At the workshop, which was hosted by the Government of Japan in Tokyo between 25 and 27 June 2008, governments presented their experiences on activities to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as the lessons learned, and elaborated on the methodological challenges and possible solutions that would help move this issue forward.

“The workshop provided an excellent opportunity to identify the challenges as well as the opportunities to ensure that progress is made on this important issue,” said Ms Helen Plume, Chair of the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), who led the meeting. “Advancing our methodological work over the course of this year would help the work on policy approaches and positive incentives under the Bali Action Plan.”

The meeting helped improve the understanding of the challenges in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. It allowed for an open and constructive discussion on technical and methodological requirements related to implementing actions and assessing their results, and also identified specific issues for further work.

The workshop was part of the methodological programme of work that was agreed by Parties in Bali in December 2007. The outcome of this workshop will provide input for the AWG-LCA meeting in Accra, Ghana in August this year, and will also be reported to the twenty-ninth session of the SBSTA, which will take place in Poznan, Poland, in December.