With more than half of the carbon sink in Guyana’s vast forest cover still available, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said Government is now looking at a competitive process to sell the remaining forest carbon.
“We still have 70 per cent of those credits to be sold. We’re looking at going through a competitive process to see that we maximise our take [from the sale of forest carbon],” Jagdeo disclosed during a press conference on Thursday.
Back in December, the Guyana Government signed a historic multi-year agreement for the sale of certified carbon credits to United States energy major, Hess Corporation, to the tune of US$750 million.
This deal came after Guyana was the first country to receive certification of some 33.7 million carbon credits by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) on December 1, 2022.
The 33.7 million credits being 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 forests are estimated to store approximately 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The remaining 70 per cent of Guyana’s carbon credit will be put on the market for future sale agreements.
Moreover, Guyana is also one of the few credits in the forestry sector that can now be sold in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) market, which is the compliance market for abating airlines emission.
With Guyana now a leading trader in the global forest carbon market, the Vice President noted that Government is looking at ways to increase earns from those transactions.
According to Jagdeo, a significant portion of these earnings will be injected into the development of indigenous communities across the country.
“If we extrapolate, we will get over US$2 billion earnings from this sector, [of] which significant parts will go to the indigenous communities – over US$400 million going to the Indigenous communities… That would help to transform the lives of the 240-something villages that are now beneficiaries of this credit… more money than they’ve ever had…,” the Vice President stressed.
The Government had already announced in December that 15 per cent of all of the proceeds from any sale of forest carbon will go towards the development of Amerindian communities.
Already, some $4.6 billion (US$22.5 million) from the Hess Corp deal has been disbursed to some 242 Amerindian and hinterland communities.
It was previously reported that each community will be receiving up to $35 million and no less than $10 million.
According to the Vice President, the villages are in the process of creating their respective development plans which will be financed by these funds.
“A few villages have submitted development plans… several others were on the verge of submitting. Once the villages ask for help [to draft their plans], the Ministry [of Amerindian Affairs] has a mechanism through which it can help but the request has to come from the villages,” VP Jagdeo stated.
Moreover, he pointed out that the government has already put systems in place to ensure transparency and accountability at the community level regarding these funds.
“The monies are already sitting in their accounts. It depends on the pace at which they develop [their plans then they’ll access the monies] but they have to go through a particular process in developing these plans. They have to take it to each village and they have to have a vote on the plan, and that’s how you get a village buying into the development plans. So, it’s not just the Toshaos and two councillors sitting down and coming up with something. They have to go to a village council. And similarly, too, there is a mechanism to ensure that the resources are accountably spent,” VP Jagdeo explained.
The Guyana Government has long been pushing for the global community to recognise the critical role that forests play in tackling climate change.
In fact, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said last month that Guyana’s forests are not just standing trees but is an important global asset thus it is only fair that the country earns from these services especially the people who ensure that it stays intact.
“Guyana looks to provide a practical example to the world and how that environment, forests, freshwater, and biodiversity in particular, must be safeguarded to sustain mankind and life as we know it. We also look to develop new ways of incentivising the global fight to safeguard forests. The main actions identified to be advanced by this cooperation will look to strengthen sustainable livelihoods in forest communities and enhance knowledge and capacity for sustainable use and supply of nature-based goods and services,” he noted.
The Head of State made these remarks at the signing of a more than $1 billion contract between Guyana and the European Union (EU) to increase forest preservation activities in the country as well as to foster sustainable development within local communities that are dependent on the forest for their livelihoods.
The €10 million ‘Sustainable Forest Livelihoods for the communities of Guyana and Suriname’ project will see the injection of €5 million in each country to strengthen capacity development and sustainable livelihood in and around forest-dependent communities over a four-year period.
This $1 billion agreement falls under the Forest Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed between Guyana and the EU back in November 2022 on the sidelines of COP 27 in Egypt for the provision of a €5 million grant to advance its efforts towards sustainable forest management and preservation here.
