Guyana once again a front runner in climate change, environmental services – Ali

…says countries now want to learn from Guyana’s example

Guyana is enjoying a climate change renaissance, with President Dr Irfaan Ali revealing that countries from all over the world want to learn from the example set by Guyana’s environmental services – a stark contrast to the five years under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

According to Ali, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) that has been relaunched by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) after the preceding but ineffectual Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), has once again placed Guyana as a front runner on climate change.
“There is no Government in the world, not in this region, who has the environmental credentials as this Government. None. We left them with a Low Carbon Development Strategy. One of the most prolific strategies in the world on the forest,” Ali said on Friday, at the sod-turning for a new stadium in Palmyra, East Canje, Berbice.
“They kicked it out and they took the money from the LCDS to develop the Green State Strategy. Imagine the LCDS financed the Green State Strategy. We came back into Government. Immediately we launched the LCDS in an expanded form. And guess what?”
Ali noted that not only did they reintroduce and expand the LCDS, but when Guyana signed a historic, multi-year US$750 million agreement with Hess Corporation for the purchase of 37.5 million carbon credits last year, they were able to earn legacy credits for the APNU/AFC years.
“We earned money for the period they were in Government. That is visionary. That is strategic. That is a show of policy that is global in nature. Today, everywhere I go, every single leader from the most developed to the least developed countries, they ask. How did we do it? How did we accomplish it? Tell us. Help us get where you are,” President Ali added.
Only recently, 240 indigenous community bodies received payments ranging from $10 million to $35 million, courtesy of the first set of payments from the sale of Guyana’s forest carbon to Hess Corporation.
A total of $4.7 billion (US$22 million), which is 15 per cent of US$150 million, is earmarked for distribution to these villages. In fact, this number may increase as other agreements for the sale of the remainder of Guyana’s credits are concluded.
Guyana has also received praise for being the first country to conclude the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) process of certifying its forest carbon. These serialised credits, listed on ART’s public registry, are available to buyers on the global carbon market, including for use by airlines for compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s global emission reduction programme, CORSIA, as well as for use toward voluntary corporate climate commitments.
Guyana’s completion of the ART process paved the way for other governments that are looking to receive carbon market finance for success in protecting and restoring forests. At the time Guyana was issued with the credits, 14 other countries and large sub-national jurisdictions are working toward their own issuances of TREES credits.
ART, which is in charge of certifying forest carbon credits so that they can be sold on the international market, had announced its approval in January of Guyana’s registration for 2021 to 2025, as well as the monitoring report for Guyana’s forests.
In a statement, ART noted that it approved these two documents for Guyana and that they are now available for stakeholder comments which must be submitted within 30 days. The first document is a TREES (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard) registration document for 2021 to 2025, while the second is a TREES monitoring report for 2021.
ART’s approval of Guyana’s 2021-2025 registration document and monitoring report are important follow ups on its approval last year of 33.47 million forest carbon credits for Guyana, dating from 2016-2020. These credits were verified by a third-party against ART’s robust environmental and social requirements. (G3)