March 2023
Dear reader,
2023 is well underway with a flurry of engagements already occurring and on the horizon. On behalf of the PROGREEN team here at the World Bank, I’m excited to be sharing some updates with you in our first newsletter of the year.
Since today is International Women’s Day, let me start by encouraging you to check out our recently published story on some PROGREEN-supported gender work. The story deep-dives into the application of the W+ Standard in Nepal.
As you may be aware, the One Forest Summit took place last week in Libreville, Gabon. Sanjay Srivastava, Practice Manager and PROGREEN champion in West Africa, attended on behalf of the World Bank and we look forward to hearing a readout from him on the week's events.
Meanwhile, members of the PROGREEN-supported UN Decades Finance Task Force took part in the Global Landscapes Forum’s 6th Investment Symposium online and in Luxembourg. Their session centered on the importance of unlocking ecosystem restoration investments. Below, you will find links to the event, in addition to a Q&A story and video with Task Force co-chair Fiona Stewart.
Looking ahead, we will soon be sharing with you the PROGREEN's FY22 Annual Report, which we expect to publish in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Tim Brown,
Program Manager, PROGREEN
World Bank
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PROGREEN in Action
Financing Ecosystem Restoration: A Growing Urgency
Enriching Women’s Livelihoods with W+ and PROGREEN in Nepal’s Forests
New Landscapes
Central African Republic
India
Past Events
Global Landscapes Forum - 6th investment case symposium
Trees, Cities, and Green Future Webinar Series
Integrating Education and Landscape Restoration for Climate Resilience in Central Asia
Unlocking solutions to finance ecosystem restoration (GLF Climate 2022)
Stay Tuned
One Forest Summit
In Case You Missed It
PROGREEN at COP15
Publications
Anchor Schools as a Model for Landscape Resilience in Central Asia
Unlocking Restoration Finance — A Stocktake Report
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Financing Ecosystem Restoration: A Growing Urgency
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The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global effort to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems around the world. As a part of this initiative, PROGREEN is supporting the World Bank's UN Decade Finance Task Force to help unlock the financing needed to restore one billion hectares of land by 2030.
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The Finance Task Force aims to build awareness of the economic benefits of restoration investments, foster political will, and support further analysis of investment opportunities. Despite the growing interest in restoration, there are still significant financing gaps due to high up-front costs and regulatory barriers. The Task Force is working to address these challenges through research, data analysis, and collaboration with public and private sectors to incorporate restoration into financial regulations and develop the biodiversity credit market.
We asked Fiona Stewart, Lead Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank, about the importance of increasing financing for ecosystem restoration and how the Task Force works to accomplish this. Check out our explainer and video interview, and hear what Fiona had to say.
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Enriching Women’s Livelihoods with W+ and PROGREEN in Nepal’s Forests
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The W+ Standard, which quantifies, verifies, and monetizes women’s empowerment results within projects and supply chains, has made great in-roads to catalyze female entrepreneurship globally. PROGREEN is supporting this innovative approach to protecting nature and bolstering resilient livelihoods. The W+ Standard measures six areas of improvement, including time savings, education, and leadership, providing a credible way for projects to demonstrate their impact and revenue generation.
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This International Women's Day, learn about the impact the W+ Standard has had on Nanu Ghatani's life in rural Nepal and its introduction in Nepal's Lumbini and Madesh provinces with support from PROGREEN.
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PROGREEN is dedicated to supporting countries with a range of knowledge activities aimed at promoting sustainable landscape solutions. Through a combination of analytical products, technical assistance, policy dialogue, and relationship building, PROGREEN works to build the case and consensus for greater ambition and scale. We are thrilled to announce that PROGREEN has recently approved two new Knowledge Activities to further our mission:
Central African Republic: Support for the update to the forest code and improved mapping for multisectoral landscape management
India: Himachal Pradesh State Strategy for Agricultural Sustainability through Environmental Risk Management
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6th Investment Case Symposium
How to scale finance for ecosystem restoration: Solutions from the private sector and development partners
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Ecosystem restoration is a key to achieving development, climate, and nature goals. Three-quarters of the Earth’s ice-free land surface and two-thirds of its marine environment have been significantly altered, and at least 20% of its land surface is now degraded, according to IPBES. This has taken a toll on nature’s ability to provide goods and services that communities and economic sectors depend on. Restoration is on the political agenda, as reflected in the Kunming–Montreal global biodiversity framework that set a target to restore at least 30% of degraded areas by 2030, but it faces a financing gap. Key barriers such as lack of data and knowledge about bankable business models involving restoration, difficulties with monetizing the benefits of restoration, perverse incentives, and lack of access to finance mean that restoration continues to rely on public funding, with minimal participation from the private sector.
This session, organized by the World Bank-led Finance Taskforce under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, highlighted some of the most promising models and financial solutions that are unlocking private investment in restoration across different sectors and ecosystems.
*NOTE: At this time, the recording is only available for registrants to the Global Landscape Forum. We will follow up with a link that is universally accessible as soon as it is made available by our partners organizing the GLF.
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Trees, Cities, and Green Future Webinar Series
January 26 & February 16, 2023
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The webinar series explores the complex interface between trees, urban environments, and sustainable future cities. A series of five thematic events held monthly provides an online knowledge exchange platform connecting policymakers, practitioners, and experts across Central Asia and the globe to advance urban forestry and greening best practices for urban land restoration and climate resilience in cities and regional development projects. By harnessing examples of best practices from cities such as Barcelona, Milan, Seoul, Melbourne, and others, the series aims to address progressive planning processes, including Master Planning for Urban Trees, novel financing mechanisms, and foundational frameworks to ensure project sustainability. Targeted to the Central Asia Region, the series also aims to connect policymakers, practitioners, and experts with new ideas and potential solutions for their challenging urban contexts.
Trees, Cities, and Green Future is part of the World Bank's flagship RESILAND CA+ Regional Landscape Restoration Program (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) that seeks to reverse land degradation and increase resilience in Central Asia.
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Integrating Education and Landscape Restoration for Climate Resilience in Central Asia
November 21, 2022
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On November 21st, 2022, this webinar launched a groundbreaking initiative under the umbrella of the RESILAND CA+ Program by the ENB and Education GPs jointly with the implementing partners: the AnchorEd organization and the University of Central Asia in Khorog, Tajikistan. The initiative, called Rural Schools and the Development of Entrepreneurship Skills Related to Natural Resources and Climate, aims to lay the foundation for sustained climate-responsive change in Central Asia — with young people at the center.
The session focused on: education as a crucial part of the effort to restore land, adapt to climate change, and empower communities; schools as sites for transformative learning that empowers youth to become agents of green change; and digital technology's role in unlocking productive solutions to critical environmental issues.
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Unlocking solutions to finance ecosystem restoration
November 22, 2022
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Speakers and participants in this session discussed the challenges and opportunities for increasing restoration finance, building on the work of the UN Decade Finance Task Force (FTF). The session provided a space to exchange promising solutions for financing, projects, and business models that served as a blueprint for replicable and scalable approaches.
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In the coming weeks, we will be circulating PROGREEN's FY22 Annual Report. Be sure to be on the lookout for it!
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PROGREEN at COP15
December 13, 2022
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Led by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and hosted at the Rio Convention Pavilion, this full-day event has supported the Decade’s rallying call aiming to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. As a broad and inclusive network of partners, the UN Decade strengthens the national commitments to the three Rio Conventions to combat biodiversity loss, climate change, and land degradation. It can help to end poverty, only succeeding if everyone plays a part.
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This edition features new publications from PROGREEN-supported work in Tajikistan and the Task Force's report:
Unlocking Restoration Finance — A Stocktake Report: The Task Force's first publication provides an overview of the current challenges and opportunities for increasing public and private investment in restoration and looks at innovative approaches to financing restoration activities. The report also lays out a draft roadmap of actions the FTF will take to overcome challenges and contribute to scaling investment in restoration.
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Photos
Header: fotostory / Shutterstock
Gender story photo by Meerim Shakirova, World Bank Nepal
Chandragiri river, Kerali - India / Shutterstock
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