Guyana Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

water pollution from sewage and agricultural and industrial chemicals; deforestation

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

tropical; hot, humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; two rainy seasons (May to August, November to January)

Land use

agricultural land: 8.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 6.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 77.4% (2018 est.)

other: 14.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 27.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.01% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

4.56% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 11.11 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 2.38 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.81 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 179,252 tons (2010 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 968 tons (2010 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 0.5% (2010 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Amazon (6,145,186 sq km), Orinoco (953,675 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.36 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

271 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)