A complaint by the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) which could have delayed future payments under the US$750m carbon credits scheme has been rejected, according to the Architecture for REDD+. Transactions (ART) Secretariat which nevertheless says the process has helped to clarify matters and avenues of improvement.
The APA lodged the complaint on March 8th and it was rejected on May 18th.
According to a statement from the ART Secretariat, on 8 March 2023, a letter was submitted to the ART Secretariat by the APA alleging various shortcomings in the process surrounding the issuance of TREES (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard) credits to the Government of Guyana for the 2016-2020 period. Following ART’s established complaint process, the ART Secretariat commissioned a review, which was conducted by Charlotte Young, Winrock International’s General Counsel and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer. The ART Secretariat said that. Young is not involved in the ART Secretariat’s operations, was not involved in the processes surrounding the Government of Guyana’s interactions with ART, and reports directly to the Winrock Board of Directors Audit Committee. Winrock International describes itself as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment.
The ART Secretariat said that the review, which included stakeholder interviews and a close examination of the validation and verification process, determined that ART’s processes were complied with. In fact, it found that ART had made exceptions to its process to extend the public comments period from one month to nine months to allow as many comments as possible to be included in, and evaluated as part of, the validation and verification process.
The full results of the review were published on 18th May 2023, on the ART website, together with the original letter from APA and responses from the Government of Guyana and the Chairman of the National Toshaos Council.
In conducting the review, the statement said that Winrock’s General Counsel interviewed representatives from APA, the Government of Guyana, Aster Global (the Validation and Verification Body, or VVB), and the ART Secretariat. The statement said that the review focused on the primary issue that appears throughout APA’s comments and complaints: that concerns were raised by APA, but those concerns were not heard or considered during the validation and verification process.
Carefully examined
According to the statement, the review carefully examined this process, including how stakeholder comments were addressed by the Government of Guyana, particularly those related to consultations and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for REDD+ activities, as well as how the VVB folded the comments into their audit plan as they evaluated whether the government here met the requirements of TREES. The review also provided detailed responses to relevant comments and complaints, while clarifying that many of APA’s concerns relate to disputes with the Government of Guyana that lay outside of ART’s mandate. Notably, the statement said that ART does not act as a judge or arbiter of intra-governmental disputes.
“The review concludes that the processes in ART’s TREES Standard were properly followed with respect to the issuance of carbon credits to the Government of Guyana for the 2016-2020 time-period and that, with limited exceptions, all concerns raised in the complaints were evaluated by the VVB during the 2016-2020 validation and verification. After reviewing the evidence collected in its entirety, the validation and verification process for the 2016-2020 period concluded that the Government of Guyana was in conformance with all requirements of TREES as detailed in the verification report”, the statement said.
According to the ART Secretariat, while the review concludes that ART’s processes were followed, it also outlined how the APA’s comments, as well as comments received from other stakeholders, have helped identify several ways ART can continue to improve its process, which are currently being implemented by the ART Secretariat. These include:
• Amending reporting templates for TREES Participants to ensure information is more easily
accessible to all stakeholders in the TREES Documents
• Revising VVB TREES Reporting templates to make the information on the validation and
verification process, findings related to the validation and verification, and inclusion of public
comments received more accessible to stakeholders
• Updating the ART website to enable improved access to engagement opportunities such as the
public comment periods and the complaint process
• Providing more detailed guidance on the complaint and appeal process to clarify the
principles, scope, steps and timing
• Adjusting the language for when the ART Secretariat procedurally accepts documents for posting
on the ART Registry so that posted documents do not appear to have been “approved”.
The Winrock review said that a key issue that had not been raised prior to completion of the validation and verification process for the 2016-2020 TREES credits is whether the National Toshaos Council has the authority to make decisions on behalf of Indigenous peoples in Guyana.
According to the Winrock review, in its earlier comments, the APA either stated that the
National Toshaos Council had insufficient information on which to decide or didn’t mention the National
Toshaos Council at all.
“In fact, the first verification for the 2016-2020 period did not find any concerns regarding the National Toshaos Council agreeing to the benefit sharing outlined in Guyana’s 2030 Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS 2030). This newly raised concern will be considered during the 2021 verification process”,Winrock said.
The formal complaint by the APA came three months after US oil company, Hess Corporation, purchased US$750 million worth of the jurisdictional carbon credits from Guyana in December last . The first payment of US$75 million has already been issued to Guyana but the objection by the APA could have delayed future payments.
