The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recorded a $39.1 million deficit in 2025, reversing a $73 million surplus the previous year, as expenditure increased faster than income, according to its newly published audited accounts.
Total expenditure rose to $1.272 billion from $1.083 billion, while income increased to $1.233 billion from $1.156 billion.
Employment costs, the largest expense, increased from $732.5 million to $821.9 million. Trust-fund expenditure rose from $17.3 million to $108.3 million, without a separate breakdown identifying the activities financed.
The government subvention increased from $745.3 million to $793.5 million, while revenue from operations rose from $402.9 million to $435 million.
The agency nevertheless ended the year with approximately $3.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma issued an unmodified opinion, dated September 28, 2026, stating that the accounts “present fairly, in all material respects” the agency’s financial position, performance and cash flows. The deficit is a financial result, rather than an audit finding of misconduct. The accounts were uploaded to the EPA’s website on October 20.
The increase in trust-fund expenditure comes against earlier public discussion about the EPA’s access to revenues collected from petroleum operations.
During consideration of the 2023 budget estimates, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira told the National Assembly that approximately $1.8 billion collected in flaring fees during 2022 would be available to the agency through its Trust Fund, Stabroek News reported.
Teixeira said the money could support development and training, explaining: “The monies that you refer to will be accessible through the Trust Fund.”
That earlier statement provides background to the fund’s financing, but does not establish which receipts financed the expenditure reported in the 2025 accounts. A breakdown would be needed to identify the projects, purchases or other activities covered by the $108.3 million.
The agency has also previously defended investments in its regulatory capacity. In April 2025, responding to criticism of its oversight of offshore petroleum operations, the EPA cited satellite surveillance, air-quality monitoring stations, a remote monitoring centre and improvements to project screening among its measures to strengthen environmental regulation, Stabroek News reported.
Those measures provide context for the agency’s expanding responsibilities, although the published financial statements do not establish how much of the increased expenditure was attributable to each initiative.
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