EC Reports on EU-Funded REDD+ Projects
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4 February 2012: The European Commission has released the final report from last July’s Second EU REDD+ Projects Coordination Meeting. The meeting was convened to report on progress on EU-funded REDD+ projects, as well as to take stock and share lessons learned from the implementation of REDD+.
In addition to presentations by the Commission, the Governments of Germany and Norway, as well as by the European Forest Institute, the meeting discussed four themes: measuring REDD+ performance - monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV); land tenure and planning processes; local dialogue and stakeholder engagement; and financing sustainable land use to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation.
The meeting concluded that additional work is needed with regards to: addressing safeguards; linking climate change mitigation and adaptation through REDD+; strengthening legal frameworks and addressing corruption; and building information systems. Additional challenges identified by participants include: establishing reference levels; recognizing community land rights; recognizing social benefits from REDD+; and building a strong and stable market for REDD+ emission reductions.
Examples of successful REDD+ investment programmes were presented, including the German REDD Early Movers (REM) fund and Forest Governance Programme, and the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative and Partnership on REDD+ with Indonesia. [European Commission Press Release] [Publication: Report of the Second EU REDD+ Projects Coordination Meeting]
The 2nd EU REDD+ Projects Coordination Meeting took place in Brussels, on 3 and 4 July 2012. The meeting was organised by the European Commission, and had two main aims:
· sharing updates on EU funded REDD+ projects; and
· exchanging information and taking stock of experiences in REDD+ implementation with EU partners and other actors in the REDD+ community.
About 50 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from REDD+ projects financed under the ENRTP programme[1], staff from the European Commission, representatives from EU Member States including Norway, and REDD+ practitioners.
This final report summarises the discussions and the presentations that were given at the meeting. It also provides the results of the meeting evaluation, as well as information on the participants and the contact details of EU delegations’ REDD+ focal points. In addition, all presentations made during the meeting are provided through the links in the text and in the agenda.
The two-day meeting was structured around a number of presentations, breakout groups and plenary debates. It started with a presentation from the European Commission focusing on the importance of sharing REDD+ projects experience for informing policy, especially considering the lack of clarity at international level. The Commission also shared its perspectives on REDD+ as a joint mitigation, adaptation and development instrument. This was followed by presentations from all ENRTP-funded projects represented at the meeting on their projects’ experience and how they interact with national REDD+ processes. The first day was completed by updates on REDD+ programmes from the German international development agency GIZ and Norway, and a session on interactions and challenges between REDD+ and FLEGT opened by the European Forest Institute.
During the second day of the meeting, participants took part in regional and thematic breakout groups. The latter were structured around four topics: measuring REDD+ performance (MRV); land tenure and planning processes; local dialogue and stakeholder engagement; and financing sustainable land use to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation.
The European Commission concluded the meeting, noting that the diversity in the scope of the projects, as well as their role and contribution to the development of REDD+ nationally and internationally, is now much more evident than one year ago, when they were just launching their activities. The meeting contributed to identifying more clearly the difficulties in implementation that REDD+ projects partners are facing. Projects were encouraged to be proactive in working with other partners and processes, sharing experiences and providing feedback to the European Commission through the EU Delegations.
Get the reports here
[1] Thematic Programme of the European Union on Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources including Energy.
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