DAYS after Guyana received its first payment for carbon credits under the agreement with the Hess Corporation, members of government engaged members of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) on the agreed distribution of those funds to Indigenous communities across the country.
Additionally, a press release from the government noted that the NTC was also engaged on the 2023 National Budget, which is slated to be presented by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh on Monday, January 16.
“With the National Toshaos Council (NTC) recognised as the primary interlocutor between the government and the 200-plus Amerindian communities in Guyana, meetings on issues of concern continued on Wednesday, January 11, 2023,” the release stated.
The government side was led by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who reportedly engaged the elected Council on the promised distribution of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 financing to Amerindian communities.
Through the LCDS, Guyana has set out a vision for monetising the climate and ecosystem services provided by the country’s standing forest, while accelerating its economic development along a low-carbon trajectory.
![](https://guyanachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GOVT-NTC-2.jpg)
In December 2022, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions announced the issuance of 33.47 million TREES credit to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. Afterwards, Guyana sold some 30 per cent of its available credits to the Hess Corporation. The sale of carbon credits is one venture that allows Guyana to get payments to continue protecting its forests.
And whatever sums are garnered under the LCDS, like the sale of the carbon credits to Hess, 15 per cent will go directly to community/village-led programmes for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), as set out in Village Sustainability Plans or the equivalent thereof put together by communities themselves.
With some payments having already been secured, the government opted to engage the NTC on Wednesday. The Vice-President was joined by the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, and Senior Director for Climate and REDD+ at the Ministry of Natural Resources Pradeepa Bholanath among other technical personnel.
Previously, NTC Chairman Derrick John called on the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana to ensure that they get involved and be a part of the implementation of the important initiatives that will be funded through this initiative.
John called on them to ensure that they familiarise themselves with their respective village plans, if they have not done so already, and to ensure that they make their contributions heard, given that Indigenous Peoples stand to benefit from at least US$212 million out of the sale.