THE Guyana government has expressed its support for the newly available market compliance opportunities, which allows the country to introduce its first national-scale carbon credits to the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) compliance airline market.

This recent development expands upon Guyana’s efforts in climate finance, the initial one being a bilateral agreement with Norway and the second being a voluntary market-based arrangement with Hess Corporation.

In alignment with the initial offering of the compliance market opportunity for airlines, Guyana has the capability to supply airlines with the foremost certified carbon credits to fulfill their obligations during the inaugural phase of the CORSIA agreement, which is being facilitated by the United Nations and commences this year.

The Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, commended the recent development last Thursday. He also emphasised the extensive national and international endeavours spanning several years to establish a global compliance market, enabling forested countries to freely trade carbon credits. Despite the fact that airlines are currently able to obtain more than five million credits from the rainforests of Guyana, Dr. Jagdeo acknowledged that this recent development holds considerable future potential for the country.

According to one of his statements to reporters at his press conference, Dr. Jagdeo explained that “Guyana will continue to push the goalpost to get to a full compliance market.”
The Vice President also recalled that, under the new high-integrity carbon standard known as ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions), Guyana was the first nation to receive carbon credits through this high integrity standard.

Noting that 33.47 million forest carbon credits were issued to Guyana for maintaining its high forest cover and maintaining low rates of deforestation and forest degradation between 2016 and 2020, earning Guyana at least US$750 million, Hess has made a commitment to buy Guyana’s premium REDD+ carbon offsets between 2022 and 2032.

Dr. Jagdeo related that “Guyana decided that it had to have a phased approach, and whilst the UNFCCC is still working on other decisions to guide how the compliance market will work in the future, there is enough available now through the UNFCCC to move forward. Guyana is showing how this could be done, using a practical and high-integrity approach.

Now we have moved it forward with a compliance market, but we are fighting to have a full compliance market where credits can be fully traded in compliance markets additional to CORSIA, and prices are expected to increase substantially as this is done, and as a built-in mechanism, secondary markets also further develop.”

He stated that apart from Brazil, which possesses a significantly larger portion of the world’s total tropical forest compared to Guyana’s mere 1%, Guyana also engages in collaborative efforts with its neighbouring countries. Vice President Jagdeo further stated that he had engaged in dialogue with President Lula during his recent trip to Guyana.

Based on his explanation, the aim of those discussions was to ensure the fulfillment of requirements, while safeguarding the forest’s sovereignty and avoiding the imposition of a burdensome certification process.

“Not every forested country wants to go to full market base… many have land tenure issues that complicate this. I would be going to Brazil to talk more about this with the Brazilian authorities as we bring together all forested countries… and ensure more market-based funds while we preserve the individual approaches each country will take,” VP Jagdeo shared.

In addition, Guyana has obtained 7.14 million 2021 vintage carbon credits from the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), which marks a significant achievement in the global fight against climate change. On Wednesday, the government of Guyana made an announcement regarding the first credits adjusted in accordance with the Paris Agreement, a significant action submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The ICAO’s CORSIA global carbon reduction programme is in its 2024–2026 phase, and these developments meet the standards to designate the credits as the first in the world that airlines can apply towards their targets.

Through jurisdictional REDD+ measures, Guyana has successfully maintained forest cover and kept deforestation and forest degradation at a low level. This accomplishment is in line with Guyana’s larger objectives under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, which aims to advance gender equality, social inclusion, and sustainable development in all spheres of society.

Dr. Jagdeo said, “These CORSIA-eligible credits represent the latest milestone in a journey that we began in 2009 when we set out a vision for forging a low carbon economy in Guyana.”

The Paris Agreement and ICAO procedures were successfully navigated by Guyana, according to ART Executive Director, Mary Grady, and this resulted in the market’s first post-2020 CORSIA qualified credits being issued.

Guyana’s initiative also establishes a precedent for other countries, as it is the first to disclose a corresponding role under the roles set out by the UNFCCC through the Paris Agreement and authorises the international transfer of emission reduction credits. This avoids double counting and guarantees compliance with international mitigation targets, both of which are essential for successful climate action.

For the indigenous peoples and local communities in Guyana, who have been actively involved in forest conservation initiatives, the issuance of carbon credits is extremely important.

The proceeds from the sale of carbon credits are used to fund sustainable development and low-carbon initiatives, which directly benefit local people and support governmental efforts to increase climate resilience. There is promise of bringing to reality, a sustainable future for our world, as Guyana sets an example in climate action and sustainable forest management. (This is part of a weekly series on LCDS.) The author can be contacted at cparkinson0206@gmail.com