Months after it was disclosed that Guyana is the first country to fulfill the requirement to sell carbon credits to airlines, as part of the United Nations (UN) emission deal to counter pollution, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has revealed that his administration has already commenced discussions with industry stakeholders.
Back in February, it was announced that the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issued 7.14 million 2021 vintage carbon credits to Guyana. The issuing of the carbon credit allows for the use by airlines toward their targets in the 2024-2026 phase of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) global emission reduction programme, CORSIA.
“As you know there are some new standards required for the aviation sector and in those new standards you will have to get a carbon credit off take and we now have our credit certified for that market,” Ali told reporters at his press conference held on Thursday afternoon.
ART issued the TREES credits to Guyana for actions taken to successfully reduce emissions from forest loss and degradation and for maintaining one of the world’s most intact tropical forests through a process known as jurisdictional REDD+.
The government subsequently authorized the credits to be used for a range of compliance and voluntary purposes as per Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This led to Guyana’s carbon credits being eligible to be used by the airlines.
“We have commercial discussions and engagement with airlines and not only did we certify, we have commenced commercial discussions and engagement with airlines for sale of Guyana eligible carbon credit for that market,” President Ali disclosed.
The government has implemented the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which sets out the country’s vision for how to save its forests, as part of global climate action. The forests, part of the Amazon and the Guianas Shields, have some of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, and store 19.5 gigaton of carbon. On December 2, 2022, the government entered into an agreement with oil company Hess Corporation for the sale of carbon credits for a minimum of US$750 million between 2022 and 2032.