Carbon credits’ funds: Indigenous villages need institutional strengthening for better accountability – Kako Toshao

With the Guyana Government recently increasing the cut from the sale of the forest carbon that goes to Amerindian communities this year, at least one indigenous leader has impressed the need for more accountability and transparency at the level of the village councils throughout the country.
Appearing on a panel at the second edition of the Ina Maimu Yetatokon (Listen to Our Voices) hosted by the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Toshao of Kako Village in Upper Mazaruni District, Romario Hastings, was responding to a question on whether the sums given to Indigenous communities is enough and are they ready for more funding given the lack of transparency and accountability in the management of these funds.
He contended that with indigenous peoples playing a massive role in forest conservation, they do deserve more from the earnings of the carbon credit sale but in the same breath, he admitted to the need for institutional strengthening within Amerindian villages to better manage these funds.
“Are we ready for more? To be quite frank, the indigenous villages and village councils need institutional strengthening in many respects. I have seen attempts to do so through various avenues, through district councils, through NGOs and other partner agencies, and I would say that we’re not there fully but I have seen progress in some areas. I think everyone needs to be involved in empowering communities and empowering councils for better accountability… accountability and transparency,” the Toshao stated.
According to Hastings whose village of Kako is a beneficiary of the programme, this initiative has been a learning model for Guyana and he believes indigenous people have to be actively involved in the decision-making process so that their perspectives are also listened to.
“Many times, I would say the residents have a role to play in that and that’s why we have village general meetings and also for our external partners, where you see the need to strengthen, we need to work more with our communities [on those areas] and we need to work more with leaders and to have this continuous transfer of skills… There is an admission that we do need more capacity building and once we can acknowledge that, we can look at where we can get those from and improve from where we are at the moment,” Hastings stated.
In December 2022, the Guyana Government signed a historic contract with Hess Corporation for the sale of 33.7 million of the country’s high-quality certified carbon credits – a deal that saw the nation earning US$750 million for just 30 per cent of its forest carbon. In the agreement, a rate of US$15 per tonne of carbon was secured and the Guyana Government has allocated 15 per cent or $4.7 billion towards Amerindian development.
Already, more than 800 projects that run the gamut from tourism to agriculture are currently being pursued utilising the $4.7 billion, which was given to the 242 Indigenous villages as part of their share of the US$150 million carbon credits sale in 2023.
But with Guyana set to earn only US$87.5 million in 2024, a reduction from the US$150 million it received last year, it could have meant less money for indigenous communities. To prevent this, however, President Dr Irfaan Ali last month announced at the opening of the National Toshaos Conference, an 11 per cent increase in the funds to Amerindian communities.
“But because we’re a government that cares and loves you because we are a government that believes in giving more and not less, we have decided to allocate 26.5 per cent of the earnings this year to you. Although the agreement is 15 per cent, we do not want you to get less than what you had. We have increased the percentage of this year’s earnings to 26.5 per cent, ensuring you will get no less than what you got last year. You will get US$23.2 million or $4.84 billion in your villages,” President Ali had declared.
Meanwhile, following the 242 Amerindian communities benefitting from the forest carbon funding last year, more communities are now seeking to participate in the programme and as a result, the government is injecting another $100 million from the monies earned directly into these additional communities.
During last month’s NTC Conference, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed that even more communities, including some that are not necessarily fully Amerindian, want to opt in to the programme. He explained that hinterland villages and Community Development Councils (CDC) have approached the government seeking funding.
“This year, we have a number of CDC’s that have applied. We decided that we will stick with the 242 villages, but we’ll set aside another $100 million for those communities that are now coming and have asked to be part of it. Some of them are not villages. They’re run by CDC and some are not fully Amerindian, but they will get small grants. So, we want to be fair. But we did not want to dilute the amount that you will get or what you got last year for the 242 villages,” Jagdeo explained.
At a subsequent press conference, the Vice President had assured that all the monies from the carbon credit deal including the portion going to Amerindian communities will be audited.
“At the end of the day, we have to account for all of these funds, and with a separate audit that will go to the Parliament,” he stated.
Jagdeo further outlined that not all of the monies in the first year’s allocation have been spent. As such, he noted that once the spending is completed then the audit will be done.