REDD-PLUS

The Irish Parliament is calling on the EU to agree that the country can used forest carbon sinks to offset its non-Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) emissions.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as part of the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme), is developing a project to systematically analyze literature on methods used to measure and assess terrestrial carbon stocks, using an evidence-based approach.

I had indicated in last week’s column that I would treat with three particular aspects of global climate funding (aid) as I wrap up for now, my analysis of the LCDS, the Guyana – Norway Agreement and associated arrangements, as well as several environmental topics related to global warming and climate change. The first of these aspects (the likely impact of the current global financial and economic situation on the flow of climate funds from the global North to the poor countries of the South, particularly the poor rainforest ones) was considered last week.

22 July 2010  | In the March edition of SinergiA, a quarterly newsletter on environmental services in Latin America, Jacob Olander, Director of The Katoomba Ecosystem Services Incubator (a project of Ecosystem Marketplace publisher Forest Trends), takes a long, hard look at the future of REDD projects.

13 July 2010: The High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, co-chaired by Prime Ministers Meles Zenawi (Ethiopia) and Jens Stoltenberg (Norway), held its second meeting on 12-13 July 2010, in New York, US.

The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme) is a collaboration between FAO, UNDP and UNEP. A multi-donor trust fund was established in July 2008 that allows donors to pool resources and provides funding to activities towards this programme.

The fund into which Norway is to funnel forest protection money is to be set up by the end of this month after which Oslo will deliver its first tranche of US$30M.

In May 2010, Norway agreed to contribute up to $1 billion towards reducing deforestation and forest degradation and loss of peatland in Indonesia, which now account for more than 80 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The “Letter of Intent” is a promising first step, yet the two countries must still settle key details of the agreement. Below is WRI’s analysis of the Letter of Intent and recommendations for what should be addressed next.

As international policy frameworks and pledges of billions of dollars move REDD+ forward, many observers remain concerned over how to ensure the lofty promises being made for global forest conservation will actually provide broader social and environmental benefits. The issue of safeguards took center stage this week in Washington, DC through a day-long forum of REDD+ policymakers, practitioners, and observers.

In order for REDD+ to be successful in halting deforestation in developing countries, carbon finance incentives will need to be delivered through smaller scale channels as well as big national bureacracies, The Nature Conservancy argues. To this end, the Nature Conservancy has issued a report, ‘A Nested Approach to REDD+’, proposing ways that REDD+ forest carbon projects and programmes at the smaller end of the scale could operate within big national schemes.

The UN-REDD Programme looks at why good governance is essential to the success of REDD+, and highlights the steps the Programme will be taking to support governance activities in countries.

President Bharrat Jagdeo on Monday implored donors not to “obsess” with capacity building before releasing funds as this would hinder development efforts.

He made the appeal, as he again signalled his displeasure that donors are slow to release money for forest protection efforts. “You have a duty to ensure that endless discussions don’t slow this down”, he told representatives of countries participating in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) at a reception for them at the Princess Hotel on Monday evening.