Dear Editor ,
The Stolen Crown: How Guyana’s $400M Carbon Credit “Leadership” Is Built on Domestic Negligence and Indigenous Exploitation
Guyana’s government projects itself onto the global stage as an environmental titan, a verdant guardian of the Amazon. President Irfaan Ali boasts of a record-breaking $400 million carbon credit windfall, sold to international corporations and nations eager to offset their pollution. The world is sold a pristine fantasy—a “Green State” where the forest is not just saved, but savior.
This is a carefully constructed mirage. A closer look reveals a toxic trilogy of deception: the defrauding of the international community, the systemic poisoning of our own environment, and the gross exploitation of the true guardians of our forests—our Indigenous peoples.
First Deception: The “Green State” That Pollutes with Impunity
While marketing environmental purity abroad, the government’s domestic waste management is an ecological crime scene. The much-touted clean-up campaigns are a superficial sham. Bins collect a chaotic mix of waste, all destined for landfills without separation—a fundamental rejection of circular economy principles.
But the true scandal is far more hazardous. The government’s own bulk waste collections are a direct pipeline for climate destruction. Hundreds of defunct refrigerators and air conditioning units, laden with ozone-depleting CFCs and potent greenhouse gases like Freon, are dumped in landfills. There is no evidence of systematic, safe removal of these gases. Consequently, substances thousands of times more damaging than CO2 are released directly into the atmosphere by the very ministry tasked with protection—the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, under the negligent gaze of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This is not an oversight; it is duplicity in action. The nation selling “clean air” and stored carbon is actively, knowingly, leaking some of the most destructive chemicals known to science. The purchasers of Guyana’s carbon credits are buying indulgences from a polluter. The credits are rendered a fraudulent commodity, their value poisoned at the source.
The Second, Deeper Betrayal: Exploiting the True Stewards
This “green con” is not only perpetrated on the world. The most profound betrayal is against the generations of Indigenous communities—the Akawaio, Makushi, Wapichan, Wai Wai, and others—who have sustainably stewarded these biodiverse ecosystems for millennia. They are the reason the carbon is there to sell.
Their traditional knowledge, their sustainable lifeways, their fierce protection of the forest against miners and loggers—this is the actual “Green State” strategy that worked for centuries. And what is their reward for providing the world with this $400 billion ecosystem?
A pittance. A token 15% share of the carbon credit revenue.
This is not partnership; it is the new form of colonial exploitation in green disguise. While the government parades its earnings on the global stage, many Indigenous communities remain starved of substantive investment: lacking consistent clean water, quality healthcare, sustainable economic development, and digital connectivity. The wealth generated from their stewardship bypasses them, flowing into national coffers and grandiose infrastructure projects that often further threaten their lands and ways of life.
This is the resource curse, environmental edition. The international community is deceived by a flawed product. The Guyanese public breathes air contaminated by government negligence. And the Indigenous peoples, the actual architects of this environmental wealth, watch as their legacy is monetized while their futures are sidelined.
The Call to Action: No More Green Lies!
We demand an immediate end to this triple-tiered deception.
1. Halt the Hazardous Hypocrisy: The EPA and Ministry of Local Government must immediately cease the dumping of hazardous appliances. Implement a national, transparent system for the safe recovery and destruction of ozone-depleting substances. Until this is done, every carbon credit sold is a certificate of fraud.
2. A Just Settlement for Indigenous Stewards: Renegotiate the carbon credit sharing agreement immediately. A 15% share is an insult. We demand a minimum of 50% of revenues to be directed to Indigenous communities, administered through their own transparent, culturally appropriate governance structures, funding real community-driven development, land titling, and cultural preservation.
3. Radical Transparency: The government must publicly disclose all contracts, audits, and revenue flows from the carbon credit scheme. The world, and the Guyanese people—especially Indigenous nations—have a right to see the ledger.
Guyana is at a precipice. It can choose to be a genuine global leader, built on justice, transparency, and real sustainability that starts at home and honors its first peoples. Or it can continue as a greenwasher and exploiter, selling snake oil to the world while trashing its own home and stealing from its rightful guardians.
The forest’s true protectors have been keeping the world’s climate stable for generations. It’s time their nation stopped betraying them—and started paying its debt.
Yours truly,
Hemdutt Kumar
