Guyana’s LCDS 2030 showing ‘real results’ in climate finance programme

─ Country maintaining strong environmental credentials – President Ali

His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali says Guyana continues to be a world leader in the management of its forest, with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 showing ‘real results’ in terms of the climate finance programme.

The head of state, who was speaking during his media conference on Wednesday at Office of the President in Georgetown, pointed to the country’s landmark issuance of the first jurisdictional scale carbon credits.

The sale of carbon credits for the period 2016-2030 has earned Guyana $US750 million inclusive of legacy earnings.

He noted that the climate financing programme is not only benefitting the coastland, but the hinterland as well, which will benefit from 15 per cent of the carbon credit funds. This amounts to $4.7 billion directly benefitting 242 Amerindian villages.

To date, more than 200 villages have submitted their village plans and are at various stages of implementation.

Further, President Ali said government continues to maintain its strong environmental credentials, referencing the fact that more than 85 per cent of its forest is intact. The country has also recorded the lowest deforestation rate since 2010.

Guyana recorded a 0.036 per cent deforestation rate in 2022, which the president noted was independently verified by remote sensing technology and ground assessments.

“Even with Guyana’s accelerated development in all corners of the country, we have not only maintained forests, but we have further strengthened our progress in this area,” the head of state noted.

He highlighted that the country has also managed to maintain its net carbon sink status, this means that the country absorbs more carbon each year that it emits.

The country continues to retain this status even as its oil and gas sector expands with 10 floating production storage and offloading vessels currently in operation offshore.

Importantly, the president noted that some 154 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere annually.

Meanwhile, Guyana has also made significant strides in its transition to clean and renewable energy sources, which is a main objective of the LCDS 2030.

“Guyana’s energy security is boosted with the signing of the contract for the gas-to-energy project, Guyana’s largest project to date, which will create 300 megawatts of new power and reduce the cost of electricity by 50 per cent,” the president said.

The president also noted the rapid implementation of renewable energy through off-grid solar systems in Berbice, Linden and Essequibo.  

Further, 33 megawatts of solar power will be financed using revenue earned from the Guyana/Norway bilateral cooperation which totals US$85 million.

The gas to energy project which is expected to come on stream by late 2024 and is expected to revolutionise and significantly improve the ease of doing business in Guyana.