The Office of the Vice President has responded to a recent public statement by the Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA), which filed a complaint with the Architecture for REDD+ Transaction (ART) Secretariat, urging the suspension of carbon credits and payments to Amerindian villages and communities in Guyana.
In an April 15 press release, APA claimed that the government’s proposal did not accurately reflect their comments on consultations with indigenous villages and that the National Toshaos Council’s support for the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) document did not comply with the principles of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
The Vice President’s office contested these claims, stating that it was APA that violated the FPIC principles by not consulting or informing indigenous villages, the National Toshaos Council, or any representative group of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana before filing its complaint. Furthermore, it noted that the APA was aware that every report of the ART TREES process is publicly available for perusal and its complaint referred to the structure of the verification reports and the sections of the Guyana application documents under ART. These very reports the office said, presented the background and reasons supporting the independent verifier issuing full approval for Guyana’s credits.
The Vice President’s office also pointed out that APA was deliberately withholding its involvement in the very audit process about which they were complaining. According to the office, the independent verifier conducted an assessment mission to Guyana in April 2022, and APA participated in the verifier’s session. Additionally, APA was invited to follow up with the auditor should this be needed, but it made no such request and expressed no concern to the auditors in the audit process.
The VP’s office contended that APA cannot justifiably say it was not engaged as the evidence available to the public proves otherwise. In fact, for over two years, the VP’s office said APA has been invited by the Office of the President to participate in, and to help lead, consultations across Guyana concerning the LCDS 2030 and ART-TREES. However, APA was very selective in engaging in the consultation that it has now raised grievances about.
