Guyana has earned US$353 million from the sale of carbon credits since becoming the world’s first country to receive jurisdictional-scale forest carbon credits, generating financing for national development and climate action under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.
Senior Director of Climate and REDD+ in the Office of the President, Pradeepa Bholanath, made the disclosure during an appearance on the Starting Point programme on Sunday.
Speaking on the programme Bholanath explained that Guyana’s journey in climate finance has evolved from bilateral partnerships to active participation in international carbon markets.
In November 2022, Guyana became the first country globally to be issued jurisdictional-scale carbon credits under the ART-TREES standard, resulting in approximately 33 million carbon credits being made available for the period 2016 to 2020.
Then Guyana subsequently secured a landmark agreement valued at US$750 million for the sale of a portion of its carbon credits.
“Since then, we’ve been able to expand those market opportunities in ways that we didn’t even envision, to the point now where to date, since 2022, we have earned a total of US$353 million from the sale of carbon credits,” Bholanath said.
She noted that the revenues are being used to finance the implementation of LCDS 2030, which supports climate adaptation, environmental protection, sustainable development and community-based initiatives across Guyana.
Explaining the concept of carbon credits, Bholanath said they represent the amount of carbon stored in Guyana’s forests that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere if the forests were not protected.
“It represents the carbon stored within the forest that we managed to conserve by taking care of the forest and by implementing effective policies,” she explained.
She added that Guyana’s success demonstrates how countries can generate economic value from environmental stewardship while maintaining one of the highest levels of forest cover in the world.
The revenues generated from carbon credit sales are reinvested into initiatives that strengthen climate resilience, support sustainable livelihoods, and ensure the continued protection of the country’s forests for future generations.