Guyana and the Dominican Republic have signed a bilateral aviation sustainability agreement covering sustainable aviation fuel, CORSIA-compliant carbon units and climate finance. The September 30 agreement brings fuel decarbonization and carbon-market mechanisms into the same cooperation framework, while establishing an annual working group to coordinate implementation.
Guyana’s Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, and Miguel Amaurys Mejía Capellán, Deputy Director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), signed the Memorandum of Understanding, which took immediate effect.
The agreement focuses on the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), carbon-emissions reduction and the mobilization of climate finance. It also covers technical knowledge exchange, capacity building and the development of CORSIA-compliant Eligible Emissions Units, with both countries committing to prevent double counting of emissions reductions under the Paris Agreement.
SAF, Carbon Units and Finance Under One Framework
The agreement links several tools that address aviation emissions in different ways. SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions associated with aviation fuel, while the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA, provides a market-based mechanism addressing eligible international aviation emissions.
Under CORSIA, aircraft operators with offsetting requirements must cancel an equivalent quantity of CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units for the relevant compliance period. The programmes supplying those units are assessed against eligibility criteria approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization Council.
The Guyana-Dominican Republic agreement also identifies climate finance as a means of supporting decarbonization initiatives. However, the MoU does not announce a dedicated bilateral fund, investment amount or SAF production project. Each country will finance its own activities under the agreement, while a Joint Working Group is expected to meet annually.
Guyana Brings Carbon-Market Experience
Guyana enters the partnership with existing experience linking its forest carbon programme to the international aviation market.
In March 2026, the Guyanese government said forest carbon credits had been sold to 19 international airlines over the previous 18 months. Guyana had also received its largest issuance to date under the ART-TREES programme, amounting to approximately nine million credits.
According to the government, the credits had received the CORSIA label, making them eligible for use by airlines under the scheme. That experience gives the country a practical connection to one of the mechanisms now included in the bilateral aviation agreement.
The new MoU does not, however, establish a bilateral carbon-credit market or commit Guyanese credits to Dominican airlines. Instead, it creates a framework through which both sides can cooperate on the development of eligible units, technical capacity and environmental integrity.
Dominican Republic Advances Its SAF Roadmap
The Dominican Republic brings a different area of experience to the partnership. IDAC has already established a roadmap aimed at developing sustainable aviation fuels and other lower-carbon energy options for the aviation sector.
For 2027, the roadmap calls for work on a SAF value chain aligned with recognised sustainability standards, including testing and production. It also envisages incentives capable of creating sufficient domestic and international demand to support an alternative aviation fuel production centre in the country.
IDAC’s 2025 institutional report recorded 45% average progress on its SAF pillar. The agency reported six technical meetings of its SAF working group, work on a Dominican biofuel research and development network, and a study examining feedstocks and barriers to local SAF production. The same report recorded 33% progress on the CORSIA pillar.
The bilateral framework therefore connects two aviation decarbonization tracks already under development: Guyana’s experience with CORSIA-linked forest carbon units and the Dominican Republic’s work on SAF policy and potential production. The next stage will depend on how the annual working group translates those existing capabilities into joint technical programmes, financing opportunities and implementable projects.
