Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali told global investors on Tuesday that Guyana, often defined by its booming oil discoveries, is equally a nation “keeping the world alive” through its forests, biodiversity, and climate stewardship — urging the world to flip the script from extraction to preservation.
“We live in a world that has lost almost 60 percent of its biodiversity in the last 50 to 60 years, and yet you are talking about a country — Guyana — that has kept its biodiversity almost intact,” Ali said during the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. “If I flip the coin and ask, which is the fastest-growing economy in the world? Which country has some of the largest oil reserves discovered? Then suddenly all the investors — it is Guyana. Same country, different script.”
Ali underscored that Guyana’s story goes far beyond petroleum wealth. The country has one of the lowest deforestation rates on Earth, stores an estimated 19.5 gigatons of carbon, and maintains 89 percent forest cover — achievements that, he said, make Guyana a frontline defender in the global fight against climate change.
This year, Guyana launched the Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) in Georgetown — a worldwide partnership designed to channel financing and policy action toward protecting ecosystems. The summit, which drew more than 140 countries and organisations, produced the Georgetown Declaration, a commitment to embed biodiversity protection into development and financial decision-making.
Ali said the GBA and the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030 demonstrate how economic growth and environmental protection can coexist. Through LCDS 2030, Guyana reinvests forest-carbon revenues into renewable energy, digital connectivity, eco-tourism, and village-led projects across the hinterland.
Guyana’s pioneering 2009 agreement with Norway first monetized its forest’s climate value, earning payments for maintaining low deforestation rates. That partnership paved the way for a landmark US$750 million deal with Hess Corporation in 2022 for jurisdictional carbon credits verified under the ART-TREES standard. Since then, more than GYD 9 billion has been distributed directly to Amerindian villages for community-driven development initiatives ranging from agriculture and clean-energy systems to education and water projects.
“Everybody says climate change is a big problem, and here is a country providing the solution,” Ali said. “The same country you rush to for oil investment is also the country keeping the world alive.”