THE appointment of President Dr. Irfaan Ali as a Commonwealth Champion for Biodiversity is a fitting recognition of Guyana’s growing influence on one of the defining issues of our time. It’s also a reminder that titles are only worth what they bring in.
The appointment comes after a busy fortnight. Speaking at the launch of the King Charles III-led Commonwealth Nature Initiative on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, Dr Ali said conservation must lead to jobs, livelihoods and growth to last. Days earlier, speaking in Georgetown, the King had cited Guyana as an important example of how forest protection and national development can be pursued together.
Guyana’s case is stronger than the usual diplomatic courtesies would suggest. Small states have rarely been able to shape global agendas. Dr Ali’s Global Biodiversity Alliance has secured international support, including from the United Kingdom, which announced its official accession.
Guyana is also working with the Commonwealth Secretariat on a Center of Excellence for biodiversity to be governed by a joint steering committee between the Secretariat and Guyana. This arrangement is a manifestation of a partnership that began with the donation of the Iwokrama Forest in 1989.
It’s hard to deny the President’s central point. “30 by 2030” commitments are meaningless without scale financing. Governments and conferences have given a lot of talk and too little money to the countries that hold the world’s most important ecosystems.
A plan to develop mechanisms that recognize the value of biodiversity and compensate those who protect it, with an investment and finance forum planned for next June, directly addresses that gap.
Guyana also has a record to show. The 2022 agreement with Hess for carbon credits was worth at least US$750 million from 2022 to 2032. The country has received more than US$500 million in funding through this partnership with Norway. Few developing countries can claim to have earned that much money from standing forests.
But the title should be taken as a challenge. The questions that are being asked of Guyana are fair questions and our credibility abroad is based on how we behave at home. Data from Global Forest Watch shows significant tree cover loss between 2001 and 2024, mainly caused by mining, logging, infrastructure and fires, as such government has been advancing forests protection through independent monitoring and published results.
President Ali has called on Commonwealth partners to join Guyana’s fight against biodiversity loss.