Some villages will use the grants to develop their tourism and agriculture sectors while others are using the money to fund projects that empower women.
The 33.7 million credits sold to Hess Corp is just 30 per cent of the carbon sink contained in Guyana’s vast forest cover. The country’s more than 18 million hectares of forest is estimated to store approximately 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
In the meantime, the remaining 70 per cent of Guyana’s carbon credits are currently attracting interest from several markets, and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had said last month that Government is now exploring these opportunities.
A carbon credit is a tradable permit or certificate that allows the holder of the credit the right to emit a stated tonnage of carbon dioxide or an equivalent of another greenhouse gas. Countries and companies that exceed their permitted limits can purchase carbon credits from nations that have low emissions such as Guyana.
The deal with Hess came on the heels of Guyana being the first country to receive a certification of more than 33 million carbon credits by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) on December 1, 2022. (G3)