– how is this trailblazer in forest conservation providing leadership at a global climate conference?

By Naomi Parris

GUYANA’S vast forest cover and its increasing efforts to preserve this natural patrimony have attracted the attention of world leaders, who are now looking to this South American nation to provide a blueprint for action against climate change.

Boasting over 87 per cent of standing forest, Guyana is one of the most heavily forested countries in South America, and most recently, the country has been standing on the forefront of efforts to confront the global phenomenon, with many leaders looking to adopt the country’s methods and craft solutions of their own, based on established principles.

This week, the country’s leaders, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo will lead a delegation of experts who will demonstrate the country’s environmental stewardship at this year’s 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai.

“Our leadership will be on show at COP28, as Guyana will be given a pavilion in which many of the leaders across the world and from important international and regional organisations, will be taking part in academic, theoretical, and practical discourse on issues of climate change, the environment and forest,” President Ali told reporters at a recent press conference.

WHAT IS COP28 AND GUYANA’S ROLE IN THIS MAJOR CONFERENCE?
For those who may not know, COP28 is the meeting of the group of 198 countries that have signed the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place in the United Arab Emirates from today to December 12, 2023.

The COP is the decision-making arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is responsible for evaluating and monitoring the measures implemented by the convention and the progress in achieving its objectives.

With climate change being ranked among the top 10 threats in the world, the conference will see leaders vigorously examining strategies to tackle climate change and managing the impacts of a warming planet.

This year, Guyana will be among the most vibrant voices at the conference, presenting its strategies in balancing its environmental stewardship and its oil and gas resources, through its Low Carbon Development Strategy 2023 (LCDS 2030) and the monetisation of its standing forest through the sale of carbon credits.

“What we are doing and how we are presenting this leadership has allowed us to capture the attention of various stakeholder across the world,” Dr. Ali said.

Guyana’s participation in COP28 extends beyond representation. President Ali highlighted that the LCDS will be presented as a development tool at various engagements with other leaders. This, he further said, is aimed at encouraging the adoption of sustainable development models that prioritise environmental protection.

GUYANA’S POSITIONS AT COP28
Aside from the country’s LCDS 2030, its recent sales of carbon credits will also take centre stage, Vice-President Jagdeo said. Guyana will be championing the cause for the establishment of market-based mechanisms to promote forest conservation. Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, said Guyana’s position will see an emphasis on global incentives for forest conversation.

“We’ve made the argument that forests cannot be saved by philanthropy. We’ve passed that model. It is an important abatement solution to climate change, you cannot achieve net zero without tackling a key source of emission, which is forest and land degradation, and it is not getting the required attention because forest carbon is not part of a compliance market,” he explained.

The Vice President added, “There are no public funds now…at scale being dedicated to saving forests, and we don’t expect any to be made available, given how adaptation funding has fared globally. Because, it has suffered from lack of funding, so we don’t expect that public money will be going into trying to preserve forests globally, so we have to work at stimulating a market-based mechanism to do that.”

Notably, 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.

In simpler terms, Guyana was able to earn money from its standing forest which stores 19.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.
The massive agreement will see the country earning a minimum of US$750 million over the coming decade.

Secondly, in alignment with the general focus of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on adaptation funding and funding for loss and damage.

“Our argument to the international community is that you just can’t have funding for these initiatives, but you have to pay attention to the mechanism for getting the funds to the recipients, that it is a mechanism fit for purpose, and that it should lend to building capacity in communities themselves,” Jagdeo had said recently.

Thirdly, on the issue of Guyana being a new oil and gas producer, Jagdeo said, “We go to COP as an emerging oil producer, but one that still supports reduction in fossil fuel subsidies; we go to COP with a call for early disbursements. We believe in new technology that should reduce the carbon footprint of activities in the oil and gas sector.”

According to the VP, the Government of Guyana backs a five-point mechanism for achieving net-zero emissions. These measures include the removal of large polluters out of the supply chain, the incentivisation of renewable energy, demand management, use of technology, and reduction of deforestation and land degradation.

“We believe that if you do all five of these things, then you can achieve net zero without pushing the world through hardships that would come out immediate displacement of fossil fuel,” the Vice President reiterated.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
The leaders of Guyana are not the only ones who believe climate financing should be increased.
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, during a recent visit to Guyana had shared that it is his hope that COP28 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 realises its job is to help that process of financing the energy transition in the energy world,” Blair said in an engagement with President Ali back in August, when the two discussed Guyana’s role in the global climate front.

Blair added, “I hope that this COP comes out with a significant and improved framework, whereby the developed world realises its job is to help that process of financing the energy transition in the energy world.” According to him, as development continues particularly in America, Europe and in Southeast Asia, combined emissions could be roughly 20 per cent by 2030.

Guyana’s LCDS 2030 can be accessed at: https://lcds.gov.gy