Report on the Verification of Progress Related to Enabling Activities for the Guyana‐Norway REDD+ Agreement

Following the publication of a report commissioned by the Government of Norway to Rainforest Alliance to provide an independent verification of progress of enabling activities for the Guyana-Norway REDD+ agreement, Global Witness, along with Forest Management Trust, Forest Peoples Programme, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Rainforest Foundation UK and Rainforest Foundation US have sent a response to the relevant stakeholders. This outlines a number of concerns we have about the report, including:

• The report concludes with respect to some indicators that frameworks are in place and being implemented, whilst simultaneously acknowledging a lack of information on which to base an assessment.
• It presents a superficial assessment of fundamental problems relating to indigenous peoples’ rights and tenure.
• It fails to accurately diagnose problems regarding public availability of information and incorrectly equates ‘outreach’ with ‘consultation’.
• It undermines the notion of independence, by declining to either review important independent literature, or raise concerns regarding self‐censorship and anonymity of persons interviewed.

The full critique is available here