APA says reviewing ART decision on carbon credits complaint

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) says it is reviewing a decision from the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) Secretariat rejecting its complaint over the manner in which carbon credits were issued to the Government of Guyana.

The APA in a release on May 23rd said that it has received a decision from the ART Secretariat in relation to its March 8, 2023 complaint.

According to the release, the APA’s complaint outlined the government’s violation of the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). This complaint, it explained, stemmed from the December 2022 issuance of US$750m in carbon credits to the Government of Guyana and the failure to address the gross violation of the TREES Standards.

The APA noted that its objection to the manner of consultation as well as the deliberate violation of the FPIC process by the government has been well documented in the local media and with its partners. Those objections were raised during the certifying process and after the first issuance of carbon credits by ART.

As a consequence, the APA has asked the ART Secretariat and Board to publish its reasons for its decisions to approve the credits, considering the substantial concerns the organisation had raised regarding Guyana’s respect for Indigenous peoples’ rights and therefore compliance with the TREES standard.

The Association also recommended that the credits issued to Guyana that have not yet been purchased be frozen and suspended and that no further credits be issued “until the government fully respects the rights of indigenous peoples.”

The APA assured that it has taken note of the decision issued on May 18, 2023 by Winrock International and will be reserving any comments until after it has had the chance to fully discuss the decision and explore its options.

According to the March 18 statement from the ART Secretariat, on 8 March 2023, a letter was submitted to the ART Secretariat by the APA alleging various shortcomings in the process surrounding the issuance of TREES (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard) credits to the Government of Guyana for the 2016-2020 period. Following ART’s established complaint process, the ART Secretariat commissioned a review, which was conducted by Charlotte Young, Winrock International’s General Counsel and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer. The ART Secretariat said that. Young is not involved in the ART Secretariat’s operations, was not involved in the processes surrounding the Government of Guyana’s interactions with ART, and reports directly to the Winrock Board of Directors Audit Committee. Winrock International describes itself as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment.

The ART Secretariat said that the review, which included stakeholder interviews and a close examination of the validation and verification process, determined that ART’s processes were complied with. In fact, it found that ART had made exceptions to its process to extend the public comments period from one month to nine months to allow as many comments as possible to be included in, and evaluated as part of, the validation and verification process.

The full results of the review were published on 18th May 2023, on the ART website, together with the original letter from APA and responses from the Government of Guyana and the Chairman of the National Toshaos Council.

In conducting the review, the statement said that Winrock’s General Counsel interviewed representatives from APA, the Government of Guyana, Aster Global (the Validation and Verification Body, or VVB), and the ART Secretariat. The statement said that the review focused on the primary issue that appears throughout APA’s comments and complaints: that concerns were raised by APA, but those concerns were not heard or considered during the validation and verification process.

According to the statement, the review carefully examined this process, including how stakeholder comments were addressed by the Government of Guyana, particularly those related to consultations and

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for REDD+ activities, as well as how the VVB folded the comments into their audit plan as they evaluated whether the government here met the requirements of TREES. The review also provided detailed responses to relevant comments and complaints, while clarifying that many of APA’s concerns relate to disputes with the Government of Guyana that lay outside of ART’s mandate. Notably, the statement said that ART does not act as a judge or arbiter of intra-governmental disputes.

“The review concludes that the processes in ART’s TREES Standard were properly followed with respect to the issuance of carbon credits to the Government of Guyana for the 2016-2020 time-period and that, with limited exceptions, all concerns raised in the complaints were evaluated by the VVB during the 2016-2020 validation and verification. After reviewing the evidence collected in its entirety, the validation and verification process for the 2016-2020 period concluded that the Government of Guyana was in conformance with all requirements of TREES as detailed in the verification report”, the statement said.

According to the ART Secretariat, while the review concludes that ART’s processes were followed, it also outlined how the APA’s comments, as well as comments received from other stakeholders, have helped identify several ways ART can continue to improve its process, which are currently being implemented by the ART Secretariat.