GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Leading technology company Apple Inc has recently purchased and retired 100,000 carbon credits from Guyana— a move that the country’s Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, says has significantly boosted the country’s international profile and enhanced the credibility of its carbon credit offerings on the global market.

Carbon credits are tradable certificates that represent the right to emit one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. These credits are issued to projects or countries that successfully reduce or avoid emissions, such as by protecting forests. Companies purchase carbon credits as part of their efforts to offset their own emissions and meet climate goals.

When a credit is “retired”, it is permanently removed from circulation and cannot be resold. This signifies that the emission reduction it represents has been claimed and cannot be counted again.

Guyana entered the global carbon market in 2022 when it was issued the first TREES credits by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART)—a global milestone as the first time a country received jurisdictional carbon credits, specifically designed for both voluntary and compliance markets, for successfully preventing deforestation and forest degradation, under a mechanism known as jurisdictional REDD+.

Guyana was issued 33.47 million TREES credits for the period 2016 to 2020. These credits were serialised and listed on ART’s public registry, making them available to international buyers, including those in need of credits for regulatory compliance, such as airlines under the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s global emissions scheme (CORSIA)—as well as for companies seeking to fulfil voluntary climate pledges.

With Apple’s entry into this space, Vice President Jagdeo welcomed the attention it brings to Guyana’s efforts and resources, saying it brings greater credibility to Guyana’s carbon credit on the global market.

“It’s a small amount…. But…it’s really great that a big company like Apple… sees that these are valuable credits. It brings great credibility to our product,” he said.

Apple is the second company to purchase Guyana’s carbon credits. In 2022, the Government of Guyana signed an agreement with oil company Hess Corporation to buy 37.5 million credits over 10 years for at least US$740 million.

The carbon credit mechanism has already channelled around $14 billion directly into Amerindian communities over the past three years. According to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, 15 per cent of all revenue from carbon credit sales is earmarked for these communities.

Dr Jagdeo said the $14 billion will fund about 4,000 projects, tailored to the specific needs of the Amerindian population.

“They are entitled to 15 per cent, but if you look …it’s more like 20 per cent that they have received over the last three years. [And] next year…they will get their money,” he assured.

The remaining 85 per cent of revenue is being invested in national infrastructure and climate resilience initiatives.