Applauding Guyana’s conservation drive, and its bold move in 2025 to the launch the Global Biodiversity Alliance, King Charles today said the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which is a national framework designed to balance economic growth and environmental sustainability, should be replicated globally.
The King delivered remarks at the 2nd Global Biodiversity Alliance Conference at the Authur Chung Conference Centre.
The British Monarch said he was pleased to return to Guyana and particularly happy to see the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, for which he is a patron, still going strong.
In addition to the Iwokrama International Centre, King Charles said he was integral to the development of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, and would like to see it replicated in other parts of the world.
“I am so pleased it is still going strong, all these years later. But also, because I assisted at the birth of the Low Carbon Development Plan, quite some years ago through my own rainforest project – then the International Sustainability Unit. And by a miracle we manage to bring all the right people together to be able to provide Guyana with the first example of how this could be done. And I only hope it could be replicated more successfully else where in the world in order to be able to tackle the enormous and existential threat we face,” King Charles said.
He said a mixed approach is needed to combat climate change, and critical to that approach is the restoration and preservation of the world’s biodiversity.
Guyana, he said, is a very good example.
“And here in Guyana you have the most wonderful example of a really special treasure of natural species, you manage to keep an enormous percentage of your forest – that’s an incredible achievement and of course deserves to be rewarded,” the King said.
President Irfaan Ali said Guyana and King Charles will build on nearly two decades of partnership in forest conservation with joint work now underway on the revitalization of Georgetown and the development of a village of harmony in Moraikobai, Region Five.
He credited the King’s long-standing support for helping the country prove its low-carbon model could work.
“Your Majesty, we have not disappointed you. Nearly two decades later, Guyana has demonstrated what is possible,” President Ali said.
The President noted that since the launch of the LCDS under the leadership of then President Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyana has kept its forests standing, and pioneered international financing for forest conservation while channeling revenues garnered into thousands of projects across the country.
The country’s ambitions are now expanding to cover biodiversity, sustainable cities, and a broader relationship between people and nature.
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