Mobilizing resources for REDD+ gaining momentum

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)  is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. “REDD plus” goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. A multi-billion-dollar scheme to reduce climate-changing emissions from deforestation, an initiative announced by several Parties on the margins of COP15, was given further impetus at a meeting held on March 11 in Paris involving representatives of 60 countries. The purpose of the one-day meeting was to flesh out the initiative, whereby six developed countries - Australia, Britain, France, Japan, Norway and the USA - pledged a total of USD 3.5 billion from 2010 to 2012. Under the scheme, poor tropical countries would be financially rewarded for preserving their forests, rather than chopping them down for logging or farming. More developed countries have expressed their interest in contributing. The Paris talks were the first step towards deciding how to deliver the support, which could focus on readiness and capacity-building. Questions remain on how to enforce transparency, help indigenous forest dwellers and battle corruption. The next meeting will take place in Oslo on 27 May. Further funds approved under UN REDD programme More funds have been committed under the UN REDD programme, which aims to support an increasing number of developing countries in preparing and implementing their REDD plus plans and actions. A Policy Board meeting in Nairobi from 18-19 March approved USD 4.7 million for Bolivia, USD 5.5 million for the Democratic Republic of Congo and USD 4.5 million for Zambia. There are now 22 countries engaged in the UN REDD programme following the addition of Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Sudan as observer members this year. The programme’s three donor countries are Norway, Denmark and Spain.

New grants allocated by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

The fifth Participants Committee of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), held from 22-25 March in La Lope, Gabon, recognized the high quality of the Readiness Preparation Proposals submitted by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Mexico and authorized readiness preparation grant allocations to these countries.

At the fifth Participants Committee, Germany announced it would make EUR 20 million available for the Readiness Fund in 2010, while the USA will contribute an additional USD 5 million to the Carbon Fund and approximately USD 5 million to the Readiness Fund.

The creation of the FCPF was announced by the World Bank at COP13 in Bali in December 2007 and became operational in June 2008. The FCPF has the dual objectives of building capacity for REDD in developing countries in tropical and subtropical regions, and piloting a programme of performance-based incentive payments in select countries.

Expert meeting on capacity-building for REDD

At COP 15, the secretariat was given the mandate to enhance coordination of capacity-building activities in relation to using the IPCC's guidance and guidelines as a basis for estimating forest-related greenhouse gas emissions and removals, forest carbon stocks and forest area changes. An expert meeting on capacity-building for REDD will take place from 25-26 May 2010 in Bonn as part of the activities being proposed and organized by the secretariat to fulfil this request.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol has followed in the footsteps of the UNFCCC secretariat and set up its own YouTube channel aiming to showcase CDM projects and their related benefits, explain the workings of the mechanism and offer opportunities for interaction between CDM stakeholders. The channel, which features the short-listed videos of the UNFCCC/CDM International Video Contest 2009 as well as interviews with CDM project developers, certifiers and members of the CDM Executive Board, hopes to reach out to the “digital generation.”

The first video was published on 24 March 2010, and since then the channel has been growing slowly but steadily. It now features 12 videos and aims to grow its presence and connect with CDM stakeholders worldwide.

Viewers will have the opportunity to watch the winning videos of the UNFCCC/CDM International Video Contest 2009 and find out how CDM projects are changing lives in Inner Mongolia, India, China and Brazil. They will also be able to watch interviews that were conducted during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.

In the near future, the channel is expected to harvest the full potential of the platform and display favourite videos from other users, activity streams, comments, subscribers and other social networking features.

There are now more than 2180 registered CDM projects in 64 countries. A further 2000-plus projects are already in the validation-registration pipeline. The number of projects entering validation in the first quarter of 2010 was about seven percent higher than in the final quarter of 2009, which shows that interest in the CDM remains strong.

The CDM YouTube channel can be viewed here.

At its thirtieth session held in Bonn in June 2009, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) considered the use by Parties of the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories starting in 2015. The SBSTA agreed that the process for Annex I  Parties to use the 2006 IPCC Guidelines should be through a revision of the UNFCCC Annex I reporting guidelines. This will include consideration of the methodological issues relevant to the use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. A work programme is being launched to carry out the revision of the reporting guidelines, including two workshops scheduled for 2010. The first workshop, taking place from 27-28 May at the Wissenschaftszentrum in Bonn, will address key issues relating to the revision of the Annex I reporting guidelines. The second workshop, likely to be held in the 4th quarter of 2010, will address the methodological issues relevant to the use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.

The work programme is expected to conclude in 2011 with agreement by the SBSTA at its thirty-fifth session on the revised Annex I reporting guidelines. These revised guidelines will provide a platform for the secretariat to implement associated activities pursuant to Annex I Parties' reporting obligations from 2015. These include: incorporating new reporting format tables into the reporting software used by Annex I Parties; the trial use of this reporting software by Annex I Parties; consideration by the SBSTA of the experiences in the use of this software by Annex I Parties; and a decision of the Conference of the Parties on the use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.

The SBSTA, at its thirtieth session, invited Parties to submit their views on a number of issues to the secretariat by 15 February 2010. Eight submissions were received and are compiled into a miscellaneous document for SBSTA to consider at its thirty-second session in Bonn in June 2010.

Effective implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol depends on how they are monitored. In response to this, a special, highly transparent system was created involving international experts who check how Parties to the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol implement their commitments. The increasing scope of reviews has led to a growing demand for experts.

Courses in 2010

The first of two training courses for GHG inventory review experts concluded mid-April in Bonn, with the second planned for October this year. A total of 60 new review experts, nominated by their Governments, will participate in the two training courses.

The trainees go through the materials online for one and a half months with an instructor who provides guidance and support during this period.  At the end of the instructed course, the trainees participate in a three-day seminar, where they consolidate their knowledge by going through a complete review exercise using real GHG inventory materials. The trainees also take the exams during the seminar.

How to sign up

Passing the UNFCCC training course exams is mandatory to be eligible as a review expert. Applications for the October course are being accepted now.  

Anyone interested in becoming a review expert must first be nominated to the roster of experts by their national focal point. More information on this process is available here. They will then have access to the training courses under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.   

Enthusiasm, dedication and a solid command of the English language are a must, and an inventory background is desirable. For general information on the training programme, click here.