The latest news from the UN-REDD Programme

Greetings!

As the recently released Emissions Gap Report shows the time for climate procrastination is over. The world will miss the opportunity to limit temperatures to 1.5°C degrees if we don’t reduce emissions by 7.6% each year until 2030. Halting deforestation and scaling up reforestation are key nature-based solutions to respond to the challenge.

And forest action is gaining momentum. Last month the Green Climate Fund (GCF), at its 24 ^th Board meeting, has approved REDD+ emission reductions in Paraguay for a value of USD 72.5 million. This is the fourth results-based payment by the GCF this year, which demonstrates that investments by governments into halting deforestation through REDD+ are increasingly paying off.

To support forest action the IPCC released an update to its methodology to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and removals. This will help governments to strengthen their GHG inventory-related methodologies and practices. And in order to also ensure benefits beyond carbon a series of articles features lessons learned from Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire and Vietnam.

The UNFCCC COP25 in Madrid provides another crucial moment to further strengthen the action agenda on nature and forest-based solutions, and to agree on the guidelines for the implementation of article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

You are cordially invited to join us in Madrid for the UN System side event on SDG 15

Nature-Based Solutions on the ground:

UN support to people and landscapes

9 December, 18:30 – 20:00, Room 1, IFEMA

Season’s greetings!

PERSPECTIVES

Forests as assets

The destruction of forests for short-term economic gain is perhaps the most visible sign of humans’ contribution to climate change. We must reassess forests’ value, harnessing technology to reverse the damage we have wrought.

STORIES

Green Climate Fund approves REDD+ Emission Reductions in Paraguay for a value of USD 72.5 million for keeping its forests standing

Updating IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

In 2019, the IPCC released an update to its methodology to be used by governments to estimate their GHG emissions and removals.. The updated IPCC methodology improves the transparency and reporting process by ensuring that the methodology used to determine these inventories is based on the latest science.

How a Robust National Forest Monitoring System Can Boost Transparency under the Paris Agreement

The UN-REDD Programme has supported 40 countries in developing NFMS since its inception. This has included technical support for Satellite Land Monitoring Systems (SLMS), used for generating land-cover and land-use change information.

Ready to measure: Myanmar is designing and planning its new National Forest Inventory (NFI)

To protect the country’s natural wealth, while also fulfilling various national and international commitments such as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Myanmar is taking steps to implement REDD+ actions.

Building Consensus on Forest-Based Solutions

Two critical areas necessary to need to be beefed up to ensure forests achieve their mitigation potential: the price and quality of forest carbon.

Planning for REDD+ benefits beyond carbon

In order to ensure benefits beyond carbon, a series of articles analyses the lessons learned from country experiences such as Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire and Vietnam.

Using spatial analysis to inform planning for REDD+ benefits beyond carbon in Argentina

Argentina has experienced a significant decline in its native forest cover. To help reverse this trend, Argentina’s Congress passed the so-called “Native Forest Law” in 2007.

Why does land-use planning need to be part of deforestation-free commitments?

Lessons learned on integrated land-use planning for REDD+ are helping countries like Viet Nam move towards deforestation-free, sustainable landscapes.

Integrating REDD+ and private sector cocoa initiatives in Côte d'Ivoire: creating incentives for the private sector while meeting national forest policies

Private sector initiatives need to play a more important role in supporting national forest policy targets regarding deforestation and reforestation

Panama and Paraguay exchange knowledge on community monitoring and territorial planning

During a peer-to-peer exchange between an indigenous technician from Panama and indigenous technicians from Paraguay, experiences were shared on training processes and implementation of community monitoring of forests

Honduras Endorses a Cultural Safeguard for REDD+

Addressing indigenous and Afro-descendant traditional knowledge, intellectual property, genetic resources and fair and equitable distribution of benefits related to climate change adaptation and mitigation within the framework of Honduras’s political decision-making process.

Safeguarding Papua New Guinea’s Biodiversity

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is incredibly resource-rich with five percent of the world’s biodiversity in one percent of its surface area. Its forests are ecological goldmines yet despite the treasures they store, PNG forests are poorly known scientifically. To address this challenge, the UN-REDD Programme together with the European Union, has been supporting the country’s first-ever Multi-Purpose National Forestry Inventory (NFI) since 2014