REDD+ in the Post-Copenhagen World: Recommendations for Interim Public Finance
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It is a make-it or break-it moment for REDD+ internationally. Interim REDD+ Finance over the next 3 years will be crucial. A report from IPAM, the Woods Hole Research Center, Forest Trends, Global Eco Rescue, Tropical Forest Group, and IDESAM (with additional authors from EDF, Univ Colorado, and State of California) summarizes recommendations for Interim REDD+ Finance.
The report highlights 6 main lessons and opportunities for interim REDD+ finance:
- Many components of national REDD programs can develop rapidly, but positive signals from the donor community are needed.
- Don't forget the states/provinces. They often have much of the authority over forests, are closer to stakeholders, and have moved the farthest towards compliance-grade REDD (especially within the Governors' Climate and Forest task force). REDD pilot projects are essential, but they must link into state and national REDD frameworks as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the proliferation of isolated pilots could undermine REDD.
- Private investors are interested, but holding back. Interim finance could lower the risk of private investment by securing and retiring options on future REDD payments.
- The drivers of deforestation will undo REDD successes unless they are harnessed and re-directed very soon. The roundtables give REDD+ a five year head start on building the standards and stakeholder buy-in needed to achieve international, deforestation-free supply chains.
- Indigenous peoples and local communities will need to see lasting improvements in their forest-dependent livelihoods if REDD is to work. It is a crucial time for positive signals from the donor community for national progress in recognizing territorial claims, and policy changes that address the systemic challenges to forest-dependent livelihoods.
- The local NGOs and institutes that will be needed for REDD to mature and go to scale in dozens of countries are having trouble surviving. Agile funding is needed to identify and support these budding institutions.
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