IISD-REDD

Meeting explores low emission development scenarios

Posted Thu, 05/02/2013 - 10:08 by EKahurani

By Glenn Hyman, International Center for Tropical Agriculture

Pucallpa, Peru - Last week more than 25 professionals working on issues related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions met in the city of Pucallpa, Peru to discuss low emissions development scenarios. The workshop was organized by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) and the Regional Government of Ucayali, with participation of other institutions working in sustainable development in the region. The initiative is an activity of the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins.

Group discussion during training on methodologies to estimate the costs and benefits of development, Pucallpa, PeruThe workshop was a combination of discussions on regional planning and of training in methodologies to estimate the costs and benefits of development. During the workshop’s first day, participants discussed different development scenarios, including the effects of increases in deforestation and increases in the development of certain crops. Subsequent days were used to estimate the impact of different development scenarios. Toward that end, ICRAF scientists gave training in the ABACUS software. Sonya Dewi and Degi Harja, of ICRAF’s Southeast Asia headquarters, traveled all the way from Indonesia to give instructions and how to use the software tool, as well as explaining low emissions development planning methodology. ABACUS estimates greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration from land-use change and the opportunity costs of avoiding such changes.

On the last day of the workshop, workgroups presented the results of their simulations before a group of decision-makers in the region, including Franz Orlando Tang Jara, director of the Natural Resources Department of Ucayali and Miguel Vasquez, President of the Oil Palm Roundtable, among others. A news article by Peru national REDD Group had earlier indicated that the training would benefit officials from various government ministries.

The participants produced many interesting results and many questions to be answered with future research. Finding a balance between economic development and reducing greenhouse gas emissions will have its complications and difficulties. Some projections for growth of the oil Palm industry are going to imply substantial conversion of forests simply for the lack of other available lands. The development of new transportation infrastructure may have enormous impacts and requires much more research to understand the costs and benefits of these planned developments. The ASB Partnership will publish a final report of the workshop at the end of May.

Read this article in Spanish here

Download: Landuse Planning for Low Emission Development Strategy

Guestbook

Posted Thu, 03/28/2013 - 09:59 by ASB Blog Editor

Knowledge Generation & Use

Image	Where, What	Story	More Information
	GLOBAL Output Potential Outcome	In the ten years since 1994, ASB scientists have produced more than 700 publications and other scientific products, including over 200 journal articles and more than 90 books and book chapters, and a public website. These are widely distributed through our network of partners, including to the libraries of major universities (e.g.Cornell University) and international organizations (e.g. IUCN - World Conservation Union).	§ "Success Story Details" document § List of ASB synthesis publications § ASB Publications database § ASB Website, www.asb.cgiar.org
	GLOBAL Outcome Output	ASB has achieved sustained engagement betweenscientists and "policy shapers" over the past decade, including through the ASB Policybriefs Series. Policybriefs are distributed to more than 750 readers in institutions ranging from the World Bank to the Ministry of Environment in the Netherlands to the Ministry of Agriculture in Peru.	§ "Success Story Details" Document § ASB Policybriefs series
	GLOBAL Outcome Potential Impact	The ASB matrix method was adopted as a tool for sustainable land management (SLM) by the World Bank in 2004. Bank Land Resources Advisor Eric Fernandes to Kenneth Chomitz and other Bank officials: "The ASB consortium is one of the very few groups to have tackled this problem [of assessing synergies and tradeoffs] head on and they have developed a matrix and associated methods and indicators that facilitate tradeoff analyses. What do you think about using their matrix as a jump-off point for our continued discussions on environmental services and payments against a backdrop of the key biophysical, environmental, social, economic and institutional indicators identified in their work?"	§ "Success Story Details" document § Kenneth Chomitz (personal communication, 19 March 2004) § Eric Fernandes (personal communication 18 March 2004)
	GLOBAL Outcome	The ASB Policybriefs series has been used in courses at University of California ( Berkeley), Southern Cross University ( Australia), University ofCalifornia ( Davis), Lund University ( Sweden),Cornell University, and others.	§ Chris Barrett ( CornellUniversity) § Robin Marsh (UC Berkeley, 2003) § Jerry Van Clay (Southern Cross, 2002) § Steve Vosti (UC Davis, 2003)
	SOUTHEAST ASIA Outcome	The basic article describing the ASB matrix methodology is reprinted in The Economic Development of Southeast Asia (Hal Hill, ed.,Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing). This multi-volume collection is intended to represent an element of a core collection for university libraries across Southeast Asia.	§ "Agricultural Development with Rainforest Conservation: Methods for Seeking Best Bet Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn, with Applications toBrazil and Indonesia" in The Economic Development of Southeast Asia (Hal Hill, ed.,Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing)
	AMAZON Outcome Potential Impact	ASB methodology (including the matrix) features significantly in the design of a $16 million, 7 year project being planned in Brazil through UNDP-GEFvia Pro-Natura on "Promoting Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Frontier Forests in Northwest Mato Grosso".	Andy Gillison (personal communication - 30 June 2001)
	AMAZON Outcome	The "fundamental concepts and measurements contained in [a report on Ecuador produced for IDRC] have their origins in collaborative field research done by members of the ASB" team. They were used for socioeconomic analyses ofproduction systems in Ecuador.	Final report to IDRC by Steve Vosti et al. (Summer 2004)
	SOUTHEAST ASIA Outcome Potential Impact	The consultant leading preparation for a new Asian Development Bank project on "Flood Mitigation in Selected Watersheds" approached ICRAF/ASB to make use of research on upper watersheds in the design of these projects. Meine van Noordwijk, ICRAF Regional Coordinator and ASB Regional Facilitator: "Influencing the design of large development projects.have potential multiplier effects way beyond what we can plan and achieve ourselves."	Meine van Noordwijk (personal communication, May 2004)
	AMAZON Outcome Potential Impact	The ASB Summary Report on Brazil is being used in the development of a management programme for the San Roque Lake Watershed in Brazil.	Andrew Hamilton Joseph, President, Los Algarrobos Civil Association (personal communication - 26 April 2003)
	GLOBAL Outcome	ASB has played a key role in shaping understanding of the driving forces of land use change at the tropical forest margins, which has informed debate regarding priorities and approach at the global level. This evolving understanding has influenced ASB's own scientific hypotheses, from a narrow perspective on smallholder productivity growth as the key to slowing deforestation; to a more complex understanding of the various conflicting interest groups causing deforestation and how supporting negotiation at a landscape level is more likely to lead to lasting change. ASB itself was formed as a result of an inaugural workshop held in Porto Velho, Rondonia, Brazil(February 1992) with 26 environmental policymakers and researchers. Porto Velhoparticipants brought the issue to the Rio EarthSummit later that year. They succeeded in including two crucial recommendations about shifting cultivation and tropical forest margins as part of Agenda 21. Before that, the policy debate on how to slow tropical deforestation paid little attention to the needs of slash-and-burn farmers.	§ "Success Story Details" document § ASB History document § ASB Policybrief #5 § Evolution of ASB document - TPT draft 18 January 2005 § Chapter 1 (Sanchez et al) in ASB book
	GLOBAL & SOUTHEAST ASIA Activity Outcome Impact	ASB researchers developed a cost-effective method for rapid appraisal of vascular plant biodiversity which was developed and tested at all benchmark sites. The method was designed to assess the difference in species composition, functional attributes and structure along a landuse gradient from primary forest to degraded cropland. These ASB rapid survey methods have led to major progress on biodiversity conservation inIndonesia, most tangibly playing a key role in designation of a new national park in Sumatra, covering 33,000 ha presently and planned to expand by another 120,000 ha. ASB partner Andy Gillison conducted biodiversity assessments using ASB methods in the Tesso Nilo area of Central Sumatra, Indonesia. The results were influential indeclaration of Tesso Nilo as a conservation priority area and national park in October 2003.	§ "Success Story Details" document § Contact Andy Gillison
	GLOBAL Output	ASB produces the ASB Voices series, to convey for a broad audience insights and perspectives from people's real-life experiences and challenges in the humid tropics. The idea of bringing voices from the field to a policy audience has been adopted by others now, including the Sustainable Tree Crops Programme in West and Central Africa.	§ ASB Voices § List of ASB Synthesis publications § STCP Voices
	GLOBAL Output	ASB has made seminal contributions to the evolvingintegrated natural resource management (INRM) paradigm that is characterized by a process-oriented, systems approach at multiple scales and an emphasis on measurement and scaling oftradeoffs and impacts across stakeholder groups. ASB will continue to build on and improve this innovative, integrated approach including through its contribution of a cross-cutting assessment entitled, "Forest and Agroecosystem Tradeoffs in the Humid Tropics (Tropical Forest Margins)" for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.	§ CGIAR meta-analysis hosted by World Bank (full report and thematic and working group papers) § Natural Resources Management Research in the CGIAR: A Meta-Evaluation by Christopher B. Barrett § Annex H of the EU Proposal for a graph of the INRM paradigm
	GLOBAL Outcome	Henzell Review (2000): "The Alternatives to Slash and Burn Programme has gone further than the others in relating its research sites to the whole area over which the problem occurs, and in scaling up to the global level in its findings on tradeoffs . This is very helpful for the global debate on sustainability issues."	§ CGIAR's "First Review of Systemwide Programmes with an Ecoregional Approach" (called the Henzell Review) in 2000
	GLOBAL Output Potential Outcome	ASB's contribution to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) aims to synthesize results across ASB benchmark sites at the tropical forest margins and place these results within the broader context of relevant scientific evidence. ASB was chosen as the only sub-global assessment working across regions in the tropics.	§ ASB MA Status Report § ICRAF 2 pager: "Gauging the Planet's Health: ASB part of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment" (2003-41-LA/SEA/HWA)
	GLOBAL Activity Potential Outcome	In 2003-4, ASB conducted user needs consultations through interviews in key countries to prepare the foundation for its MA contribution. It provides a solid idea of the real research questions of farmers and policy makers across the humid tropics.	ASB MA Status Report (Section on User Needs)

GLOBAL

Outcome

ASB was cited as one of only 3 examples of "Partnerships and Network Organizations Supporting Ecoagriculture", with the MA and IUCN's Sustainable Use Initiative.

Annex 7b in "Trends and Gaps in Ecoagriculture-Related Research" (2004) (Louise Buck, Thomas Gavin, DavidLee, Norman Uphoff)

GLOBAL

Output

ASB methods are making it possible to accurately and quickly assess belowground biodiversity, an approach developed by a team of scientists during the benchmark site characterization phase of ASB. The work on belowground biodiversity is the subject of a major GEF-funded project, the "Conservation and Sustainable Management of Below-Ground Biodiversity" (CSM-BGBD) Project. The project is coordinated by ASB partner, the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT).

§ Chapter in Slash and Burn book: "Belowground biodiversity assessment: The ASB Functional Group Approach"

§ ASB Project Descriptions

GLOBAL

Product

ASB researchers evaluated various tree-based systems at benchmark sites and found comparable average carbon stocks during the course of rotations. In order tocompare the potential for carbon sequestration in a system, a method was developed and validated for computation of time-averaged carbon stocks, or the average carbon stored in the system over the rotation time of the system. ASB calculations indicate that tree-based land uses sequester about 6 times more carbon that annual crops or pastures. ASB findings show that there is potential for increased C sequestration in soils through the rehabilitation of degraded pastures and grasslands, but the largest sequestration potential in the humid tropics is above-ground through the adoption of tree-based land uses.

§ ASB Climate Change working group report

§ Contact Cheryl Palm

GLOBAL Outcome	ASB's work on carbon stocks in different tropical land use systems was used as an input to theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report on Land Use, Land-use Change, and Forestry.	IPCC Special Report, Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (2000)
GLOBAL Product	ASB Peru greenhouse gas flux measurements are being used by Colorado State University to create a new version of the CENTURY gas flux model for the tropics.	ASB Peru Synthesis Report
GLOBAL Outcome	ASB mapping efforts have explored overlays between population and deforestation; agricultural land use and tropical rainforests; and other issues. These have shed new light on thescale and scope of the domain which ASB and others are dealing with.	§ ASB maps online atwww.asb.cgiar.org § Contact Kate Sebastian, IFPRI
AMAZON &SOUTHEAST ASIA Output	ASB partners are researching conditions under which coffee can be grown in shade tree systems, a more sustainable alternative to the prevailing monoculture coffee cropping in Braziland Indonesia.	ASB Project Descriptions
W&C AFRICA Potential outcome	In Cameroon, ASB partners are modeling plausible scenarios involving oil palm development in Cameroon. They will be sharing these results with policy makers to support their planning efforts.	§ ASB Video - Jean Tonye "Oil Palm Prediction Model" § Report Christopher Legg, Innocent Bakkam
AMAZON Outcome	ASB Brazil results were directly applied in agro-ecological zoning in Acre State, including the first agroforestry potential map (potential land suitability for agroforestry) for Brazil.	§ Contact Judson Valentim § Chapter in Slash-and-Burn book (J. Valentim, S. A. Vosti, 2005)
GLOBAL Outcome	Louise Jackson of University of California, Davisis consulting ASB's process documentation toguide the reformation of DIVERSITAS, an interdisciplinary international research programme on biodiversity conservation.	Louise Jackson and Steve Vosti, personal communication (September 2004)
GLOBAL & SOUTHEAST ASIA Outcome	ASB's hydrological research on watersheds inSoutheast Asia is helping debunk myths about tropical forests and water. Some specific quotes from an email about a 2005 briefing session at the World Bank: "We are getting enthusiastic reviews for the workshop: 'mind-blowing'; 'one of the best workshops I've ever attended at the Bank'; 'I learned a lot.which will certainly influence the preparation of [watershed projects].' It is clear that [the project results] are getting serious attention and are quite likely to change attitudes and practice." An earlier ASB hydrological study by Sampurno Bruijnzeel was picked up by Polex Listserver, CIFOR's forest policy expert listserver, which goes to many of the key thinkers on forest policy around the world. It referred to Bruijnzeel as "the world's leading expert on how deforestation, reforestation, and logging affect water in the tropics." World Banksenior environmental economist Gunars Platais commenting on a draft of Bruijnzeel's article "found it a great compilation and analysis of what is out there. Lots of debunking going on." He had it translated into Spanish for his work in Latin America.	§ "Success Story Details" document, which includes full email from Ken Chomitz (February 28) § World Bank BNPP Comprehensive Water Assessment § Chapters in AGEE special issue on Theme 3 Watershed Services, including: "Hydrological functions of tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the trees?" § CIFOR's Polex listserver: "Flip Flop Hydrology" (21 October 2004) § Gunars Platais (personal communication, 15 July 2003)
W & C AFRICA Output Outcome	The ASB Voices of the Future provides the perspective of younger members of rural households, especially adolescents. Cameroonian Prisca Oye's story contributed to a deeper understanding of young people's aspirations at the forest margins (leave the farm, become a teacher) and was the subject of some controversy when first released because of its implicit message that young people should have the skills and options to choose a future outside the farm.	ASB Voices of the Future series
AMAZON Outcome	ASB research (the linear programming model and other outputs) helped Embrapa analyze the potential contributions of increased rice yields to reducing deforestation, which turned out to be very low and ran counter to their expectations. Precisely the opposite happened in the context of managed forestry research, again in part due to ASB research that showed the results ofresearch on managed forestry could be beneficial in terms of poverty reduction, growth and environmental sustainability. The usefulness of these approaches has helped raise the priority of social science research in Embrapa's programmes.	§ Steve Vosti (personal communication, March 2005) § Judson Valentim (personal communication, 2003) § Chapter in Slash-and-Burn book: "Resource Use and Human Welfare at the Forest Margins of the Western Brazilian Amazon" (J. Valentim, S. A. Vosti, 2005)
SOUTHEAST ASIA & AMAZON Outcome	ASB scientists in Southeast Asia and the Amazon are breaking new ground with their understanding and appreciation of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), the understanding that local people have gained through personal experience and sometimes centuries of learning, about the natural elements and processes of their specific agro-ecosystems. LEK is complementary to scientific knowledge, and helps researchers plan and implement projects and activities more quickly and successfully than in the past.	§ 2 pager from ICRAF "Farmers' Local Ecological Knowledge" (2003-24-ES-SEA/LA) § ASB Video - Pornchai Preechapanya "Linking Local Knowledge with Science" § Concept note § Article
SOUTHEAST ASIA Product	Econometric models developed by ASB researchers to analyze the evolution ofcustomary land and tree tenure institutions inSumatra, Indonesia, demonstrated the efficiency and adaptability of these institutions.	Various publications by Suyanto, Otsuka and Tomich
SOUTHEAST ASIA & AMAZON Product	Regionally disaggregated macroeconomic models were developed to assess the impacts of major macroeconomic shocks and policy changes on land use in Brazil and Indonesia with special attention paid to the Amazon andSumatra. Land uses, including deforestation, incomes and wage rates were simulated for each region. Results suggest that major shocks in the late 1990s will have large and potentially lasting impacts on human welfare and the natural resource base.	§ Cattaneo and Nu Nu San chapter in the Slash and Burn book § IFPRI Research Report #129
AMAZON Outcome	The Tipitamba / SHIFT Project of Northeastern Amazonia promotes mulching equipment which allows for fire-free land preparation, providing an alternative to slash-and-burn. University of Bonn and Embrapa researchers replicated the ASB matrix and other methods for a site in the state of Para to undertake a broader analysis of these technologies, in particular bringing in economic analysis (purchase of equipment, returns to labour, etc.) and application of a bio-economic model adapted from one developed by ASB. ZEF News article: "The measurable social costs of slash-and-burn turned out to be lower than expected and do not call for immediate policy action.On the other hand, if this technology is adopted, due to favorable economic conditions, the environmental services of fallowing are reduced."	§ ZEF News, October 2004 "Technological innovations. Potential and Constraints: selected findings from a recently completed project on smallholder agriculture in the Eastern Amazon Region" § Contact Tatiana Sa § Contact Steve Vosti
AMAZON Outcome Potential Impact	As part of the Tipitamba / SHIFT Project in the Eastern Amazon, a study was carried out by theUniversity of Bonn and Embrapa. It shows potential for exchange among ASB partners in East and West Amazon. ZEF News article: "Technological innovations emerging in the Eastern and the Western Amazon were juxtaposed to investigate options that one region could provide to the other.Improved pasture technologies for cattle production and legume-based fallow systems [developed by ASB partners] in the Western Amazon represent alternatives for larger and capital-endowed farmers in the Eastern Amazon."	§ ZEF News, October 2004 "Technological innovations. Potential and Constraints" § Contact Tatiana Sa § Contact Judson Valentim
SOUTHEAST ASIA Output	ASB undertook biodiversity assessments of land uses on the Thai and Sumatra forest margins, and did so at a landscape scale. This has set an example for how to work at a broader environmental and social context, as well as provide the basis for decision-making in these two countries. Similar assessments have been undertaken in Peru and Brazil.	§ Thai synthesis report (draft) § Indonesia synthesis report § Chapter in AGEE special issue: "Assessing biodiversity at landscape level in Northern Thailand and Sumatra: the importance of environmental context"
SOUTHEAST ASIA Output	ASB / ICRAF's work on rubber agroforestry ("jungle rubber") in Bungo district of Indonesia is now being shared more broadly through video. By highlighting results like how productivity of jungle rubber can be improved by better planting materials, the video is able to document, disseminate and advocate these activities in a way that easily understood by the target audience of farmer and decision makers at the local level.	§ Bogor Tales Vol 3(11) "Jungle Rubber Video" § Contact Susilo Adi Kuncoro (skuncoro@cgiar.org)

Tony La Viña: Landscape approach is a stronger signal to REDD+

Posted Wed, 02/27/2013 - 10:52 by asbwww

By Elizabeth Kahurani

According to Tony La Viña, a REDD+ facilitator at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP 18) talks, a landscape approach holds potential to unlock ambiguities and uncertainties that threaten to stall implementation and scaling up of the REDD+ (Reducing emissions form Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism.

“We are looking at the new Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) process as the future frameworkPanelists at the private sector side event organized at the sidelines of COP 18 that will merge REDD+, Agriculture, Land-Use Change and Forestry into a land use approach that might make more sense with stronger signals,” Tony said while speaking at an event organized to disseminate findings of a study on engagement of private sector in REDD+ conducted by ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins at the World Agroforestry Centre (ASB-ICRAF) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The event was co-organized with The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) at the margins of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar.

Tony’s views affirm ongoing research on viable ways of Reducing Emission from All Land Uses (REALU) that is being implemented by the ASB-ICRAF. REALU is based on the premise that REDD+ is only effective to some extent as it only addresses part of the total emissions from land-use change, and implementation of the mechanism is challenged by issues to do with measurements, monitoring, unclear forest definitions, leakage, respecting local communities rights and equity.

One of the key outputs from this research that is piloting landscape approaches demonstrations sites in the Congo Basin, Latin America and Southeast Asia is a strategy on Land Use Planning for Low Emission Development (LUWES) that has been applied in Indonesia to provide a guide on multistakeholder participation and emission reduction scenarios within specific zones of a landscape, or across an entire landscape.

Indeed, from debates and future plans being discussed here at COP 18, a landscape approach seems to be the future to REDD+. With the theme Sustaining Landscapes, this will be the year when Forest Day transits from an exclusive focus on forests to encompass other land uses. “Forest Day 6 will be the last one that is organized during the UNFCCC COP. We are looking forward to building on the Forest Day experience, joining forces with a wider range of partners in agriculture and rural development, and holding a Landscape Day at the UNFCCC COP next year,” notes Peter Holmgren, Director General at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

Governments urged to mitigate REDD+ risks for private sector

At the side event, private sector actors underscored the role of governments in boosting private sector confidence by creating demand for REDD carbon credits and mitigating risk levels. “REDD investment credit cycles take long before they develop to a grade that investors want to buy. They require a lot of money and represent a huge amount of risk. We in the private sector are looking to the governments as the proxy for quality and assurance,” said Jonathan Shopley, Managing Director, The CarbonNeutral Company. Similar sentiments were echoed by Armin Sanhoevel, CEO, Allianz Climate Solutions GmbH.

Alfred Gichu, REDD+ focal point in Kenya noted that while at the international level there was need to create demand for the carbon market, the national governments need to have strategies and policies in place. A key recommendation from the private sector study was that governments should encourage collaboration with private sector, provide proper governance structure and conducive environment for REDD+ implementation.

“A conducive policy environment would be one that addresses challenges to do with land tenure and carbon ownership, legal basis for private investment as well as appropriate social and environmental safeguards,” explains Florence Bernard, Programme Assosciate at ASB Partnership who led the study on private sector engagement.

Further, she noted that the benefits of involving the private sector as part of a solution to addressing deforestation and degradation go beyond meeting the current climate-finance gap, as they can also provide technical expertise, capacity building and technological innovation. “The private sector can, be part of the solution to mitigating climate change by addressing key drivers of deforestation,” Florence said.

With the title The Private Sector in the REDD+ Supply Chain: Trends, challenges and opportunities, the new study highlights i) who are the private actors, including their areas of strength and capabilities that can be synergized to leverage on opportunities; and ii) Incentives needed to attract private sector engagement and investment at scale. These are vital steps to harnessing the potential and ability of the private sector in REDD+ efforts.

Download presentation

Read full private sector study report

Read policy brief and Press release

Watch Climate Change TV Interview here

Adopt context specific solutions to deforestation, UN climate meeting told

Posted Sat, 12/01/2012 - 21:48 by EKahurani

By Josephine Njoroge, edited by Elizabeth Kahurani

Ahead of tomorrow`s Forest Day 6 discussion forum on drivers of deforestation hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Dr Peter Minang’, a Senior Scientist and Global Coordinator of the ASB Partnership said that causes of deforestation are unique to regions and that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to ending the problem. “For instance, in Latin America, forests are lost due to establishment of cattle ranches while in Africa, smallholder farmers continue to engage in shifting cultivation. There is also a widespread trend to establish vast industrial plantations for oil palms in Asia and in other parts of the world,” Peter explained with caution that history is a poor predictor of future drivers of deforestation.

Is the window of opportunity for REDD+ closing?

Posted Sat, 12/01/2012 - 16:24 by EKahurani

By Elizabeth Kahurani

This question was the subject of discussion during a UNFCCC COP 18 side event organized by the European Union (EU) to present findings from two EU supported research programmes; i) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation through Alternative Land-uses in Rainforests of the Tropics (REDD-ALERT) and ii) Impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Stocks (I-REDD+).

The Role of the Private Sector in Climate Change Interventions

Posted Wed, 11/28/2012 - 09:32 by EKahurani

Side event – The Private Sector and REDD+: Trends, challenges and opportunities; Thursday, 29 November, 2012; 9:00 – 10:15 am; Diplomatic Club, Doha, Qatar

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Contact- (Doha, Qatar) +254 721 537 627; e.kahurani@cgiar.org

The Role of the Private Sector in Climate Change Interventions

Involving the private sector in REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) will be key to its success, says a new study by the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins at the World Agroforestry Centre (ASB-ICRAF) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Funding is a major concern in the implementation of REDD+ activities and involving the private sector will be absolutely critical to scale up investment in REDD+. It is estimated that betweenUS$17–40 billion per year is needed to realize the potential of forests to mitigate climate change. But since 2008, funding for the REDD+ mechanism has been largely in the form of public donor pledges, which fall far below this target at an approximate cumulative figure of US$7.2 billion. To mobilize funds for meeting the needs of developing countries in climate mitigation and adaptation, a decision to establish a Green Climate Fund (GCF) was made at the last Conference of the Parties (COP 17). The GCF is intended to mobilize US$100 billion annually by 2020 and has within it a “private sector facility” that targets funds from private sector sources.

Besides increasing the scale and speed at which investment needs to flow, the private sector can also make vital contributions to REDD+ initiatives through its technical expertise. In this way, the private sector can, be part of the solution to mitigating climate change by addressing key drivers of deforestation.

REDD+ is a mechanism that aims at compensating developing countries that forgo development activities that cause deforestation. It is part of global efforts to combat climate change, encompasses the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

The extent to which the private sector potential is effectively used to meet climate objectives, such as through REDD+ highly depends on i) a thorough understanding of the actors, including their areas of strength and capabilities that can be synergized to leverage on opportunities; and ii) Incentives needed to attract private sector engagement and investment at scale.

These are vital aspects explored in a new study titled The Private Sector in the REDD+ Supply Chain: Trends, challenges and opportunities. The study identified several private sector actors engaged in REDD+, including investment banks seeking future investment opportunities or to become ‘’carbon neutral’’, emission-intensive industries looking to offset carbon credits for pre-compliance/compliance, multinational firms through their voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes and for branding/image purposes, companies developing REDD+ projects, brokering firms, consulting companies offering technical expertise and capacity building and auditors, among others.

A conducive regulatory and policy environment that cushions against risk is key to moving forward on private sector engagement. “Policy clarity and certainty are critical determinants of private sector involvement in REDD+, both internationally and nationally,” explains Florence Bernard, Programme Associate at ASB-ICRAF and lead author of the study. “Governments need to make a deliberate intention to actively engage the private sector in national legislation and sectoral planning.”

Other necessary incentives for engagement involve including REDD+ in compliance markets to increase demand for REDD+ credits, ensuring clear land and carbon ownership systems, and engaging the private sector to address the fundamental drivers of deforestation. It is also crucial that the private sector’s investments are secured with performance-based payments issued directly to projects independently of national–level performance, through adequate embedding or “nesting” of projects within national level monitoring, compliance and overall accountability systems.

An in-depth discussion of these and other results from the study will be discussed at a side event organized by The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) in partnership with IISD and ASB-ICRAF at the UNFCCC COP 18 on Thursday, 29 November, 2012 at 9:00 – 10:15 am, Diplomatic Club, Doha, Qatar.

For the past three years, IISD (www.iisd.org) has partnered with the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins (www.asb.cgiar.org) at the World Agroforestry Centre (www.worldagroforestry.org) to deliver a project aimed at addressing these challenges through information sharing and research to encourage innovative thinking and the continuous improvement of REDD+ processes and strategies. The project engaged over 300 developing country experts who identified topics of importance and inputted into the policy research process. The final year of the project focused on two critical determinants of REDD+ success, namely:

Developing and implementing REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS)
Fostering effective private sector engagement in the REDD+ supply chain

Ahead of COP 18, IISD and ASB-ICRAF has released a series of publications to further explore these critical issue areas. The publications are the result of substantive research that included an extensive desk study, in-country semi-structured interviews with REDD+ experts and practitioners, and regional expert meetings.

IISD-REDD

Meeting explores low emission development scenarios

Guestbook

Knowledge Generation & Use

Tony La Viña: Landscape approach is a stronger signal to REDD+

Adopt context specific solutions to deforestation, UN climate meeting told

Is the window of opportunity for REDD+ closing?

The Role of the Private Sector in Climate Change Interventions

The Private Sector in the REDD+ Supply Chain: Trends, challenges and opportunities (Policy Brief)

The Private Sector in the REDD+ Supply Chain: Trends, challenges and opportunities (Report)

Designing Effective REDD+ Safeguard Information Systems: Building on existing systems and country experiences (Policy Brief)