THE following is the full text of a statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources:

MINISTER of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat recently represented Guyana at the Amazonian Forever Summit in Brazil.

At the summit, hosted from July 26 to 27 in the city of Belem, Minister Bharrat shared Guyana’s innovative approach to climate finance.

He outlined Guyana’s model under its visionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which shows how economic development and environmental sustainability can be achieved harmoniously, specifically, through effective ecosystem valuation of forests.

During his address to the summit, which saw the attendance of ministers from Amazonian countries, Minister Bharrat presented Guyana’s progress on climate action, including maintaining a low deforestation rate.

He explained that Guyana’s model commenced with international public financing and has since evolved into a market-based mechanism with private financing.

Further, he informed the summit that Guyana had earned US$224 million under a bilateral agreement, based on verified results, with the Government of Norway. He went on to share that even more recently, Guyana finalised a market-based agreement with Stabroek Block partner, Hess Corporation, for the sale of carbon credits worth over US$750 million. Already, more than US$230 million of the revenue from that sale has been received by the government.

The minister emphasised the need for a scaleable, replicable and sustainable model for climate finance utilising a low-carbon development approach and highlighted Guyana’s model in taking this forward.

With this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) meeting on the horizon, the minister also took the opportunity to outline the priorities of Guyana and those of the Amazon region.

He indicated that the region will use these opportunities to emphasise the importance of climate finance, the protection of forests and the ecosystems they support including watersheds and biodiversity.

Amazonia Forever, a holistic umbrella programme, was launched by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). It aims to scale up financing, share strategic knowledge for decision-makers, and enhance regional coordination to accelerate the sustainable, inclusive and resilient development of the Amazon region.

The announcement was made in July 2023 after a meeting between the IDB’s governors for Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Suriname. The governors, who are ministers of finance, economy, planning or other top officials, had signed a joint statement in support of the new programme.

Amazonia Forever will address the following priority areas: local people; sustainable agriculture and forestry; the bioeconomy; infrastructure; sustainable cities; and connectivity.

It will focus on promoting the inclusion of women, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities; climate and forest conservation; and strengthening institutional capacities and the rule of law.