By Vanessa Narine
NEARLY two decades after a Guyanese president and King Charles III, then Prince Charles, challenged the international community to rethink the economic value of tropical forests, their vision is entering a new phase that could help determine how countries are rewarded for protecting the natural world.
King Charles is expected to visit Guyana next week to participate in the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) Summit in Georgetown, returning to a country whose environmental policies he helped champion long before ascending the British throne.
The visit comes as President Irfaan Ali seeks to build on a conservation-financing model first advanced by former president, now current Vice-president, Bharrat Jagdeo, who argued that countries protecting vast tropical forests should receive financial compensation for the environmental benefits they provide to the rest of the world.
What began as an unconventional proposition has evolved into a national-development strategy that has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in forest-conservation financing, established Guyana as a participant in international carbon markets and directed revenues towards infrastructure, renewable energy and Indigenous communities.
Now, the government is pursuing a more complicated ambition: creating economic incentives to protect biodiversity, an environmental asset whose value is considerably harder to measure than carbon.
AN EARLY ALLIANCE OVER THE RAINFOREST
The relationship between Guyana and King Charles dates back to 2000, when the then Prince of Wales visited the Iwokrama rainforest, a conservation and research initiative established through co-operation between Guyana and the Commonwealth. He subsequently became a patron of the international rainforest centre.
But their collaboration gained international prominence in 2008, when Jagdeo was developing an economic argument that challenged conventional approaches to forest conservation.
Across much of the developing world, clearing forests for agriculture, timber and other commercial activities offered immediate economic returns.
Preserving those forests, by contrast, delivered global benefits through carbon storage, climate regulation and biodiversity protection, but generated relatively little revenue for the countries bearing the costs of conservation.
Jagdeo had argued that the imbalance created a fundamental problem for international climate policy.
He proposed that Guyana, whose tropical forests cover an area roughly equivalent to England and Scotland combined, could preserve those ecosystems while using international payments for environmental services to finance economic development.
The proposal attracted the attention of Prince Charles, who was seeking to mobilise political and financial support for tropical-forest protection through his Prince’s Rainforests Project.
Speaking to an audience of financial leaders at Mansion House in London in September 2008, the Prince publicly endorsed Jagdeo’s approach.
“Perhaps one of the most optimistic developments is the leadership on this issue shown by President Jagdeo of Guyana,” he said, “Faced with the mounting challenge of how best to develop his economy, he has offered to place the forests of Guyana under some sort of internationally verified supervision if the right economic incentives are provided.”
The Prince’s Rainforests Project had helped the Clinton Global Initiative to arrange a study by McKinsey & Company, examining the economic potential of Guyana’s forests.
Charles described the emerging strategy as a “truly innovative roadmap of national development,” suggesting that it could offer a model for other tropical-forest countries.
He said, “There is no doubt that Guyana represents a unique opportunity to develop a model which could be rolled out across the rainforest nations.”
But he also acknowledged that the proposal depended on a response from wealthier countries.
“The offer is there. The challenge is how we, in the developed world, respond to it,” he had said.
He called on the international community to respond to “the president’s remarkable offer.”
FROM ADVOCACY TO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
The collaboration between Jagdeo and the prince helped bring tropical deforestation into discussions among the world’s major economies.
In April 2009, during the Group of 20 summit in London, Prince Charles convened a meeting of government leaders focused on tropical-forest destruction.
Guyana was among three countries outside the G20 represented at the gathering, alongside Norway and Gabon.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds attended on Guyana’s behalf after Jagdeo had returned home following the passing of former President Janet Jagan.
The meeting helped lead to the creation of the Informal Working Group on Interim Finance for REDD+, a 35-country initiative examining how developing nations could receive payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The broader REDD+ framework was gaining momentum in international climate negotiations, offering the prospect of financial rewards for countries that could demonstrate measurable progress in forest conservation.
Later that year, at St James’s Palace in London, Prince Charles again praised Jagdeo’s role.
“And if I may, I would particularly like to thank President Jagdeo of Guyana, that he has shown incredible leadership in all this and I am so sad he left before I could just express how much we owe to him,” he said.
By then, Guyana was moving beyond international advocacy.
In 2009, Jagdeo launched the Low Carbon Development Strategy, an ambitious effort to make forest protection central to national economic planning.
The strategy envisaged using payments for environmental services to support clean energy, infrastructure, employment and improved living standards, while maintaining the country’s extensive forest cover.
Norway became an early financial partner.
That year, the two countries signed a landmark forest-conservation agreement on the bank of Guyana’s Essequibo River, establishing a system of payments linked to Guyana’s performance in protecting its forests.
At the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, Prince Charles cited the Guyana-Norway partnership as an example of the financing arrangements needed to make preserving forests economically viable.
PUTTING A PRICE ON STANDING FORESTS
The agreement with Norway became an early national-scale test of whether forest conservation could generate meaningful economic returns.
Between 2009 and 2015, Guyana earned $227 million in results-based payments under the partnership.
The arrangement also helped finance the development of a national forest monitoring, reporting and verification system, allowing the country to measure changes in forest cover and assess its performance against agreed standards.
The revenues supported renewable energy projects, climate adaptation, infrastructural improvements and programmes for Amerindian communities.
Among the investments were solar-energy systems, the rehabilitation of the Cunha Canal to improve drainage and flood protection, Amerindian land titling and demarcation and more than 200 solar-powered information and communications technology hubs serving hinterland communities.
The financing also supported small businesses and community-development initiatives.
For Guyana, the agreement demonstrated that forest conservation could provide a source of development financing, although the model initially depended heavily on government-to-government partnerships.
Its longer-term significance lay partly in the technical and institutional systems it helped establish, creating a foundation for participation in international carbon markets.
A NEW MARKET UNDER PRESIDENT ALI
Under President Ali, who took office in 2020, Guyana has sought to expand its forest-financing model by attracting private investment.
The government’s updated Low Carbon Development Strategy, known as LCDS 2030 and finalised in 2022, retained the central principles of Jagdeo’s original policy, while seeking new sources of environmental finance.
In December 2022, Guyana became the first country to issue jurisdictional forest carbon credits under the ART-TREES standard, an international certification system for emissions reductions and removals associated with forest protection.
Unlike credits generated by individual conservation projects, jurisdictional credits account for forest performance across a larger administrative area, potentially allowing governments to mobilise financing on a national scale.
Days after the issuance, Guyana announced an agreement with Hess Corporation, the American energy company, for the purchase of 37.5 million forest carbon credits from existing and future issuances.
The agreement was valued at a minimum of $750 million over its duration.
The transaction was a significant development for Guyana, offering a potential source of private-sector revenue for conservation and national development.
Guyana’s credits subsequently became eligible for use under CORSIA, the international aviation industry’s carbon-offsetting scheme, expanding the potential market to airlines seeking eligible credits to meet emissions obligations.
According to the account of Guyana’s programme, approximately 30 airlines have purchased its credits, with carbon-credit sales projected to reach an estimated $100 million by the end of 2026.
The country has also sought to share its experience internationally, including through its co-chairmanship with Britain of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, an initiative promoting greater international co-operation on forests.
The expansion into carbon markets nevertheless raises broader questions about how forest credits should be valued, how environmental benefits can be independently verified and whether demand for credits can provide a dependable source of long-term development financing.
BRINGING FOREST REVENUES TO COMMUNITIES
A central feature of Guyana’s approach is its commitment to directing a share of forest-carbon revenues to Amerindian communities.
Under LCDS 2030, at least 15 per cent of forest-carbon revenues is allocated directly to Amerindian villages and communities. The government says the proportion has exceeded 20 per cent in practice.
Across more than 240 communities, the money is being invested through locally determined Village Sustainability Plans.
By mid-2026, nearly 3,000 community projects had reportedly been initiated, covering agriculture, tourism, transport, education, small businesses and infrastructure.
The projects include investments in agricultural equipment, food production and local enterprises, with an emphasis on creating economic opportunities for young people.
The government says all carbon revenues are directed towards priorities identified through national and local consultations on LCDS 2030.
Beyond Amerindian communities, the funding supports wider development programmes, including drainage and irrigation works intended to make 100,000 hectares of non-forested land available for agricultural expansion.
That effort is tied to President Ali’s ambition to increase Guyana’s contribution to Caribbean food security.
The approach reflects an attempt to reconcile economic expansion with forest conservation, allowing agriculture and other industries to grow without necessarily increasing pressure on tropical forests.
Whether the model can continue to deliver substantial revenues will depend partly on international demand for forest carbon credits and confidence in the environmental integrity of those markets.
BEYOND CARBON: THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
Guyana’s next environmental ambition may prove more difficult than its first.
Through the Global Biodiversity Alliance, an initiative spearheaded by President Ali, the country is seeking to develop new approaches to financing the protection of nature beyond its role in absorbing and storing carbon.
The underlying argument resembles the one Jagdeo advanced nearly two decades ago.
Countries that protect natural ecosystems provide benefits extending far beyond their borders, yet conventional economic systems often fail to reward them adequately.
Forests, wetlands and other ecosystems support biodiversity, regulate water supplies, protect against environmental damage and sustain livelihoods. Many of those services have substantial economic value but are not readily reflected in markets or national accounts.
The PPP/C government wants to change that.
The Global Biodiversity Alliance brings together governments, international organisations, scientists, businesses, Indigenous peoples and local communities to explore conservation financing and methods for recognising the economic value of nature.
By September 2026, the alliance reported that it had attracted 140 members from governments, communities and organisations.
Its ambition is to move beyond international pledges and develop practical mechanisms capable of attracting public and private investment into biodiversity conservation.
But the obstacles are formidable.
Carbon markets rely on a common unit of measurement: tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Biodiversity encompasses an enormous variety of species, habitats and ecological relationships that cannot easily be reduced to a single comparable metric.
Determining the value of conserving a tropical rainforest, protecting a threatened species or restoring a degraded ecosystem requires different scientific assessments and economic assumptions.
Any biodiversity financing system would also need credible monitoring, safeguards against misleading environmental claims and arrangements ensuring that local communities receive a fair share of the benefits.
Guyana hopes its experience with forest-carbon financing can provide lessons for addressing those challenges.
The Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit in Georgetown is expected to focus on strengthening international co-operation and mobilising financing for biodiversity protection.
A ROYAL PARTNERSHIP COMES FULL CIRCLE
King Charles has remained an advocate for environmental protection throughout his public life, frequently calling for stronger international action on climate change, deforestation and sustainable development.
His relationship with Guyana has continued across successive administrations.
In September 2024, during an event marking 15 years of the Low Carbon Development Strategy, President Ali credited Jagdeo and the Guyanese people with developing the original vision, while acknowledging the contributions of Norway and King Charles in securing international attention and support.
The King renewed his patronage of Iwokrama in 2024, maintaining a relationship with the rainforest-conservation centre that began more than two decades earlier.
Co-operation with the King’s Foundation has also expanded into sustainable urban development, including initiatives intended to support more environmentally sustainable cities and towns in Guyana.
President Ali has since met the monarch on several occasions to discuss climate change, forests and biodiversity.
In April 2026, Vice-president Jagdeo also met King Charles at Dumfries House in Scotland, nearly 18 years after the Prince publicly endorsed his forest-conservation proposal at Mansion House.
The King’s forthcoming visit will be his first to Guyana since 2000 and will coincide with the country’s commemoration of 60 years of independence and diplomatic relations with Britain. But the visit carries significance beyond the historical relationship between the two countries.