GUYANA, in recent weeks, demonstrated its environmental prowess once again by becoming the first country that could earn money for saving its forests through a special scheme and then inking a deal to secure funds from a major Oil Company. This was possible because the country had special jurisdictional carbon credits issued to it- quite the impressive feat but seemingly complicated nonetheless.

With the acquisition of carbon credits so topical in Guyana, I thought it was important to dedicate this space to helping to deconstruct this new scheme.

First, as I tried to explain in articles I wrote for the News Room, a carbon credit is a kind of tradeable permit or certificate representing the removal of a certain amount of carbon dioxide from the environment. But to even understand the importance of this credit, one must also understand that carbon dioxide is a gas that harms the environment. Trees help to suck in carbon dioxide and, thus, limit the amount of harmful gas in the atmosphere.

When trees are cut down, those gases are released and can cause environmental harm. Because Guyana has large intact forests- some 18.4 million hectares to be more precise- significant amounts of the harmful gas have been trapped. With these carbon credits, Guyana is essentially showing just how much carbon dioxide its trees are trapping, and the country is asking for payments from companies or countries to help protect those forests from being cut down and releasing the harmful gas. So, as it did before with Norway, Guyana is selling these credits to countries or companies for them to pay to keep the forests intact. Importantly, the carbon credit is also treated like a commodity (like sugar, for example) because it can be tracked and traded.

Then, the scheme Guyana has entered into must be understood. Guyana became the first country to get special carbon credits issued to it by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART)- which is a global initiative that seeks to incentivise governments to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), to both restore forests and protect intact forests. A total of 33.47 million credits, known specifically as REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) credits- were issued to Guyana and would be available to buyers.

The Hess Corporation, a company that profits significantly from the oil industry that is notorious for harmful gas emissions, was the first taker. It agreed to purchase 2.5 million carbon credits annually and pay Guyana at least US$750M for saving the rainforest. Essentially, Hess believes that Guyana should not cut down on these to continue saving the world and as such, the country must be compensated.

It can be argued that Guyana has been able to cash in on a good deal to sustainably benefit from its abundant forest resources. Even so, some questions linger because this is something new to the country- and the rest of the world.

I recall last week, during the sitting of the National Assembly, the Parliamentary Committee of Supply approved $360 million to pay the carbon credit verification fees to the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART). Before that sum was approved, however, one Opposition Parliamentarian asked Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, a question that might have struck some as overly simplistic or obvious; he asked, “Who owns these carbon credits?” The Minister answered that Guyanese own the credits just as we do any other resource be it rice, sugar, bauxite, oil, or otherwise.

To hear an elected political representative ask this question, for me, was important because it shows just how much awareness and education are needed before people can truly understand how the country stands to benefit from this new venture. Outside of the National Assembly, a friend said that her grandmother asked her to explain what carbon credits were simply because she saw it plastered across a newspaper but had no clue what that meant. And I will admit that my decision to write about carbon credits and this new venture in this space was informed by some of those two engagements.

Understanding these arrangements and concepts is easy for me because I am, low-key, a nerd for climate change topics. And with carbon credits and Guyana’s efforts at protecting its forests contributing to the fight against climate change, it is obvious that I would immerse myself in the content.

Still, I think about the Parliamentarian, my friend’s grandmother, and my inquisitive grandfather, who never fails to question me about current events. And I think that more robust education and awareness can be done.

If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com