By Gaulbert Sutherland
in Oslo, Norway
Over 50 developed and developing countries, including Guyana, will gather in Oslo, Norway today to establish a global partnership that could fast-track money for developing countries which reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide fuel global warming and preserving forests which trap the gas is seen as a crucial element to containing climate change. However, developing countries, which contain much of the world’s remaining untouched forests, have complained that money from rich countries is slow to come. The one-day Oslo Climate and Forest Conference (CFC) seeks agreement on an informal, non-legally binding partnership on REDD within which the partners may develop and undertake REDD+ efforts. President Bharrat Jagdeo is expected to be at the meeting and Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy is to be highlighted in the backdrop of Norway’s US$250m forest protection commitment to this country.
According to documents made available, the partnership will see shared goals set, a coordinating institution for the partnership designated, commitments to actions and financing made, guidelines agreed, and a framework for transparency and coordination set up. “By establishing the first adequately funded, global, sector wide, transparent and coordinated fast start climate change partnership, the conference could signal a new era in global climate change efforts”, the document says.
It adds that while deep, sustained cuts in developed country emissions are urgent and necessary, REDD+ is indispensable if global warming is to be limited to two degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels. REDD+ also has significant benefits for biodiversity, climate commitments change adaptation and livelihoods. In the United Nations Framework Conven-tion on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations, countries are working towards a comprehensive, legally binding, global agreement to tackle climate change.
Significant progress on REDD+ has been achieved in those negotiations, and the ultimate goal remains a UNFCCC REDD+ mechanism. In this light, the purpose of the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference is to help get effective, transparent and coordinated fast start action on REDD+ started while UNFCCC negotiations continue.
Officials from the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment at a reception for foreign journalists in the Norwegian capital last evening explained that “very significant” commitments have been made (see story on page 4) and “a set of robust principles” have been agreed to.
The global REDD+ partnership will incorporate new and existing REDD+ efforts into one coherent framework. The framework could consist of a set of shared goals, an improved institutional architecture, commitments to actions and financing, alignment around shared guidelines, and concrete measures to improve transparency and coordination. The shared goals include implementing REDD+ within the framework of sustainable development strategies, focusing on the preservation of biodiversity, and with broad stakeholder participation, including that of indigenous peoples and local communities. “Trees are more than sticks of carbon. The partnership approach to REDD+ should reflect that fact”, the document says. Another goal speaks to the more effective use of fast-start funds. “The partners would collectively work to ensure that available funding is leveraged in an effective manner. Funding should match actions, commitments and absorptive capacity. Measures to simplify access to funding should be considered without compromising needed fiduciary, environmental and social safeguards.”
Addressing the effective implementation of safeguards, it says that the partners could commit to effective implementation of safeguards, building on existing guidelines in bilateral and multilateral efforts, adhering to the spirit of the draft UNFCCC LCA text, and working together to continuously improve the social and environmental integrity of REDD+ efforts.
The other goals address the alignment around medium and long term REDD+ aspirations and improved visibility on future financing and commitments and learning lessons, establishing best practices and rapidly feed those into the UNFCCC process.
The document says that targeted modifications to the international REDD+ institutional architecture could be agreed to increase its effectiveness.
A coordinating institution could be designated and would be open to REDD+ partners and have a country-run governance structure served by a dedicated secretariat. Other multilateral initiatives could have their briefs adjusted to leverage their comparative advantages to support the REDD+ partnership to the fullest possible extent.
“Improved coordination and full transparency will be crucial to the success of the REDD+ partnership. For this purpose, countries could commit to the establishment of a voluntary REDD+ coordination database, into which they would submit all significant information on their REDD+ financing, actions and results. The database should be open to the public, and could be developed and maintained by the coordinating institution mentioned in collaboration with other key multilateral REDD+ initiatives. This would provide the transparency needed to identify funding gaps and overlaps as well as possible synergies”, the document states.
It pointed out that commitments – from developing countries for actions and results, from developed countries for financing and other assistance – would be at the heart of the partnership. It says that the partnership should be based on a set of shared guidelines. “Care should be taken, however, to avoid pre-empting the UNFCCC negotiations in the establishment of standards and principles.
The partners could build on the broad agreement already emerging under the UNFCCC as well as principles established in existing REDD+ initiatives. In sum this would contribute to ensuring environmental integrity, the participation of indigenous peoples and other local communities and the safeguarding of biodiversity and human rights. A civil society advisory board to the partnership’s coordinating institution could help facilitate this”, the document says.
“The crucial success factor of REDD+ will be the ability to establish a partnership culture, a willingness to work together under uncertainty towards shared goals. Developing countries must over time be assured that they will receive adequate, sustainable and predictable funding when they deliver verified results. Developed countries must be assured that they get value for money.
While the rule-set for this larger global effort must be agreed under the UNFCCC negotiations, the underlying trust could be strengthened through collaborative fast-start action it adds.
It pointed out that the importance of the Oslo CFC is to establish the framework within which this partnership can develop. “A REDD+ partnership is not the whole answer to the climate change challenge, but it is a significant part of the answer. And by showing that such a partnership can be established, the countries meeting in Oslo could provide inspiration for similar sectoral efforts, bringing us closer to success in the battle against climate change”, the document emphasized.
