–President Ali announces, stresses the importance of more nature-based solutions to the world’s problems

GUYANA is emerging as a powerful voice on the global stage as the country is showing how responsible growth can look in practice, balancing its burgeoning oil and gas sector with large-scale renewable investments and forest protection.
During an interview aired on Saturday on the outcome of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, President Irfaan Ali highlighted that environmental protection and economic growth are not opposing forces but partners in progress.
“This COP is being called the COP of truth and the COP of action,” President Ali stated, noting that despite numerous resolutions over the years, global progress has been limited. He emphasised that Guyana has adopted a clear and practical approach that reflects its leadership, commitment, and the ways in which the country’s example can help unite the world.
As President Ali delivered his assessment, he did not mince words, asserting that fossil fuels will continue to play a crucial role for decades to come. He stressed that true climate responsibility lies in how the world produces and consumes energy. Dr. Ali pointed out that global energy demand has grown by seven per cent in the past three years, with fossil fuels accounting for 60 per cent of that increase.
“Now, what that means is that the reality of the world that we’re living in is that fossil fuel will still be here for some time…The moral, ethical argument is, should we pursue a policy that says no new development? Then, as I said today, you are protecting a market that is already profiting from fossil fuels. The approach, if it is climate-related, must be one that takes out the least effective producers, the producers with the highest carbon footprint and the most inefficient producers from the system,” he said.
“We cannot create that balance with extremism on both sides,” President Ali said, emphasising that there needs to be a more dynamic ecosystem through which petroleum products are developed.
Turning his attention to the major countries, President Ali said that the conversation needs to shift from whether tropical forests, nature products and biodiversity should be on the agenda.
“The European Union understand that it cannot pursue this strategy of not assigning a value to nature-based solutions and to forest and biodiversity in the compliance market that they are setting up. So that, by itself, is an important and weighty subject matter that Guyana is championing,” President Ali said.
On this note, he called for greater focus on creating sustainable livelihoods and building an ecosystem that fully supports this vision, emphasising that this is precisely what Guyana is pursuing.
President Ali said: “It’s not only about climate change, carbon credit. It’s about nature-based solutions for every single problem that we have, and this is where Guyana is leading, and that is what the LCDS is designed to do. It is designed to look at a development model that incorporates nature, that incorporates climate consideration in the results that we want to achieve…”’
Since the relaunch of LCDS 2030 in 2022, Guyana has achieved world-leading milestones, including becoming the first country to receive jurisdictional forest carbon credits under the ART-TREES framework and completing a large-scale carbon credit sale valued at up to US$750 million through 2030. Carbon revenue, expected to reach US$200 million this year, has already surpassed US$400 million over three years, exceeding the achievements of any other nation.
Moreover, the President expressed hope that Guyana will unveil new forest carbon agreements by the end of the year, aimed at further strengthening the country’s position as a global leader in forest conservation and low-carbon development.
‘Biodiversity is not a side issue’
President Ali said that Guyana’s main objective is to mainstream biodiversity in the COP discussion and then to build out supporting infrastructure with membership to push biodiversity. Guyana is also collaborating with Brazil under the Tropical Forest Forever (TFF) initiative to ensure biodiversity remains central to climate and sustainability goals, he disclosed.
“We don’t want to diffuse what is happening in many different directions, but what we are saying is that biodiversity is so central to net zero and everything about sustainability that it must be advanced at the same speed that the other issues are advancing. And that is why we’re building this coalition to ensure that this happens and that attention is brought,” Dr. Ali said, noting that biodiversity is not a side issue.