COFO 2010 and REDD+

In the afternoon on day 2 of COFO over 60 delegates gathered in the German Room to discuss the national and international developments on REDD+, from current arrangements on REDD+ to financing for REDD+ activities and beyond.

Tiina Vahanen, Senior Global Programme Officer, UN-REDD Programme, highlighted some of the current bilateral, regional and national REDD+ arrangements and financing potential for REDD+ activities. Estimated financing for REDD+ activities in the current bilateral arrangements (UN-REDD, FCPF and FIP) is approximately US$ 900 million. In addition, the REDD+ Partnership, established in Oslo in May 2010 has taken immediate action to significantly scale up funding for REDD+, with the support of its 68 country membership. Some of the take home messages are that the scale of funding is significantly larger than conventional international forest financing, and that REDD+ is an opportunity not to be missed.

Juan Manuel Torres Rojo, Director- General, National Forest Commission (CONAFOR), Government of Mexico, presented the state of Mexico’s national REDD+ strategy, explaining that to this extent activities at the local and national levels was underway. Part of this process included consultations with stakeholders and applying lessons learned from other REDD+ initiatives. He highlighted that Mexico is also working with Norway and other initiatives to strengthen capacities and share experiences in this context. For instance, in collaboration with FAO, the design of a MRV and Monitoring system is underway.  He stressed that other factors of REDD+ are also being explored such as biodiversity and co-benefits. He underscored that the meaning of REDD+ for Mexico provides an opportunity to align sectors of the economy towards the countries development goals, and an opportunity to expand the benefits of SFM, increase the value of their forests and remain competitive. Agus Sarsito, Director of International Co-operation, Ministry of Forestry, Government of Indonesia took the floor to make a presentation on the status of REDD+ in Indonesia. He expressed that Indonesia was in a difficult position to entertain so many areas of concern in the forestry sector, but that forests’ resources are a prominent asset to the sustainable development of a country and is therefore a must for Indonesia.  Indonesia applies a phased approach to REDD+ and are currently in the readiness phase, and has been working with bilateral partners and multilateral partners such as, the UN-REDD Programme, where work is already underway.

Peter Holmgren, Director of the Climate, Energy and Land Tenure division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), explained that for the first time there is a substantial economic demand for a well defined global service provided through local management of natural resources –REDD+. The key message is that REDD+ is a cross-cutting issue that addresses three major global challenges: climate change, biodiversity, and food security, and is not limited to forestry.