President Ali says, carbon credits price could increase on world market.

GUYANA is expected to host a side event at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference/ Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC also known as COP 28 and the country’s Head of State, Dr. Irfaan Ali has signalled plans to lobby for more regional financing to support climate change efforts.

Dr. Ali on Tuesday during a candid conversation with former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, who is currently visiting Guyana said 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.

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.

Not only will he be lobbying for Guyana, but for the entire Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as well.

“I am from a Region, the CARICOM region and I do not see our prosperity separated from CARICOM’s prosperity,” Ali said during the discussions held at the University of Guyana Turkeyen campus.

Dr. Ali frankly noted that there must be a concrete financial framework to address not only the climate crisis, but also many other crises in the Region and globally.

“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 raise the pledge [sic] resources for adaptation.”

He added, “These are first and foremost on my mind as a regional leader and championing these regional issues is key for me and for Guyana.”

The Head of State further pointed out that the Region requires $2.3 trillion to achieve the essential Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

“As Guyanese, I also say we must never forget we are part of a wider collective whole.”

Similarly, Mr. Blair said that it is his hope that COP 28 will see global leaders advancing a framework that provides the necessary funding to players such as Guyana in the climate-change fight.

“I hope that this COP comes out with a significant and improved framework whereby the developed world realizes its job is to help that process of financing the energy transition in the energy world.”

According to Mr. Blair, as development continues particularly in America, Europe and in Southeast Asia, combined emissions could be roughly 20 per cent by 2030.

GUYANA’S CARBON SALE

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 the 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.

Carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits or tradeable licences that represent the removal or reduction of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere.

A way to value the carbon trees store is by issuing forest carbon credits by independent verification organisations.

Companies can purchase these tradeable 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.

Over 200 Indigenous communities in Guyana have begun benefitting from the sale of carbon credits.