Private Sector hails gov’t over historic carbon credit initiative

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has commended the Government of Guyana on the country becoming the first nation to be issued carbon credits for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation under the REDD+ initiative.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Commission said it strongly believes that the deal signed on December 2, 2022, between the Government and Hess Corporation for Guyana to be paid a minimum of US$750 million over a ten-year period, is a demonstration of Guyana’s commitment towards global climate action.

“Importantly, the deal shows what corporations like Hess, a partner in the Stabroek Block Offshore Guyana, can do to demonstrate leadership and action in the fight against climate change.

“The PSC envisions that the funds to be provided from this historic agreement will realize the objectives outlined in the Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 (LCDS),” the statement added.

On Thursday, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) announced that it had issued Guyana over 33 million carbon credits, which were accumulated during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period. In a statement announcing the decision, the Arlington, Virginia, US-based ART said the issuance of the credits marks a milestone as it is the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation – a process known as jurisdictional REDD+.

The announcement came a day before Guyana and Hess inked a deal that will see the company purchase the first 30 per cent of the credits earned by Guyana for a minimum of US$750 million over a tenyear period. However, while the agreement period between the two partners is from 2022 to 2032, government says that it was able to negotiate a ‘legacy credit’ amount of 12.5 million credits at US$15 per tonne, thus receiving a US$187 million sum for the period 2016 to 2020. In two weeks, US$75 million of that amount will be deposited into the account and the remainder paid within 18 months.