Nov 11, 2026
2 min read
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has urged countries to honour their climate finance commitments, saying forested countries need to know they can count on those agreements before making long-term investments in conservation.
Speaking at the COP31 Leaders’ Summit on Forests in Antalya, Türkiye, Jagdeo pointed to the international aviation offsetting scheme as an example. He said forested countries had already invested in meeting the scheme’s rules, but delays in putting them into effect in some jurisdictions were putting confidence in the market at risk.
The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, known as CORSIA, allows airlines to use eligible carbon credits to meet offsetting requirements. Jagdeo said many governments, particularly in Asia, had followed through on their commitments under the scheme, while legislative processes had stalled elsewhere.
He said claims that surfaced in the media earlier this year lacked peer-reviewed scientific backing and drove down confidence and prices across forest carbon markets. Confidence is recovering, he said.
“While this specific example relates to carbon markets, it underlines how we cannot ask forest countries to make long-term commitments while leaving uncertain the international frameworks on which they rely,” Jagdeo said.
He called on governments to put the aviation rules into effect, open national compliance markets to high-integrity forest credits and fully implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows countries to cooperate on climate targets, including through carbon trading.
Drawing on two decades of Guyana’s experience, Jagdeo said all six options in the Forest Finance Roadmap need sustained political leadership and cooperation among governments, international institutions, civil society and businesses. He said countries should be able to combine the options that suit them.
Forest carbon markets remain Guyana’s main route for financing forest conservation, Jagdeo said. Guyana also wants the Tropical Forest Forever Facility fully funded and operational. The roadmap’s other options include financing for forest-based businesses and sustainable supply chains, reforms to public spending and subsidies, and sovereign debt instruments.
