King Charles III told a Georgetown audience on Friday, October 31, that Guyana deserves to be rewarded for keeping its forests intact and safeguarding one of the world's richest stores of biodiversity.
Speaking at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre during the second Global Biodiversity Alliance conference, the British monarch called Guyana's natural heritage a treasure and held it up as proof that development and conservation can advance together, according to Guyana Times.
What King Charles said in Georgetown
The King's remarks were brief but pointed. He praised the scale of what Guyana has preserved and framed it as an achievement the international community has yet to properly value.
Here in Guyana, you have the most wonderful example of a really special treasure of natural species. You've managed to keep some enormous percentage of your forests. That is an incredible achievement and, of course, deserves to be rewarded.
He also warned that endless deforestation is destroying the natural systems humanity depends on, and that biodiversity loss feeds directly into worsening health outcomes worldwide, as Ignite News reported from the conference.
The King last visited Guyana in 2000 as Prince of Wales and became a patron of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development. His engagement with Guyana's environmental agenda has continued since, including support for the crafting of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy launched in 2009 under President Bharrat Jagdeo.
President Ali: 'We have not disappointed you'
President Dr Irfaan Ali responded by recalling a 2008 speech the then-Prince of Wales delivered in London, where Guyana's emerging LCDS was described as an innovative roadmap for national development and a model for the world.
Ali said the Prince's Rainforest Project helped Guyana and tropical forest nations push their agenda onto the international stage, and that nearly two decades of results have followed.
Your Majesty, we have not disappointed you. We have maintained our forests, pioneered international financing for forest conservation and channeled revenues into national development and thousands of projects across our country.
The President said Guyana's ambitions now extend beyond forests into biodiversity, sustainable cities and a wider relationship between people and nature.
Why the King's words matter for Guyana's economy
The royal endorsement lands at a moment when Guyana is working to convert its environmental record into hard revenue. The LCDS 2030, rolled out in 2022, sets out how the country can prepare for revenue streams from ecosystem services, including biodiversity itself, building on the original strategy's low-deforestation development model.
For a small economy carrying a global public good on its books, the principle behind the King's comments is the right one: a country that provides a service to the planet should be paid for it, not lectured about it. Guyana's forests store vast quantities of carbon at no charge to the rest of the world. Asking markets and partners to recognize that value is not charity; it is a transaction that has been too long delayed.
The alternative, which Guyana has rightly rejected, is the old model of tying environmental conditions to development finance in ways that penalize countries for growing. Conservation works best when it pays, and the LCDS has shown that market-based payments for forest services can fund schools, infrastructure and jobs without surrendering sovereignty over natural resources.
New partnerships on sustainable development
President Ali also detailed ongoing cooperation with the King's Foundation, which is supporting the Guyana Government on sustainable urban planning, heritage preservation and climate-resilient development.
Projects include the revitalization of Georgetown and a planned Village of Harmony in Moraikobai, which Ali said will bring together indigenous knowledge, traditional craft, sustainable livelihoods and the protection of nature. The President signaled he wants to expand these collaborations through the King's Foundation, the Sustainable Markets Initiative and other partnerships that mobilize investment and deliver practical results, as Guyana Chronicle also reported.
The second Global Biodiversity Alliance conference has drawn local and international conservation leaders to Georgetown, giving Guyana a stage to pitch its model of paid conservation to financiers and policymakers alike, News Room Guyana noted.
What comes next
King Charles said he looks forward to seeing how Guyana strikes the balance between development and conservation, adding that nature holds the best solutions to most problems. For Guyana, the next test is whether the goodwill voiced at the ACCC translates into financing flows, from biodiversity credits to private investment, that reward the country for what it has already chosen not to destroy.
FAQ
When did King Charles III speak in Guyana?
He delivered his remarks on Friday, October 31, 2026, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, during the second Global Biodiversity Alliance conference.
What did King Charles say about Guyana's forests?
He said Guyana has kept an enormous percentage of its forests, called it an incredible achievement, and said it deserves to be rewarded.
What is the Low-Carbon Development Strategy?
It is Guyana's plan, first launched in 2009 and expanded as LCDS 2030 in 2022, for earning revenue from keeping forests standing and preparing for new ecosystem service income such as biodiversity credits.
When did King Charles last visit Guyana?
He last visited in 2000 as Prince of Wales, when he became a patron of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development.