Guyana reinforces global climate leadership with 9M high-integrity TREES carbon credits issued for 2023

The Government of Guyana today announced ART’s issuance of 9,085,923 high-integrity TREES carbon credits for the year 2023, marking another major milestone in the country’s long-standing leadership in sustainable forest management, climate action, and jurisdictional-scale carbon markets, for the third consecutive year since 2021. These credits have been labelled as CORSIA-Eligible, confirming their alignment with the highest international standards for environmental integrity, transparency, and accountability.

The issuance reflects the measurable outcomes of consistent work by Guyana’s government and forest communities in ensuring verifiable emissions reductions through forest stewardship, robust national monitoring systems, and consistent policy commitment to low-carbon development.

“This issuance is both a validation of Guyana’s long-term vision and a signal of confidence to global markets,” the Government noted. “It demonstrates that countries and communities can benefit from making forests worth more alive than dead – by valuing sustainable management of forests.”

Guyana’s forests cover more than 85 per cent of the national territory. As part of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), first launched in 2009, Guyana has invested heavily in forest governance, national Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems, Indigenous land titling, and benefit-sharing mechanisms that ensure forest communities are direct beneficiaries of climate finance. The ART issuance to Guyana of 2023 vintage TREES credits builds on previous issuances and reflects the continued advancement of these systems over time.

The CORSIA label attached to these credits confirms that Guyana’s TREES credits meet the eligibility requirements of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), making them among the most rigorously assessed credits available globally. This enhances their credibility and usability for international aviation and other compliance-oriented buyers seeking verified, jurisdictional-scale emissions reductions.

For global carbon markets, this issuance reinforces the viability of jurisdictional REDD+ as a cornerstone of high-integrity climate finance. It demonstrates that large-scale, government-led approaches—anchored in national policies and transparent data—can deliver real, measurable climate outcomes while safeguarding biodiversity and supporting livelihoods.

For Guyana, the issuance strengthens the country’s ability to mobilise results-based finance to support national development priorities, including climate-resilient infrastructure, Indigenous community development, forest conservation, and biodiversity protection. It also underscores Guyana’s role as a global leader in shaping credible, equitable, and scalable solutions for forest-based climate mitigation.

The Government of Guyana remains committed to advancing high-integrity carbon markets, improving environmental and social safeguards, and working with international partners to ensure that forest conservation delivers tangible benefits for the Guyanese people while contributing meaningfully to the global fight against climate change.