NATURE and climate must undoubtedly cooperate to ensure a viable and resilient future for everyone on the planet.

Global climate change has considerably changed vast natural environment areas in so many different nations.

One strategy for containing climate change and addressing the related problem of the loss of global biodiversity is to use natural solutions.

Recent studies suggest that effectively planned nature-based solutions can significantly lower temperatures over the rest of the century.

A review of the evidence suggests that, under a fairly ambitious scenario, nature-based solutions could prevent or remove up to 10 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 equivalent annually up to 2050, with altered land management practices accounting for 85 per cent of these saved emissions.

The preservation of standing forests, which includes forest conservation and restoration, is crucial to this solution because they can provide one-third of the mitigation needed by 2030 to keep global warming to the 1.5°C target.

If properly implemented, these solutions also help to reverse the other environmental catastrophe of our time: the decline in biodiversity.

The majority of the terrestrial biodiversity on Earth is found in forests, which make up almost a third of the planet’s surface area.

They house 60,000 distinct species of trees, 80 per cent of all amphibian species, 75 per cent of all bird species, and 68 per cent of all mammal species worldwide.
Our current state is that our environments are being destroyed rapidly.

Nearly 15 per cent of world CO2 emissions are attributable to deforestation alone.

Tropical deforestation would have the third-largest national carbon impact in the world if it were a nation.

Conversely, it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions by seven billion metric tons yearly by protecting and restoring tropical forests, mangroves, and peatlands.

In a recent White Paper by the World Economic Forum titled ‘Forests for Climate: Scaling up Forest Conservation to Reach Net Zero’, we are reminded that forests are crucial for the climate, environment, people, and economy.

According to recent data, nearly 1.6 billion people rely on forests for work, food, water, and wood.

From an environmental standpoint, woods do a variety of things, such as store carbon, control our temperature, serve as flood barriers, recharge groundwater, filter air, and safeguard biodiversity.

According to the White Paper on Forest, the economic value of forests is assessed to be $150 trillion, almost twice as much as the value of the world stock markets when the analysis was done.

The greatest part of that total value—up to 90 per cent—results from forests’ capacity to control the climate through carbon storage.

As in any first aid situation, the goal should be to stem the continuous, life-threatening bleeding that is deforestation by conserving extant forests, even though growing new trees is advantageous and necessary to restore those forests that have been lost or degraded.

This will safeguard both the carbon they store and the wildlife they support.

Our emphasis in Guyana over the past 12 years has been on maintaining the country’s leadership position as a high forest cover, low deforestation country with more than 85 per cent of its forest cover still intact.

This study shows that forests are much more effective at storing carbon than freshly planted trees.

Guyana’s national monitoring programme has revealed that the country’s forests sequester or remove about 154 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually and contain about 19.5 gigatons of CO2.

This impact’s scope is extensive and significant.

In Guyana, we know that our natural resources must benefit our citizens’ well-being and the fight against global warming.

Guyana introduced the first Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) from a developing nation in 2009. The strategy outlined a vision for inclusive, sustainable development for our people while concurrently maintaining the country’s forests, which comprise about 85 per cent of the country’s land.

The LCDS is a framework created to map a new development trajectory without creating pollution.

This aims to change the reality where forests are frequently worth more dead than alive so that people who live in forests and countries with forests can create employment and economic opportunity from an economy that works with nature.

Guyana is located below sea level and is frequently affected by extreme weather conditions like storms and droughts.

Climate change continues to harm the welfare of the entire planet, including Guyana, where extreme weather events are destroying livelihoods and damaging the country’s economy.

Early in 2021, after the nation had experienced the second-highest amount of rainfall since 1981, floods led to the proclamation of a national disaster.

In contrast to 2005, when flooding affected nearly 37 per cent of the population and resulted in economic losses equal to 60 per cent of GDP, the floods of 2021 affected every region of the nation and were classified as a national catastrophe.

Affected farmland totalled more than 130,000 acres (52,609 hectares), and 1.3 million animals perished.

The first Strategy, developed in 2009, was expanded in Guyana’s LCDS 2030 to include new fields such as clean and renewable energy, ocean economy, biodiversity, and water management.

This extended vision is underpinned by a people-centred development strategy with the aims of boosting social well-being for all of our residents, creating climate-resilient structures, and expanding economic opportunities for communities.

Through a bilateral collaboration with the Government of Norway, Guyana received US$220 million between 2010 and 2015 for these efforts. This money was used to fund several low-carbon projects that have improved people’s lives and strengthened climate resilience in several communities.

Guyana has made steps toward the voluntary carbon market as it moves forward to the second stage of its low-carbon development roadmap.

Guyana has already achieved the first jurisdictional scale carbon credits ever awarded under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), The REDD+ Environmental Excellency Standard (TREES) programme, totalling 33.4M credits to date.

Additionally, a first commercial deal for selling 37.5 million credits to Guyana for $750 million has been finalised.

This will help fund Guyana’s LCDS 2030 by appreciating and safeguarding nature-based remedies for the good of the populace.

This demonstrates that, when done with the proper methodology, addressing difficult climate-related problems, safeguarding priceless forest resources, and enhancing human wellbeing are all compatible.

We still need help despite these achievements.

In Guyana, we need to ensure that ecosystem services are included in expanding nature-based remedies.

Forest carbon must be combined with biodiversity and watershed concerns to safeguard the ecosystem as a whole.

Achieving a global impact will require scaling up this endeavour and applying the lessons learned.

We have learned from experience that a long-term solution for sustainable growth can be created when people and nature work together.

(This is part of a weekly series on LCDS). The author can be contacted at cparkinson0206@gmail.com