New funds to protect the climate through forest conservation

Washington – In a sign of strong support for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through forest conservation, Germany has committed an additional EUR 30 million to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development signed the agreement, which makes Germany the biggest donor to the Facility, with total commitments of EUR 84 million (approximately USD 110 million).

“Germany supports countries that actively and through their own efforts are taking this path towards climate protection. The FCPF is such an important instrument, because developing countries, donor countries, private business, indigenous peoples and civil society organizations cooperate on designing solutions for the protection of forests,” said Mr. Dirk Niebel, Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Germany.

The FCPF, which was established following the G8 meetings in Heiligendamm, Germany in 2007, is a global partnership dedicated to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

This important inflow of funds to FCPF follows last weeks climate change negotiations in South Africa where nations agreed on a number of technical rules related to REDD+ implementation and also initiated a discussion on the role of the private sector in REDD+. The meetings demonstrated that despite the current financial crisis, climate change, forests and biodiversity remain high on the international agenda.

To respond to forest country needs, the size of the Readiness Fund and Carbon Fund of the FCPF has been expanded to $300 million and $350 million, respectively. This expansion will enable the private sector and governments to contribute additional resources to the two funds.