former British Prime Minister says
acknowledges country’s forest-protection efforts, ability to provide credible leadership at COP 28

AT over 87 per cent forest cover, Guyana is one of the most heavily forested countries in South America, and global leaders are now looking at this small nation to provide guidance at the upcoming global talks about forest conservation and climate change.
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair has said that the country’s forest conservation is a “rare commodity,” and the efforts undertaken by the country’s officials will see Guyana playing a pivotal role in providing credible leadership at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference/Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC also known as COP 28 in Dubai.

“I think you’re in a very strong leadership position on this because you are one of the very few countries in the world that actually preserved their rainforests,” Blair said on Tuesday, during a conversation on the environment with Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen campus.
He went on to highlight the country’s aptitude to not only preserve its rainforest but also monetise it and strengthen its credibility in the fight against climate change.
“…there have been extraordinary efforts to preserve it …the position of this country in leadership terms at COP28 will be extremely important,” the former British official added.
He also reflected on the work Guyana has been doing throughout the years with the development of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LDCS) which was first introduced in 2009. The country has since updated its LCDS.

“One thing that I think is remarkable is that it was done in 2009 when frankly it was quite difficult to do a strategy like that. The President and his team will be able to come to COP and speak from a position of credibility and frankly in the climate debate that is a rare commodity,” Blair said.

In December 2022, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana.
This marked a milestone as it was the first time a country was issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation — a process known as jurisdictional REDD+.

Following the completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors, ART issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020.

This paved the way for a historic agreement between Hess Corporation and the Government of Guyana, whereby the oil giants opted to purchase about one-third of all Guyana’s credits (issued and anticipated) up to 2030.

The agreement will generate a minimum of US$750 million for Guyana over the coming decade and represents a major milestone on the journey towards a vision first set out in 2007.
Meanwhile, President Ali said that his government will be pursuing more finance to further protect the environment, not only for Guyana but the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
“We must be able to deal with the climate vulnerability fund. We must be able to deal with the reform of financial systems to address climate vulnerability and climate financing. We must be able to find a formula through which we pledged resources for adaption…These are first and foremost on my mind as a regional leader and championing these regional issues is key for me and Guyana,” Dr. Ali said.

Guyana’s forests store approximately 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon and the President candidly said that the country should be paid more for its carbon credits.
The price for a tonne of carbon trapped by the trees should be about US$70 instead of the current price of about US$7.
A way to value the carbon trees store is by issuing forest carbon credits by independent verification organisations.
Companies can purchase these tradable credits as a way of recognising that carbon stored in forests is one aspect of the solution to achieve a global climate, where one tonne of carbon dioxide has been decreased, avoided, or sequestered for every carbon credit

President Ali further said that leaders like himself have a responsibility to advocate for funding for citizens and development.
He added: “We have one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world and understanding that value and what it brings not only gives us the good international branding of having a forest that contributes to humanity, and contributes positively in the climate change equation.”
This year’s COP 28 conference is being held with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambitions to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.