Guyana likely to start accessing climate financing by next year

…15% of climate service revenues could go to Indigenous communities

There is a strong possibility that from 2022, Guyana can begin accessing climate financing from international private and public sector sources, an arrangement similar to the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) agreement that allowed Guyana to earn US$250 million from 2010.
This is according to the draft Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 document which was recently released by the Government for stakeholder input. The document states that the new LCDS will build on the objectives of the old and capitalise on various opportunities for the country to earn money and grow its economy. Among them is climate financing.

“From early 2022, there is a strong possibility that Guyana can access market-based mechanisms for forest climate services that includes private, as well as international public sector financing,” the LCDS draft states.
“This will enable a pathway to transition from the existing Guyana-Norway partnership and increase the value of sustainably managing Guyana’s forests. The MRVS system, built since 2009, will also act as a platform for integration with other ecosystem services markets.”
Another opportunity open to Guyana from the strategy is to stimulate future growth through clean energy and sustainable economic activity. It theorises that Guyana can undergo a revolutionary energy transition while growing its economy and keeping greenhouse gas emissions from energy use at around 2019 levels.
“This can be done through the replacement of expensive, polluting heavy fuel oil with natural gas as a bridge to an energy system built mainly from hydropower, solar and wind power. Alongside the national low-carbon energy transition, targeted investments can be made in the underlying infrastructure of a broader, low carbon economy to create jobs all over the country and enhance livelihoods.”
“This includes investments to enhance digital connectivity in under-served communities, to improve transportation, improve access to finance, and create micro and small, low-carbon enterprises,” the LCDS states.
Additionally, the document talks of targeted support for Amerindian and other communities who depend on industries such as logging and who would likely be affected by restrictions on logging activities. According to the LCDS, 15 per cent of revenues from these forest climate services will go to Amerindian communities.
“The development of the Ocean Economy is a further priority – to bridge the land-ocean nexus via low-carbon growth. This will include areas such as fishing, ocean biodiversity and mangroves, and shipping and transport,” the strategy states.

Monitoring,
reporting, verification
For Guyana to receive payments, however, there needs to be a monitoring system in place to ensure deforestation rates are at the agreed level. This is where the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) comes in, with the LCDS assuring that monitoring will be done in compliance with international standards.
It was explained that building on the Guyana-Norway REDD+ partnership of 2009 and the world class MRVS that was established, Guyana is now well positioned to move on to the second phase of the project – selling forest climate services through the voluntary markets.
Between now and 2025, the Government aims for the country to generate credits to be traded on these markets and from 2025, for a national carbon registry linked to the international markets to be established.
“In 2021, at the Glasgow Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UNFCCC, Guyana will join with other forest countries and the international community to pursue the enshrinement of a workable market mechanism within the UNFCCC,” the document states, adding that no binding agreement will be entered into until all safeguards are met.
“Specifically, Guyana’s significant progress on building a world-leading MRVS, coupled with the recent emergence of a large voluntary market with demand supported by sovereign governments, means that from early 2022, there is a strong possibility that Guyana’s sale of forest climate services can be structured around high-quality voluntary markets that include private, as well as international public sector financing.”
COP26 is slated to run from Sunday to November 12 and will see the attendance of many Heads of State. President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived in Scotland to participate in the convention on Sunday. The President, who left Guyana on Saturday morning, was received by a representative of the Queen upon his arrival in Glasgow, Scotland.
President Ali’s schedule includes delivering several addresses at key high-level climate summits, participating in several international roundtable discussions and partaking in bilateral meetings with other Heads of State and Government officials.
Already, he has met and engaged with Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness; St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Phillip J Pierre and the Bahamas’ Prime Minister, Philip Davis, on their way to Scotland.
The President is coming off weeks of activism in favour of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and climate change and it was he who launched the national consultation process for the expanded LCDS 2030 last week. (G3)