Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat has called for greater investment in forests as governments review progress on an international financing plan launched a year ago to help halt forest loss by 2030.
Bharrat made the appeal last week at a ministerial session in New York on the Forest Finance Roadmap, according to a Facebook post on his remarks. He had also attended a meeting of the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) Ministerial Steering Committee on Tuesday. The partnership is co-chaired by Guyana and the United Kingdom.
“Forests are among the world’s most valuable assets,” Bharrat told the ministerial session. “They underpin climate stability, biodiversity, water, food, health, livelihoods, and economic prosperity. For forest-rich countries, they are also a foundation for sustainable development.”
He said Guyana had contributed to the partnership’s work over the past year through its Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030, forest carbon-credit sales and efforts to strengthen the economic value of standing forests. Protecting forests, he argued, also supports economic resilience and security.
The FCLP was launched at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November 2022 and now has more than 40 member countries. Bharrat co-chairs it with the UK’s Minister for Climate, Katie White. Ministers, ambassadors and advisers from countries including Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ghana, Germany, Norway and France attended Tuesday’s steering committee meeting, according to the account posted online.
The partnership launched its Forest Finance Roadmap with Brazil and the support of the United Nations Environment Programme in September 2025. The six-part plan includes expanding finance for forest carbon credits, sustainable forest businesses and supply chains, and addressing the debt pressures faced by forest-rich countries. The FCLP estimates the annual gap in forest finance at US$66.8 billion.
In Guyana, Hess Corporation agreed in 2022 to purchase at least US$750 million in forest carbon credits over a ten-year period. The arrangement has prompted questions about consultation with Indigenous communities and their share of the proceeds; the Amerindian Peoples Association lodged a formal complaint concerning the deal in 2023.
Stabroek News reported that, according to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, Amerindian communities received $4.8 billion from carbon-credit sales in 2025. Under the government’s benefit-sharing arrangement, they are guaranteed at least 15% of those proceeds.
Bharrat said the roadmap’s launch had been only a starting point and urged sustained political leadership and investment to put its proposals into effect.
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