Global Bio-diversity Alliance Summit to advance Guyana’s LCDS leadership

Guyana is set to enter a new phase of its green leadership with the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit, scheduled for July 23-25, 2025, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in Liliendaal.

Advisor to the Office of the President, Kevin Hogan, explained that the summit demonstrates Guyana’s dedication to ensuring the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 meets its goals.

In Episode Three of the “United for Biodiversity: the Alliance Podcast,” Hogan provided important insights into the formulation of LCDS, adding that Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has always espoused a strategy that ensures biodiversity efforts are included in Guyana’s blueprint for sustainable development.

Hogan stated that while the strategy initially gained momentum for its climate-focused approach, biodiversity has always been integral to its vision.

“The LCDS started with the climate aspects of the forest. However, the biodiversity aspect was always known about, and it was always hoped that the time would be right to expand the LCDS…I believe we’ve got to this day, [it is] the next evolution. And it will be Guyana-led, as it always has with Guyana at the fore, but with some fantastic international partners without whom it wouldn’t be possible,” said the advisor.

The LCDS started in the mid-2000s, when Guyana emerged from decades of economic stagnation. The country faced limited options, burdened by debt and a struggling economy.

Then the president, and now Vice President Jagdeo, was aware that many countries around the world were using their resources unsustainably, destroying their forests and attempting to rebuild them years later.

Hogan said this raised the question of whether Guyana could avoid unsustainable development.

The answer emerged in 2009 with the launch of the first LCDS, making Guyana the first developing country to propose such a comprehensive low-carbon framework. At the core of this strategy was a radical idea: getting paid to keep trees standing.

That idea became reality through a revolutionary agreement with the Government of Norway. Under the Guyana–Norway partnership, Guyana received US$227 million in performance-based payments from 2009 to 2015 for maintaining low deforestation rates, an accomplishment not achieved by any other country in the world, per capita.

Under the APNU+AFC Coalition administration, between 2016 and 2020, no payments were made for forest climate services. According to Hogan, “It was a bit of a tragedy in that the forest climate services hadn’t been remunerated despite all the hard work of the people.”

That changed when President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali assumed office in August 2020. His administration acted swiftly to ensure Guyana received compensation for its forest climate services spanning 2009 to 2022.

Today, LCDS 2030 builds on that foundation, introducing new focus areas such as biodiversity protection, water management, and urban sustainability.

“Guyana continues to punch above its weight on the international stage,” said Hogan. “That’s because this has always been a Guyana-led vision—from the presidency to the grassroots.”

With the upcoming summit, Guyana will propose its next pioneering act: establishing a financing structure which incentivises countries to protect their biodiversity.