LCDS Pt 3 Series… Guyana heads to market for new investors for forest carbon credits

Apr 30, 2022 News

After earning US$212M in 5 years from Norway…

Kaieteur News – After earning over US$200M in payments from Norway for its carbon services, Guyana is ready to build on this financial achievement by tapping into more market based mechanisms that exist today for forest climate services.
This is according to Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 which focuses on harnessing Guyana’s unique advantages to create a new low-carbon economy. The document is currently the subject of countrywide consultations.
Importantly, LCDS 2030 has three objectives, one of which is to promote Forest Climate Services and other Ecosystem Services.
From early 2022, the document notes that there is a strong possibility that Guyana can access market-based mechanisms for forest climate services that include private, as well as international public sector financing. Furthermore, LCDS 2030 iterates that this will enable a pathway to transition from the existing Guyana-Norway partnership and increase the value of sustainably managing Guyana’s forests.
For those who may not be aware, it was in 2009 Guyana and Norway had agreed to work together to create a model for how progress on economic incentives for forests could be made. In fact, Former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Norway’s former Minister of the Environment and International Development, Mr. Erik Solheim, had signed an agreement where Norway would provide Guyana with result-based payments for forest climate services, alongside cooperation between the countries in the fight against climate change, the protection of biodiversity and the enhancement of sustainable development.
The successful adherence to the provisions of that agreement led Guyana to earn for the period 2009 to 2015, a total of US$212.52 million in payments. This has created low-carbon jobs, enabled Amerindian villages to receive legal title for communal lands, rehabilitated the Cunha Canal to protect against flooding, and started to equip Amerindian and hinterland communities with renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
Crucially, Guyana and Norway cooperated to build a world-leading forest Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRVS) which enables Guyana to move to the next stage of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) with partners who share its vision for climate and biodiversity.
The MRVS system, built since 2009, will also act as a platform for integration with other ecosystem services markets.
ABOUT LCDS 2030
LCDS 2030 outlines how the Government of Guyana will accelerate economic growth and development in a non-polluting, low carbon way. It outlines how Guyana will utilize and monetize its natural resources such as its lush and pristine forests in a sustainable manner so as to combat the impacts of climate change.
The document also ensures the country’s world-class forests, biodiversity, water and marine resources are valued for the vital contribution they make to the health of the planet.
The current draft that was launched by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali in late 2021 is undergoing a period of consultation with citizens on how the nation can re-double its efforts towards achieving the outlined vision, the roots of which can be traced back to 2009.
Here are some interesting facts about the important role Guyana’s forests play as noted in the LCDS 2030.
• Guyana has the second highest percentage of forest cover on earth and is working with partners to sustain 99.5% of that forest while building the foundation for a new low carbon, ecosystem economy. Government has said it expects to tap opportunities to access a market mechanism for forest climate services and other ecosystem services. This will enable Guyana to store 19.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (the measure used for greenhouse gas emissions).

• Deforestation rates are among the lowest in the world and Guyana is one of only four countries in the world (and one of only two in the Amazon Basin) verified to have sustained a High Forest Low Deforestation (HFLD) state.

• Guyana is one of four countries which host the Guiana Shield, one of the most pristine rainforest landscapes in the world. The Guiana Shield stores around 18% of the world’s tropical forest carbon and 20% of the world’s fresh water.