Over $14.5B disbursed in LCDS funds to 248 Amerindian villages in the past 3 years

More than $14.5 billion has been disbursed to 248 Amerindian villages over the past three years through Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), according to Minister of Amerindian Affairs Sarah Browne-Shadeek.
Speaking during a live broadcast on Tuesday, the Minister said the funding represents recognition of the role Indigenous communities play in protecting one of the world’s most important forest ecosystems. She explained that following the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government’s return to office in August 2020, the LCDS initiative – originally launched in 2009 – was expanded to ensure greater and more direct benefits to Amerindian villages.

Browne-Shadeek disclosed that disbursements from carbon credit earnings under the LCDS amounted to 15 per cent, 26.5 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, over the last three years, bringing total allocations to $14.5 billion. These funds, she noted, are being used to support sustainable livelihoods, strengthen climate resilience and advance village-led development, while preserving the environment for future generations.
“Total disbursement to date is $14.5 billion for the past three years, with a disbursement of 15 per cent, 26.5 per cent, and 20 per cent, respectively, from the carbon credit earnings under the low-carbon development strategy, now benefiting 248 Amerindian villages. We remain committed to ensuring that these resources support sustainable livelihoods, climate resilience, and village-led development, while preserving the environment for future generations. Recognising that education is one of the most powerful tools for transformation, the Government is expanding access to quality education in Hinterland villages, including improved school facilities, trained teachers and learning resources, strengthening scholarship programmes, student dormitories, and transportation to ensure that geography does not determine destiny,” the Minister said.

Direct financial resources
In addition to LCDS funding, Amerindian villages continue to receive direct financial resources through Presidential grants and allocations from the national budget. Between 2020 and 2025, the Government invested $2.168 billion under the Presidential Grant Programme, reflecting a 128 per cent increase since 2020. During this period, 253 villages with a combined population of 107,622 benefited from community-driven projects.
Browne-Shadeek stressed that a key feature of the programme is that villages decide for themselves how the funds are used.
“253 villages with a total population of 107,622 benefited from projects under the Presidential grant. But what is important, and what this Government strongly supports, is that villages decide for themselves how these resources are used. Whether it’s in agriculture, ecotourism, small business development, craft production, or food security projects, we trust our people to chart their own path. We continue to invest in training, entrepreneurship, and skills development, especially for Indigenous youth, because economic independence is key to long-term resilience,” she added.
The Minister further revealed that from 2020 to 2025, a total of $11.7 billion was invested in village and community projects through the Amerindian Development Fund. These projects were implemented by villages, satellite communities and settlements, focusing on priority areas such as agriculture and food security, infrastructure, women and youth development, tourism and hospitality, and land and water transportation.
She reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples have always been the guardians of Guyana’s forests and are now direct beneficiaries of carbon credit revenues under the LCDS. “These funds are not charity,” Browne-Shadeek said, emphasising that they represent rightful compensation for stewardship of the environment and a pathway to sustainable, self-determined development.
In 2023, the Government signed a multi-year agreement worth US$750 million with global energy giant Hess Corporation, facilitating the sale of $2.5 million in carbon credits to that corporation annually.
Those credits are generated by preserving Guyana’s vast rainforests, which serve as critical carbon sinks in the global fight against climate change. This pioneering approach has garnered international acclaim and positioned Guyana as a leader in sustainable development.
The first payment of US$150 million was received in 2023, and US$22.5 million thereof was disbursed to over 242 Amerindian, hinterland, rural and riverine communities and villages. Population size was a key determining factor in the Government’s methodology for the distribution of money earned from this sale of carbon credits, and as a result, funds disbursed to recipient communities ranged from $10 million to $35 million.