– VP Jagdeo says Guyana will maintain carbon sink status
Guyana is making significant progress in advancing Amerindian development, with Vice President, Dr Bharrat stating that the carbon credits sale will fund 1,700 economic and social projects in indigenous communities – within two years.
The vice president made the disclosure during the Q&A session of the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference & Supply Chain Expo moderated by Ambassador Carlos Pacual, the Senior Vice President of S&P Global.
Ambassador Pascual questioned the carbon sink status of Guyana, in light of the country’s rapid expansion of its newly found oil and gas wealth.
In response, the VP firmly stated, “We have no fear about losing that status. And we have robust laws to protect our forests. We have to do so because we are in the carbon market now. We have been widely successful in the sale of forest carbon.”
Through its revised Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, the government secured the largest carbon deal globally, valued at US$750 million in 2022. This deal is part of the Architecture for REDD+ Transaction (ART) initiative and will see the nation earning revenues for forest carbon from 2022 to 2032.
Some 15 per cent of these payments are disbursed directly to Amerindian villages, granting leaders the authority to identify projects based on the villages’ priorities, which was agreed to by the National Toshaos Council (NTC).
“They [villages] got another allocation last year and they will do about 900 projects this year. That [is] about 1700 projects, changing many economic opportunities in their villages, addressing social issues in many of these villages,” he highlighted.
Over the past two years, a whopping $9.5 billion of climate revenues has already been distributed to more than 242 villages.
These carbon sales will also fund projects to enhance Guyana’s capability to respond to climate disasters.
In fact, the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh during the 2025 Budget revealed that several pieces of critical infrastructures for climate adaptation are being constructed, including high-level discharge drainage systems in Regions Three, Five and Six, costing $23 billion (GYD).
Over 40 sluices and drainage structures are being rehabilitated, and maintenance equipment have been purchased to the tune of $9.3 billion.
“[This is a] whole programme that will help us solve one of the biggest vulnerabilities we have with flooding and managing water. All of that is happening now in a whole programme to make us climate [resilient],” Vice President Jagdeo underscored.
The LCDS was initially developed under former President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, and was later expanded by the current administration, following national consultations from October 2021 to July 2022.
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