The Government of Guyana (GOG) is exploring new options to sell carbon credits to interested buyers. This was announced by Vice President (VP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, at his most recent press conference.
According to the Vice President, several companies have reached out to the government expressing their interest in purchasing carbon credits. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, carbon credits are permits that allow companies to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases (GHG). Those who have exceeded their permit limits can purchase more carbon credits from net-zero/ low-emissions countries, like Guyana.
“When you look at the voluntary markets now for forest carbon globally, and you see the prices we got, these are really great prices… So we’re exploring those interests,” Jagdeo added.
On December 2, 2022, Hess Corporation and the Government of Guyana announced an agreement for Hess to purchase high quality carbon credits for a minimum of US$750 million between 2022 and 2032 directly from the Government of Guyana. This agreement will serve to support Guyana’s efforts to protect the country’s vast forests and provide capital to improve the lives of Guyana’s citizens through investments made by the Government as part of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.
Under this said agreement, over 242 Indigenous villages are expected to benefit. To this, Jagdeo explained that 160 villages have already submitted their plans for the utilization of the resources. He said that some villages have already started drawing down the funds to implement those plans.
Moreover, the Vice President said, “We’re exploring some compliance markets now and what it takes to get into those compliance markets. There may be some additional things that are required.”
Jagdeo highlighted that government is looking at revising Guyana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), since the former administration had promised to achieve 100% renewable by 2025. Jagdeo said while no country was able to do this, Guyana promised in its NDC submitted under the Paris Agreement. As such, he explained that the government will resume the consultation before submitting a realistic NDC.
“So that’s one of the things that we will move forward on and hopefully that will allow us to move closer to some of the markets that are currently available,” the Vice President said.
