Guyana takes global stage at COP30

Nov 11, 2025 News

— pushes bold climate, forest and Indigenous agenda

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana has again positioned itself at the forefront of global climate and biodiversity leadership, delivering a powerful message of unity between people, nature, and finance at the opening of the COP30 Negotiators’ Session in Belém, Brazil.

The Guyana delegation is led by Pradeepa Bholanath, Guyana’s Lead Negotiator for the UNFCCC, and Derrick John, Chair of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC) and representative of Indigenous Peoples, the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a press release.

Guyana’s Lead Negotiator for the UNFCCC, Pradeepa Bholanath, and Derrick John, Chair of the National Toshaos’ Council, represent Guyana at the Opening of COP30 Negotiations in Belém, Brazil, highlighting the country’s unified approach to climate action, biodiversity protection, and Indigenous leadership. (Photo: Yusuf Ali/News Room)

According to the release, their joint participation marks the strong collaboration between the Government and Indigenous Peoples where the National Toshao’s Council and Government are representing Guyana at the negotiation level of the UN Climate Conference – signalling a collaborative approach that places Indigenous leadership, biodiversity, and climate-finance innovation at the core of Guyana’s message to the world.

At the Leaders’ Summit last week, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali presented Guyana’s three-point plan for global climate action: Making forests a permanent part of the global climate agenda; and Scaling up adaptation finance for the world’s most vulnerable states.

Bholanath and John used the opening of the negotiators’ session to reaffirm that message, stressing that forests, biodiversity, and Indigenous stewardship are indispensable pillars of effective climate action. “Guyana’s story shows that climate success is possible when people, nature, and finance are brought together,” said Bholanath.

“Our forests are a living example of how nature-based solutions deliver global benefits when they empower local communities.”

John added: “Indigenous Peoples have protected these forests for generations. At COP30, Guyana is showing the world that climate action can effectively include Indigenous rights and leadership, not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.”

According to the ministry, Guyana’s pioneering Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030) remains a global model for integrating sustainable growth, carbon markets, and social inclusion. Under the LCDS, Guyana has monetised its forest-carbon services, securing at least US$750 million in carbon credit agreements over the next decade. Over 15% of all carbon-revenue proceeds are allocated directly to Indigenous and local communities through village-led investment plans focused on sustainable livelihoods, renewable energy, eco-tourism, and climate-resilient infrastructure.

More than US$22 million (GY$4.7 billion) has already been distributed to over 200 villages. Guyana’s negotiators emphasised that this model demonstrates how forest-rich developing nations can achieve measurable climate results while ensuring Indigenous Peoples share equitably in the benefits.

At COP30, Guyana is also advancing the agenda of the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA), launched in Georgetown in July 2025. The Alliance, endorsed by the COP30 Presidency, brings together states and institutions committed to integrating biodiversity protection into climate and development strategies. The Georgetown Declaration, adopted at the inaugural GBA Summit, recognises biodiversity as “fundamental to human wellbeing, climate stability, and resilience.”

Through the GBA, Guyana is pioneering: Biodiversity credits and other financing instruments for the conservation of biodiversity; and A national Biodiversity Information System (NBIS) to monitor ecosystems across Guyana by 2030. Bholanath noted that the GBA “extends the LCDS vision – uniting climate and biodiversity finance to sustain both people and planet.”

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biodiversity protection, climate, COP30, Forest, Indigenous, UNFCCC

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