Expectations for REDD+ at this year's global climate change meeting:
An interview with Josefina Brana-Varela, WWF Forest and Climate Programme Policy Director
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As the world prepares for the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC-COP 19) in Warsaw, Poland this November, Josefina Brana-Varela, Policy Director for WWF's Forest and Climate Programme reflects on the potential challenges and critical next steps for REDD+ at this pivotal point.
UNFCCC intercessional meetings were held in Bonn, in June, where does REDD+ stand now?
Coming out of Bonn, we have three negotiation tracks. The discussions under the joint UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)/ Subsidiary Body for Implementation (STI) process could not start in Bonn because the SBI agenda was not adopted. However, discussions under SBSTA moved forward quite a lot, and we actually had some workshops on the COP work programme on finance as well.
In Bonn, the parties produced three REDD+-related decisions that will be forwarded for adoption by parties at the global climate change meeting in Warsaw, including one on national forest monitoring systems, a second related to the time and frequency of the presentation of the summary of information on safeguards, and the third on drivers of deforestation. The discussions on the ways and means to deliver results based payments and about the financial architecture also advanced.
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Greetings! Thank you for subscribing to CANOPY. In this issue, we present two timely interviews with REDD+ experts. The first is with WWF's director of forest and climate policy, Josefina Brana-Varela, who discusses expectations for REDD+ at the upcoming global climate change meeting in Warsaw. In addition, we speak with Pablo Gutman, new leader of WWF's international Forest and Climate Programme about the value of REDD+ as a conservation tool, which WWF can use to achieve its strategic objectives. In addition, we bring you the latest REDD+ news, learning tools and information from WWF's Forest and Climate team. |
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Online REDD+ Community Reaches Six-Month Mark, Continues to Grow
REDD+ Community, the free and open online community and learning platform, has reached the six-month mark and continues to grow as a vibrant resource for REDD+ practitioners around the world.
Launched in April by WWF's Forest and Climate Programme, the community hosts more than 550 members with diverse interests, skills and from more than 50 countries. REDD+ knowledge is shared through lively member discussions and posted lessons learned, event information, publications, technical tools, news, images and videos. In addition to the MRV community of practice on the site, a new Terrestrial Carbon Accounting community of practice has also launched.
JOIN>
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Online REDD+ Courses boosted by WWF REDD+ case studies
The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Rainforest Alliance and WWF have launched updated versions of three self-paced, free, online courses on climate change and REDD+. As part of the update to these courses, new WWF REDD+ case studies,
Inspiring Practices, have been included to introduce course participants to real-life REDD+ experiences and lessons learned.
LEARN MORE AND REGISTER>
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Carbon Map and Model Project launched in support of REDD+ initiatives in DRC
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially launched its Carbon Map and Model Project, a €6-million programme designed to support forest monitoring initiatives and the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in ways that benefit local livelihoods.
The project will support REDD+ demonstration activities, along with a quantitative assessment of carbon stocks and emissions in the largest forest of the Congo Basin by providing a national forest carbon map. In addition, WWF will evaluate and develop selected REDD+ mitigation activities in the soon-to-be-established Mai-Ndombe province.
These activities will form a crucial component of the jurisdictional REDD+ programme being proposed by the DRC. At stake are US$60 million in payments from what could soon become the largest forest emissions reduction programme in Africa--currently under approval review by the Carbon Fund of the World-Bank-managed Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
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NEW
Learning Session 15: REDD+ and Biodiversity Conservation
In this learning session, Matea Osti, Programme Officer for Climate Change and Biodiversity at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, will discuss the interplay of REDD+ and biodiversity conservation on behalf of the UN-REDD Programme.
A Q+A session will follow the presentation.
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ARCHIVE
Learning Session 14: A Framework for Defining and Monitoring Forest Degradation
Dr. Ian Thompson, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, discusses his recent co-authored publication, An Operational Framework for Defining and Monitoring Forest Degradation.
This presentation helps REDD+ practitioners, and those working on MRV in particular, learn more about the importance of also measuring degradation against baseline conditions, and highlights five basic criteria that relate to the drivers of degradation, loss of ecosystem services, and sustainable management. The key indicators include: productivity, biodiversity, unusual disturbances, protective functions, and carbon storage, and several indicators for each are proposed.
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ARCHIVE Learning Session 13: Implementing REDD+ at a National Scale
Peter Iversen discusses complications of and potential solutions for implementing REDD+ at a national scale. His presentation covers some of the issues countries and project developers should be aware of in order to avoid REDD+ projects becoming barriers for moving to national level REDD+ implementation. This is based on his 10 years of experience in the UNFCCC process as a negotiator and his work in Cambodia for the UN-REDD programme.
VIEW WEBINAR PRESENTATION>
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Pablo Gutman
INTERVIEW: Pablo Gutman, recently appointed Leader of WWF's global Forest and Climate Programme, answers key questions about his new role, and the opportunities that REDD+ brings to conservation and development.
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African forest elephant
Endangered African forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis)are found in the equatorial forests of central and western Africa, increasingly pushed onto fragmented land due to deforestation. Without conservation actions, forest elephants may become locally extinct in some parts of Africa within 50 years. WWF's Forest and Climate Programme is working with colleagues from WWF-DRC to conserve and manage critical forest habitat as part of WWF's efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
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NEW EDITION: WWF Guide to Building REDD+ Strategies
This updated guide provides REDD+ practitioners with the information they need to develop national and subnational REDD+ strategies. The new version features additional chapters on stakeholder engagement and REDD+ registries, new REDD+ country profiles, an expanded glossary and an updated resource section.
New edition available from October 20th
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Building REDD+ for People and Nature
This report looks back on three years of WWF's Norad-supported REDD+ work across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Peru and links lessons learned with a new vision for REDD+.
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REDD+ Inspiring Practice: Developing an ER-PIN in the Democratic Republic of Congo
This Inspiring Practice follows the development of an emissions reduction programme idea note (ER-PIN) for a large-scale jurisdictional REDD+ programme across the future Mai-Ndombe Province of the DRC. The process involved diverse stakeholders, including members of the central government, provincial government officials, private sector representatives and members of national and international civil society organizations.
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Environmental service incentives in the state of Acre, Brazil: Lessons for policies, programmes and strategies for jurisdiction-wide REDD+
The Brazilian state of Acre in the Amazon -- home to the Sky Rainforest Rescue project -- is considered a leader in the field of REDD+ at the state-level. Acre's law that created the Environmental Service Incentives System (SISA in Portuguese), sets out a framework for valuing a range of ecosystem services. Its REDD+ programme, ISA Carbon, is the most developed component of the SISA to date.
This WWF report analyzes the design and construction of ISA Carbon and identifies strengths and challenges. It aims to provide insights for the further development and implementation of SISA as well as identifying relevant lessons for the design of other national and subnational REDD+ mechanisms around the world.
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Anti-Corruption for REDD+ (UN-REDD)
This video produced by the UN-REDD Programme demonstrates the importance of transparency and accountability to the success of REDD+. It seeks to raise awareness and encourage collaboration among anti-corruption practitioners, climate change/REDD+ experts, civil society and private sector partners.
WATCH>
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Suriname REDD+ process 2012/2013
This video illustrates the process in Suriname to develop a REDD+ Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP). It also highlights Suriname's "We are the forest and the forest is us" slogan, and its efforts to preserve the country's 94% forest coverage through a multi-stakeholder process that includes indigenous peoples, government, institutions and NGOs.
WATCH>
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REDD+ in Ghana: Promoting a pro-poor approach (IUCN)
This documentary produced by the IUCN highlights how Ghana's efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) are addressing climate change and the needs of the poor.
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WWF's international Forest and Climate Programme is working to ensure that:
Conservation of tropical forests as carbon stores is secured by green economic development that benefits people, the climate and biodiversity in transformational ways.
panda.org/forestclimate
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Subscribe to the REDD+ Resources Digest, a weekly email alert of news, journal articles, publications, REDD+ technical tools, etc. from sources around the globe.
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785,000 ha Zimbabwe REDD+ Project Approved by VCS and CCBA
In Zimbabwe, the Kariba REDD+ Project is using carbon finance to protect 785,000 hectares of an important forest that connects four national parks, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site Mana Pools, and several game reserves. Carbon credits from this project certified under Verified Carbon Standard and CCB Standards Gold Level are now available.
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Poland outlines ambitions
for 2013 UN climate summit
Establishing a pathway to a global emissions reduction deal in 2015 will be the priority for the Polish Presidency at this year's UN climate talks being held November 11-22. Other goals include exploring a pilot phase of new market-based mechanisms for emission reduction and clarifying financial commitments from 2013-2020 and post 2020. The organizers say they also want to end the summit with decisions on reducing emissions from forest degradation (REDD), land use and agriculture.
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Ethiopia and Norway sign REDD+agreement
Ethiopia and Norway signed a REDD+ Partnership agreement to support Ethiopia's forest sector and Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Strategy. Agriculture State Minister, Sileshi Getahun and Norwegian Ambassador to Ethiopia Oddlnge Kvalheim signed the agreement.
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Credits from first African government-backed REDD+ project go on sale
Carbon credits generated from protecting thousands of hectares of endangered rainforest in northeastern Madagascar have now been certified for sale in a government-backed REDD+ project.
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AfDB approves US$21.5m funding for climate change mitigation project in DRC
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a US $21.50-million Forest Investment Program grant to finance climate change mitigation activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project's goal is to facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as well as help to reduce poverty.
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Indonesia establishes REDD+ agency to tackle deforestation
Indonesia's REDD+ agency, established by a decree from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is a ministry-level body that will coordinate a national REDD+ strategy between various ministries that influence and control land-use policy across the sprawling archipelago. The agency will also oversee the measuring, reporting and verification of emissions reductions as part of a billion dollar agreement signed with Norway in 2010. Norway is compensating Indonesia on a performance-basis for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.
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World Bank to buy U$63m in Costa Rican forest carbon credits
The World Bank's Carbon Fund signed a deal in September with the government of Costa Rica to buy up to $63 million worth of forest-based carbon credits, the bank said. The agreement will allow the Central American country to expand a local programme that pays landowners for conserving forests to an additional area of 340,000 hectares.
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Amazon rainforest tribe sells REDD+ credits to Brazilian cosmetics giant
The Paiter-Suru� is a rainforest tribe that in June became the first indigenous group to generate REDD+ credits under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The tribe has now closed its first deal of REDD+ credits. As reported by Ecosystem Marketplace, Brazilian cosmetics giant Natura Cosm�ticos has purchased 120,000 tons of carbon offsets from the Surui Forest Carbon Project in Rond�nia, Brazil.
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DRC REDD+ Knowledge Sharing Benefits COMIFAC Countries
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) released a report on progress in the implementation of the project "Sharing of experience among COMIFAC Countries on REDD+: Pilot Projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)". The report highlights an exchange trip held from 11-17 August 2013, during which participants from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon gathered lessons learned and experiences from REDD+ practitioners in the DRC. The objective of the initiative was to exchange experiences and stimulate learning, share information relevant to international negotiations on REDD+, and build capacity of REDD+ technical experts.
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Technical staff from Bolivian environmental agencies visit Acre, Brazil to exchange integrated land and forest management experiences
WWF offices in Bolivia and Brazil, with support from WWF-UK and the WWF Living Amazon Initiative, have been instrumental in bringing authorities from Acre and Bolivia together to discuss common areas of concern and potential for future cooperation on the issue of land and forest management. This exchange of experiences with experts from the state of Acre came at a critical moment, as Bolivia is currently developing its version of REDD+, known as the Joint Mechanism for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change. In addition, Bolivia is seeking to implement its policy on integrated land and forest management.
MORE>
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8-11 OCTOBER 2013
PALANGKARAYA, INDONESIA
REDD+ PARTNERSHIP MEETING
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15-18 OCTOBER 2013
ARUSHA, TANZANIA
AFRICA CLIMATE CONFERENCE 2013
DETAILS>
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21-22 OCTOBER 2013
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
THIRD GLOBAL GREEN GROWTH FORUM
DETAILS>
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29-30 OCTOBER 2013
OSLO, NORWAY
OSLO REDD+ EXCHANGE
DETAILS>
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5-7 NOVEMBER 2013
WASHINGTON, DC
45th GEF COUNCIL MEETING
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11-22 NOVEMBER 2013
WARSAW, POLAND
UNFCCC COP 19
DETAILS>
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16-17 NOVEMBER 2013
WARSAW, POLAND
GLOBAL LANDSCAPES FORUM
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9-13 DECEMBER 2013
ROVANIEMI, FINLAND
EUROPEAN FOREST WEEK
DETAILS>
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7-11 OCTOBER 2013
BOGOR, INDONESIA
CIFOR ANNUAL MEETING
DETAILS>
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VIEWPOINTS
On the sale of REDD+ credits by the Paiter-Suru� tribe of Brazil to Natura Cosm�ticos:
"REDD+ is a bridge between the indigenous world and the non-indigenous world, so it's an appropriate way to begin this process. It creates a vehicle through which the capitalist system can recognize the value of standing forests, and indigenous people can be rewarded for preserving them. Until now, companies have looked at rainforest preservation as something they do to be nice, or as philanthropy. Natura recognizes that carbon neutrality isn't just a gesture, it's an obligation, and it's one we all have. REDD+ makes it possible for companies to meet that obligation, and for us to become providers of an ecosystem service."
-- Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, of the Paiter-Suru� tribe.
On the UNFCCC REDD+ Process:
"If parties can manage to finalize the methodological package at this year's global climate change meeting, it will send a very strong message that we can work together in a multilateral setting to win the battle against climate change."
-- Josefina Brana-Varela, Policy Director, WWF Forest and Climate Programme
On the conservation opportunities of REDD+:
"REDD+ has brought unparalleled attention, interest and focus to forest conservation. We need to seize this chance to protect forests on a global scale while collaborating with people who live in and depend on the forest for their livelihoods. I think we can do this, but we have a very clear window of opportunity -- from today until 2015 and from 2015 until 2020 -- to do this important work. If we don't do it now, we may not get the chance again for generations."
-- Pablo Gutman, Leader, WWF Forest and Climate Programme
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Pablo GutmanFCP LeaderEmail
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Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell FCP Director of CommunicationsEmail
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