Topic: indigenous people

Coming Soon: Global Forest Watch 2.0

James Anderson — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:03:32 -0500

Welcome to the home of Global Forest Watch 2.0, a powerful near real-time forest monitoring system that unites satellite technology, data sharing, and human networks around the world to fight deforestation.

GFW 2.0 is currently under development, and will launch in late 2013.

Read more below, and email gfw2@wri.org to participate in the pilot testing period or be notified when GFW 2.0 launches. Please note that as we prepare for the launch, the original Global Forest Watch website has been redirected to this page.

Watch a Short Preview of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the UN Forum on Forests 10, in Istanbul.

Watch the full version here

Speakers:

Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Forestry, Indonesia
Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute

Photo by David Gilbert

WHY FORESTS, WHY NOW?

Forests provide food jobs, raw materials, climate benefits and more. But without clear, up-to-date information, governments, companies and communities lack the tools to monitor and manage these resources.

We can track a company’s financial information daily, but information about forests is often years out of date.

Deforestation continues today in part because by the time satellite images are available, analyzed, and shared, the forest clearing is long done. The illegal loggers have moved on; cattle are already grazing amidst stumps; the oil palm plantation has been established. We simply find out too late.

New technologies can overcome these challenges

Fortunately, a convergence of technologies and human networks offers the ability to address these challenges for the first time:

Advances in satellite and remote sensing technology, including the launch of NASA’s Landsat 8 in early 2013, and new private systems, enable higher spatial resolution analysis and much more rapid updates of information. This has enabled the development of near-real-time forest cover change detection.
Brazilian partner IMAZON, is making its Amazon Alert System available through GFW 2.0, and also the DETER system which is innovating in detection of forest degradation. Brazil has seen a remarkable drop in deforestation in the Amazon of almost 80 percent partly due to improved linked to more effective use of satellite imagery.
Cloud computing and open source software can now be used to rapidly process and interpret large volumes of satellite data at low cost by utilizing clusters of servers scattered around the world. Google Earth Engine’s team is partnered with Global Forest Watch 2.0 to optimize easy access to cloud computing-based forest cover information.
High speed internet connectivity enables sending data and forest maps processed in North America, Europe, or Singapore to laptops and mobile phones in Jakarta, Kinshasa, Lima, Vladivostok, and other corners of the globe.
Smartphones are more common than ever and can be used by anyone in the field to download maps and satellite images, as well as upload GPS coordinates and photographs from the ground.
Crowdsourcing using simple web interfaces can empower thousands if not millions of people to gather and share information, participate in forest monitoring, and hold decision-makers accountable. • Social media outlets are creating a flat, networked world in which information travels fast, communities self-organize, and people get mobilized.

ABOUT GLOBAL FOREST WATCH 2.0

These enhanced technologies and social movements are the foundation for Global Forest Watch 2.0. GFW 2.0 will unite a near-real-time deforestation alert system, complementary satellite imagery and monitoring systems, WRI’s data-rich collection of maps, mobile technology, and a networked world to create never-before-possible transparency for faraway forests.

The platform is currently under development, and will be launched in late 2013.

This powerful new platform will enable responsible companies, NGOs, the media, and progressive government leaders to hold those responsible accountable for forest management.

GFW 2.0 can be useful to multiple groups of users involved with the sustainable management of forests:

Buyers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will enable buyers of sustainably sourced commodities―such as certified timber, palm oil, soya, and beef―to confirm adherence to or violations of supplier commitments to “no deforestation,” “no clearing of high conservation value forest,” and related criteria.
Suppliers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will help suppliers of sustainable commodities prove to buyers, investors, governments, and NGOs that their commodities are adhering to best forest management practices, national laws, criteria of the relevant commodity roundtables, or investor lending conditions.
Governments. GFW 2.0 is designed to help progressive elements in governments better enforce sustainable forest management and forest protection laws. GFW 2.0 is also designed to be a trusted, independent, and user-friendly way to help investors in REDD+ and other forest conservation projects monitor performance and hold countries accountable to their commitments on greenhouse gas emission reductions and forest conservation.
Conservation and community organizations. GFW 2.0 will enable NGOs dedicated to forest conservation, indigenous rights, and forest communities to identify deforestation hotspots as they arise and quickly mobilize action to curtail further clearing.
The media. GFW 2.0 will enable local, national, and international media to ring the alarm bell on deforestation hotspots around the globe at a pace never-before-possible, and thereby put pressure on governments, companies, and others to curtail forest conversion and illegal logging in time

Applying new technology

GFW 2.0 combines satellites, new algorithms, cloud computing, mobile phone technologies, and WRI databases to connect images, maps, photos, and data with forest clearing alerts ultimately within two weeks of significant deforestation occurring.

Because GFW 2.0 will be powered by Google Earth Engine and Earth Builder, it will bring to target users a seamless experience of the best technology offered by WRI, Google, and their partners, as Bloomberg does for the world’s vast, complex array of financial information.

Mobilizing human networks

GFW 2.0 will mobilize networks of people to ensure sustainable management of forests and greater forest conservation. Global Forest Watch “anchor” NGOs in each priority country or region, will actively use and contribute content in an open-source, network model.

These groups will include ScanEx and its non-profit affiliate Transparent World in Russia, Imazon in Brazil and their Amazon-wide network of partners across the seven neighboring countries, the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) which covers the Central Africa region. More partners in Canada, China, Europe, and the United States are joining every day.

Watch a Sneak Peek of GFW 2.0 presented at Rio+20

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Carlos Souza Jr., Senior Researcher, IMAZON
Charles Barber, Forest Division Chief, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, U.S. Department of State
Rebecca Moore, Google
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch UNEP’s press conference featuring GFW 2.0 at COP18 in Doha

Speakers:

Mr. Heru Prasetyo, Deputy I, Presidential Delivery Unit on Development Monitoring and Oversight, Government of Indonesia
Tim Christophersen, Senior Programme Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Jane Feehan, Natural Resources Specialist, European Investment Bank
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch a Sneak Peek of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the U.S. Pavilion, COP18 in Doha

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Nigel Sizer, Director, Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute
Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi, Head of REDD+ Task Force Working Group on Moratorium Monitoring, Presidential Work Unit on Monitoring and Development Oversight (UKP4), Government of Indonesia
Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, Director, International Climate and Forest Initiative, Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, Government of Norway
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Read more about WRI’s forest work here.

Ocean Inspiration: Carrying on the Legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Lauren Zelin — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:07:58 -0400

A conversation with Céline Cousteau.

On May 18, Céline Cousteau will host Ocean Inspiration, a cocktail reception and fundraiser to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, in New York City at The Sea Grille. The World Resources Institute sat down with Céline to talk about her grandfather, his legacy and what inspired her to become an ocean advocate.

To purchase tickets visit www.wri.org/oceaninspiration

WRI: Tell us about Ocean Inspiration and why you’re hosting this event.

Céline Cousteau: My grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, would have turned 100 last June. As his 100th anniversary was coming up, people kept asking if the family was doing something to celebrate. Having traveled all around the world, I kept hearing people say “your grandfather inspired me to start diving” or “I got interested in ocean conservation because of him.” There’s this incredible uniting force that one person has the capacity to generate, and I want to give an opportunity to celebrate and reward those who care deeply about this cause and deserve recognition.

The goal of Ocean Inspiration is to honor Jacques Cousteau on his 100th anniversary by recognizing people who are ocean advocates in so many different forms – scientists, filmmakers, dancers, jewelers, designers, musicians and more.

I really enjoy meeting people who are problem solvers, everyday heroes who might not get public recognition because they are out there doing amazing work day in and day out without the means to get their stories told. It motivates me to help them get the attention they deserve and the resources they need to move their projects forward. People like Patty Webster of Amazon Promise, Peter Luswata of the Uganda Rural Community Support Foundation, Michael Kaufmann of Green Chimneys, and Amy Greeson of Healing Seekers. And there are so many more!

WRI: What makes your grandfather’s legacy so enduring today?

CC: A really incredible aspect of his legacy is that so many family members are still involved with environmental causes, most of us with oceans. My own work focuses on creating a bridge between humans and the environment, both above and below water, much like my relatives have in some way continued on with their own form of his work. I think that says a lot. You don’t often see the children and grandchildren of the world’s great minds all becoming scientists, or artists, or musicians. There is something special about that power of the environment and the power of inspiration that has created this incredible legacy that we’ve all followed through with in our own incredible ways.

I think on a very personal level, Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a very charismatic, engaged person who was so passionate about what he did that he spoke of it in a very powerful way. I believe a great attraction for all of us is the exploration and adventure, like it was for him, but more importantly we have a desire to protect those areas that we know are fragile. In my family, we have been taught that we are active participants in the whole system that is the planet, not just what happens in our homes and our backyards.

Aboard the Calypso

Here I am sitting on a Zodiac raft while it hangs on the Calypso docked in port somewhere. I’m about 5 or 6 years old and that’s my brother Fabien in the background. The Zodiac is an inflatable boat the crew would use for diving and making runs if you couldn’t bring the ship into port.

Simone, Céline, and Fabien

This is my grandmother Simone, my brother Fabien and me walking out of to the mess hall on the Calypso. You can barely see, but my grandmother’s dog Ulysses is coming to greet us on the dock.

Capturing the Sea

I love this picture of my mother photographing a dolphin on expedition with the Calypso crew. She’s standing on the Zodiac and could be just about anywhere in the world. She was an expedition photographer for 13 years and a lot of my inspiration came from seeing her photos when she would arrive home.

My Grandfather and Mother

This is a great picture of my mother and grandfather in France; the well known public figure and the one who often captured his face on film.

On the Amazon

When I was 9 I spent two weeks on an expedition with my grandfather and the crew in the Amazon. Each day they would take me on “child-approved adventures.” Since that trip, the Amazon is a place I hold very dear to my heart. I worked on a documentary called “Return to the Amazon” with my father and brother about my grandfather’s expeditions there. I also returned to film my own project about a non-profit bringing medical attention to remote areas of the Peruvian Amazon.

Sanary, France

This picture of my grandfather and me was taken in the south of France at our home, in Sanary. My grandparents built that house in the early 1940s and it is still in our family. We spent some summers there when I was growing up, my family lived there for a year, and I’m actually moving back there this summer to work on various projects for a few months.

Céline and Albert Falco

Here I am with Albert Falco, my grandfather’s right hand man, at the Antibes film festival a few years ago. He is still diving today - we just went diving together on my grandfather’s 100th birthday in the South of France with Fabien, Jean-Michel and members of the original Calypso crew.

WRI: How did your grandfather inspire you?

CC: He didn’t necessarily push me to choose this path, but he opened up doors and my mind to the possibilities. It was really the whole family that inspired me – in addition to my grandfather, my father, Jean-Michel Cousteau, has continued ocean work since the 1970s. Less well known are my mother and grandmother, both of whom were a part of the family legacy – my grandmother was aboard Calypso more than any other crew member; my mother was an expedition photographer for over 13 years. I was inspired by a lot of the field stories they told, and as female figures they really influenced me to believe that I have an opportunity to carry on the legacy in whatever way I chose. I was never coerced into this…my family just allowed me to be whoever it is that I chose to be. I went off and studied psychology and intercultural relations (so again there’s the human angle) – but my experiential education was out in the field, in the river, in the jungle, and in the ocean. The experiences with my family came together with my formal education to define my part of this legacy.

WRI: Why are reefs and ocean conservancy issues so important to you?

CC: Oceans play a role in my life personally, in a very individual way. To be able to get into the ocean is an incredible feeling: it’s meditative, it’s an escape, it’s another world, it’s inspiring, it’s wondrous, and it’s surprising.

In a bigger way, the oceans are fundamental to the health of our planet. Coral reefs are particularly important because they are a foundation of many ocean ecosystems. If we don’t protect coral reefs, everything that depends on them will suffer. Our own health and our own well-being depend on it too. There’s not one person on this planet that’s not somehow connected to the ocean, no matter how far you live from it. And I hope to raise awareness through Ocean Inspiration as well as demonstrate concrete support for a great initiative, Reefs at Risk.

WRI: As an institute, we have a similar mandate to look at both the environment and how it affects people. Why did you choose to donate a portion of proceeds from Ocean Inspiration to WRI’s Reefs at Risk?

CC: I first got to know WRI a few years ago when I donated two days of diving with me for an auction at their annual dinner in New York. Meeting the people who work there and learning about the different kinds of work they do was very powerful for me. Because instead of competing with conservation organizations, WRI focuses on creating the content and analysis by which we can actually move forward and implement solutions.

Specifically Reefs at Risk interested me because I was drawn to the 10-year assessment of threats and recommendations for protecting coral reefs. I liked the level of detail, the research, the fantastically clear and tangible maps that went into it, and I thought this is something I want to support and help move forward.

WRI: What can people expect from the May 18 Ocean Inspiration event at The Sea Grill in New York?

After Ocean Inspiration, “I want people to walk away feeling empowered to use their talents to be proactive ocean advocates,” says Céline Cousteau. Photo credit: Sara Stathas

CC: May 18 is the cocktail celebration and fundraiser in New York, emceed by Today Show anchor Amy Robach. We have put together an incredible program with many diverse elements during the evening. For example, there will be a sensory room where you can immerse yourself in ocean sounds. An incredible composer, Henri “Scars” Struck, is composing the piece for that room. And Derek Stratton of Pilobolus has choreographed a special dance performance just for this evening with Henri’s music, as well.

In terms of programming, there will be a presentation by WRI on Reefs at Risk Revisited. My father, Jean-Michel, will preview an excerpt from his new film “My Father the Captain” which hasn’t shown in the United States yet. He’s also going to speak about his life and his inspiration from his father. We will honor our award recipients, including Dr. David Guggenheim, who has done incredible work in educating others about the importance of healthy oceans.

The live auction includes a one-of-a-kind, ocean-inspired dress by CFDA award-winning designer Sophie Théallet. There will also be a one-week trip to an exclusive members-only property in Patagonia. It includes horseback riding, rafting, canoeing, helicopter rides, mountain biking, access to amazing chefs and great food, plus there is a research stations where you can see blue whales. It’s fabulous; I want to go!

We will also auction work by top photographers, including Ernie Brooks, Chuck Davis, David Doubilet, Brian Skerry, Scott Frier, Stephen Wilkes, Carrie Vonderhaar and more.

WRI: What would you like people to take away from Ocean Inspiration?

CC: Although the event is a tribute to my grandfather and his mission, it is not just about him, but about the power one person has to influence many. I want people to walk away feeling empowered to use their talents to be proactive ocean advocates. I want people to know that they can have an impact every day from the food they eat, to where they choose to spend their vacations, to supporting non-profit organizations, to volunteering their time. So I hope that people will walk away with something tangible to do and have the inspiration to move to action beyond that evening.

To purchase tickets to Ocean Inspiration, visit www.wri.org/oceaninspiration
(Note: the fee is waived for credentialed media, email lcole@wri.org to register)

Agricultural Land Grabs Threaten Local Property Rights and Sustainable Development

Mercedes Stickler — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:09:27 -0400

With large-scale agricultural investments on the rise, the rights of local people must be protected.

Large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural use by both local and foreign commercial entities – often dubbed “land grabs” - are on the rise worldwide. Often touted as a form of economic development, these investments could have profound negative effects on the environment and rural livelihoods if transactions go through without the meaningful participation of affected peoples and due consideration for the many benefits they derive from nature.

Land provides the very platform on which sustainable lives and livelihoods are built. As a result, the land on which people build their homes and organize their communities is directly linked to their quality of life. Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and a majority of rural livelihoods depend primarily on natural resources to provide food, fresh water, and a healthy environment, among other benefits. Reliable access to land and the ability to make decisions about land use is therefore critical to rural economies.

The Importance of Recognizing Local Land Rights

In many developing countries, however, local peoples’ rights to land are not recognized or enforced by governments. Often times, governments make decisions about how land and natural resources will be used without consulting the people who depend on those resources for their livelihoods. People who rely on customary or traditional rights are particularly vulnerable to losing their land because there is little or no official documentation of their rights to protect them from their land being taken by someone else. This is a serious problem in Africa, where formal tenure covers only some 2 – 10% of all land.

The Risks and Opportunities of Large-Scale Agriculture Investments

Rising global demand for food and biofuel crops has driven a recent wave of large-scale agricultural investments in the Global South. Following the food price spike in 2007-08, media reports suggest that up to 56 million hectares of land were targeted for agriculture and forestry investments in less than one year, compared with an annual average cropland expansion of 1.9 million ha between 1990 and 2007.

Case studies have found that land transfers of hundreds and even thousands of hectares have been made without due consideration of existing rights or potential impacts on ecosystem services and the livelihoods they support. As a result, these investments may undermine sustainable development in countries already struggling to escape poverty.

In Ethiopia, for example, official government data in five of its nine regions indicate that a total area of at least 1.2 million ha – roughly 8.6% of the country’s cultivated area – were transferred to domestic and foreign commercial entities between 2005 and 2010. Although production data are scarce, media reports indicate that land acquired by Saudi Arabian companies in Ethiopia will be used to produce vegetables, flowers, and rice for export to nations in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is due to receive food aid for 5.7 million people in 2011 from the United Nations World Food Programme.

The size of individual deals can be staggering – in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a Chinese company has reportedly acquired rights from the central government to some 3 million ha of forest land across three provinces where indigenous people and other communities still rely on forests for their livelihood and culture. This transaction represents roughly two-thirds of the entire area in DRC that is potentially suitable for growing oil palm but not yet cultivated.

The scale of these transactions alone makes it even more imperative that the customary rights of local people be recognized and the impacts on existing land uses, especially forests, be considered. Large-scale land acquisitions that ignore customary rights not only risk undermining local livelihoods; illegitimate deals can slow investment implementation, damage company reputation, and even undermine regional stability – as demonstrated by the role that a high profile 1.3 million ha deal in Madagascar played in that country’s 2009 coup.

Governments often justify these transfers by citing their potential contribution to economic growth – however, any gains in national accounts (which to date appear few) risk being greatly outweighed by negative impacts on local livelihoods. Increased investment in agriculture can be used to promote sustainable development through the introduction of new technology and improved management of natural resources using an integrated planning approach. To achieve broad-based economic growth and increased standards of living, however, major agricultural investments must respect customary and traditional rights and mitigate or compensate negative impacts on the ecosystem services that support local livelihoods.

As food production will likely need to double in the next forty years to feed an additional two billion people by 2050, demand for agricultural land is likely to remain high. There is therefore an urgent need for governments, civil society, and the private sector to work together to improve the governance of agricultural investments in ways that are environmentally sustainable and accountable to local people.

WRI at the World Bank Land Conference

WRI is excited to be participating in this year’s Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, April 18-20, 2011, in Washington, DC. Below are several events that feature WRI staff and research:

April 19th 4:00-6:00 PM (panel): Monitoring Land Acquisitions from Different Angles: Is There Scope for Collaboration? - Manish Bapna, WRI Executive Vice President and Managing Director, will chair a panel addressing monitoring land acquisitions with regard to IFC performance standards, lessons learned on participatory monitoring of large land deals, and civil society responses to large-scale land acquisitions.
April 20, 8:00-9:30 AM (panel): Land Tenure in the Context of REDD+ and Climate Change - Fred Stolle, WRI Senior Associate, will present on “Shifting cropland expansion to degraded areas: Experience from Indonesia’s POTICO project.” This panel will also address country-level perspectives on making REDD operational, tenure issues at REDD project sites, and the large-scale acquisition of forest rights.
April 18-20th (exhibit): Focus on Africa: An Interactive Educational Tool on Land Tenure and Property Rights. The Focus on Africa website, a joint initiative of WRI and Landesa, with support by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to inform policymakers and development practitioners on critical land tenure issues. The tool provides land tenure experiences and lessons from six sub-Saharan African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. Please visit the site - http://www.wri.org/property-rights-africa/.

For more information about WRI’s participation, please contact Emily Norford at enorford@wri.org or +1 (202) 729-7754.

REDD Alert: Lessons from Peru’s Camisea Pipeline Project

Janet Ranganathan — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:48:31 -0400

Can forest-rich countries learn from the mistakes of extractive projects and avoid unleashing their own resource curse?

For poor developing countries, exploiting natural wealth such as minerals and metals should prove a blessing, offering the potential to generate huge revenues and help lift them out of poverty. Instead many have been inflicted by the “natural resource curse”, in which countries with an abundance of natural resources enjoy less economic growth and worse development outcomes than those endowed with less of Nature’s bounty.

Despite efforts to improve governance and oversight related to extractive industries projects, the natural resource curse persists today. A recent WRI, Oxfam and Bank Information Center report shines the spotlight on the Camisea natural gas project in Peru and highlights the importance of investing in sub-national governance and capacity building before scaling up investments in natural resource projects.

$1 billion in gas revenue, but poverty remains

The findings of the report, People, Power and Pipelines, as described in this article, have implications not only for extractive industry projects, but also for forest management in developing countries. In particular, international financial institutions, national governments and other stakeholders involved in REDD - that seek to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation - should learn from the mistakes of extractive projects and avoid unleashing their own resource curse.

Read the Report

The massive Camisea project’s gas production infrastructure and pipeline physically impacted five of Peru’s 24 regions, three of which are among the poorest in the country. Between 2004 and 2009, over $1 billion in gas revenues were distributed to sub-national governments. Yet the social benefits have arguably been slight. In 2008 close to 60% of Peru’s rural population remained mired in poverty, including regions benefiting from pipeline revenues, and despite the fact that national poverty levels declined steadily from 2006 through 2008. In addition, the project took a heavy toll on local ecosystems with three major oil spills occurring within the first 15 months of construction.

Local governments unprepared for influx of funds

Peru embarked on a substantial decentralization process in 2002, handing more political and fiscal control to sub-national governments. This meant that provincial and district governments in the vicinity of the project were unprepared, only two years later, either to manage the significant social and environmental risks associated with a major gas pipeline or to effectively deploy the massive revenues generated.

Peru: Camisea Pipeline Path and Poverty

Against this backdrop, People, Power and Pipelines analyzed the experience of sub-national government in the Cusco region in managing the natural gas project’s impact and associated revenues between 2005 and 2007, researching public records and conducting interviews with key players. The report’s findings highlight five challenges, stemming largely from weaknesses in sub-national planning and capacity, which may provide an instructive lesson for similar situations in other countries and sectors.

Significant surplus revenues were carried over from year to year by sub-national Governments, without applying an investment strategy. This resulted in missed opportunities to gain returns on these funds, address the risks of oil price volatility and to prepare for the eventual decrease in gas revenues.
While institutions, procedures and plans for fiscal management were in place, interviews with municipal officials suggested that these were rarely used in day to day administration.
A lack of strategic planning hindered municipal governments’ ability to coordinate large land use projects, plan for the future, and manage the impacts of infrastructure expansion in environmentally and socially sensitive regions. For example, a road was built through the Megantoni National Sanctuary without assessments of impacts on the local environment or on indigenous populations.
Visible investments, such as roads and buildings, were favored over less visible investments that would enhance social capital such as health, education, and agriculture.
Public access to information on how gas revenues were being used was limited and insufficient for citizens to hold government accountable.

Lessons for REDD Revenues

Peru’s experiences from the Camisea project could prove instructive for REDD as the international community ramps up efforts to provide a financial compensation mechanism for developing country actions to reduce emissions from forest loss. Although funding for REDD will likely take different forms, a frontrunner option is to link it to carbon markets in developed countries. Companies would then meet their emission reduction commitments by channeling funding to REDD projects in forest-rich countries.

If REDD does not work as intended, its failure could not only undermine climate reduction goals in developed countries but also inflict a new kind of resource curse on developing nations.

Like Camisea, and extractive projects more broadly, carbon markets would generate funding for poor, but natural- resource- rich, nations, at a scale rarely seen before. There is a risk, though. If REDD does not work as intended, its failure could not only undermine climate reduction goals in developed countries but also inflict a new kind of resource curse on developing nations.

Drawing on Peru’s Camisea experience, international financial institutions and others designing REDD should therefore:

Withhold access to carbon markets until in-country governance and capacity is sufficient to manage the scale up of funds. Indicators developed by WRI’s Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI), for example, can be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of forest governance in a given country.
Support sub-national capacity building for long-term strategic planning and programs that strengthen transparency and accountability mechanisms for tracking revenues and expenditures in areas where REDD funds are channeled.
Draw on and adapt best practices from successful extractive industry projects to avoid known pitfalls.

Above all, careful sequencing of governance and capacity building should be employed before scaling up revenue flows. This will help ensure that urgently needed REDD and extractive industry payments are used in a way that generates long term development benefits, especially for the poor. It will create incentives for strengthening developing country governance and capacity. And it will help architects of REDD avoid inflicting a new “REDD resource curse” on nations whose wealth lies in forests.

Linnea Laestadius is an intern with the Office of the Vice President for Science and Research at WRI. She is a PhD student in Health and Public Policy and a CLF Farming the Future Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Momentum Builds for Gaining the Consent of Indigenous Peoples

Kirk Herbertson — Wed, 05 May 2010 09:26:34 -0400

Extractive industries explore the benefits of acquiring consent for their projects.

For years, indigenous communities have demanded the opportunity to grant or withhold permission for projects that affect their traditional lands and culture. Private companies, however, have been much slower to acknowledge the importance of “free, prior, and informed consent” (FPIC). But that may be changing. As a new report commissioned by Canadian oil and gas company Talisman indicates, companies can learn how to transform past mistakes into a corporate culture of responsibility.

Avoiding conflict by gaining consent

Indigenous peoples are communities that have lived on the same land for hundreds or even thousands of years, such that their ways of life, traditions, and knowledge about sustaining a living are closely tied to particular bodies of land and water. Development projects—such as oil pipelines and mines—can change the local environment, causing irreparable damage to indigenous communities’ ways of life. This has led to conflict between companies and indigenous peoples, as we saw on a large scale in Peru in 2009.

Free, prior and informed consent has emerged as an effective way to prevent conflict, empower indigenous peoples, and reduce the harmful impacts of development projects in poor areas. FPIC provides an indigenous community with the opportunity to collectively grant or withhold its support for a proposed project, through a process that the community determines (such as a village consensus, election, or negotiated agreement).

The evolving views of governments on free, prior and informed consent

According to many companies and governments cited in the report, granting communities a formal right to grant or withhold consent would effectively give a community veto power over projects that are in the broader public interest. Many also argue that FPIC is too difficult to implement in practice. For example, who speaks on behalf of a community that has several different leaders and subgroups with conflicting interests?

Despite these ongoing challenges, momentum has grown around the need for FPIC. The concept played a prominent role in the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which considers FPIC to be an essential way to respect indigenous peoples’ rights. As of this year, the UN Declaration has been endorsed by 147 countries. Recently, the remaining two major governments to oppose the declaration -— the United States and Canada -— indicated that their positions may change. In March, the Canadian government announced its intention to adopt the Declaration, and in April the U.S. government agreed to review its position.

A new outlook for extractive industries

Talisman Energy, the Canadian oil and gas company, is not without its share of controversy. It drew international media attention and lawsuits between 1998 and 2005 for operating in Sudan during the genocide. Recently, the U.S.-based NGO Amazon Watch has criticized Talisman for operating in Peru on land used by the indigenous Achuar people without their consent.

In May, Talisman released the report it commissioned on the feasibility of adopting an FPIC policy. The report, written by law firm Foley Hoag LLP, concludes that “in the long-term, the benefits for oil and gas companies of obtaining community agreement based on FPIC principles, and thereby both supporting their social license to operate and reducing legal and reputational risks, are likely to outweigh the substantial challenges of securing consent.” The report is an important milestone for the extractive industry and provides a snapshot of companies’ efforts so far to implement FPIC. Talisman should take the next step and adopt the report’s recommendations.

At the request of Bâtirente and RRSE, the two Canadian pension funds whose shareholder proposal led to the report, WRI agreed to provide a third party commentary (PDF, 131 Kb) on the study on a pro bono basis. The commentary identifies issues of FPIC implementation that require further discussion, and makes recommendations to Talisman on how to move forward with the report.

Integrating FPIC into development

Over the next several months, the International Finance Corporation (the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group) is considering ways to integrate FPIC into its environmental and social policies, even if it is hidden in policy language such as “broad community support” and “good faith negotiations.” Its new policy will take effect at the end of 2010, and will likely be used by banks and companies across the world. WRI has also been actively engaged in this process.

Indigenous leaders have advocated for decades in the international community for greater recognition of their reliance on a healthy environment, careful management of natural resources, and respect for their traditional ways of life. FPIC has been a critical part of this movement. Now, understanding is growing among companies and governments that there is also a strong business case for FPIC. With these mutual benefits, we expect momentum and understanding of FPIC to continue to grow.

Broken Promises: Forest Revenue-Sharing in Cameroon

Maggie Barron — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:37:32 -0500

Executive Summary

In Central Africa, most governments have introduced mechanisms to redirect more of the benefits from the extractive use of forests to the regions where logging is taking place. Several governments are in the process of designing or implementing forestry revenue tax/fee distribution schemes whose objectives are decentralization, poverty alleviation, and promotion of local development. Cameroon has been a leader in this endeavor, with a system that distributes half of its Annual Forestry Fee (referred to herein by its French acronym, RFA [redevance forestière annuelle]) revenues to decentralized public authorities (40%) and villages (10%) that are adjacent to exploited forests. These funds are targeted at furthering local economic development, poverty reduction, and conflict abatement in and among villages adjacent to forests, forestry companies, and the government.

Despite being considered progressive by global standards, Cameroon’s revenue-sharing system is failing to provide the expected benefits to the communities it targets.

This Forest Note summarizes findings from case studies of three rural councils (Bibey, Gari Gombo and Mindourou) and their constituent villages regarding implementation of the RFA revenue-sharing system from 2000-2002. Based on this information and an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the revenue distribution system, the authors present recommendations to the Government of Cameroon on how to increase the system’s positive impacts on local livelihoods and poverty alleviation and, correspondingly, reduce conflict between villages and forestry companies.

The findings indicate that despite being considered progressive by global standards, in the rural councils addressed through this study, Cameroon’s revenue-sharing system is failing to provide the expected benefits to the communities it targets: those living adjacent to forest concessions. In some cases, revenues did not reach villages at all; in all cases, the amount received by villages was less than what was allocated to them at the national level. Of the almost US $7 million allocated to the three rural councils examined in this study, almost US $2 million is unaccounted for during the period 2000-2004, and of the US $1.7 million allocated for village development within these rural councils, almost US $1 million is unaccounted for during the same time frame. Furthermore, the projects funded were often not those requested by the village representatives, and villagers reported that the costs of these projects were often higher than the accepted cost of implementing such activities by local sources.

Monitoring of the use of revenues by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Treasury and Budget Office was haphazard and made even more problematic by the absence of standardized, transparent accounting systems. Holding decision-makers accountable for the use of funds was difficult, not only because of weak accountability mechanisms but also because of weak law enforcement, lack of political will, capacity, and resources. These factors, among others, resulted in a system that depended primarily on the integrity of the mayor (the head of the elected rural council) and thus provided opportunities for the misappropriation of funds, cronyism, and other forms of corruption.

This study was unable to isolate what impacts, if any, the RFA revenues had on poverty reduction because of the relatively small amount of revenues that reached villages and the lack of comparative data. However, the findings indicate that there is an urgent need to strengthen the governance of the RFA revenue distribution system and the larger system of political representation in which it operates if revenues are to be used effectively for poverty alleviation. This brief builds on previous studies and on findings from three case studies to provide recommendations to the Government of Cameroon on how to improve the RFA revenue-sharing system’s ability to contribute to the government’s poverty reduction objectives.

Recommendations

The Forest Revenues Enhancement Program should set aside 5% to 10% of the total RFA revenues to develop and maintain effective transparency, monitoring, local participation, and accountability mechanisms as well as to build capacity at the various government, rural council, and village levels to implement those mechanisms. More specifically, funds should be provided by the central government from the 50% of the PSRF funds that is not earmarked for the rural councils to:

develop, implement, and enforce standardized accounting systems set up by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Implemented through the PSRF, these systems would be used by the rural councils and villages to track RFA revenues and expenditures.
strengthen existing auditing systems and build operational capacity to audit rural council RFA expenditures annually (to be implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance).
increase the capacity of local villagers to engage effectively in the decision-making process by:
- defining a democratic process for selecting village representatives;
- developing decision-making procedures that ensure effective consideration of village representatives’ priorities;
- providing training in development planning, basic budgeting, and accounting;
- increasing local representation on Forestry Fee Management Committees that determine project funding; and
- establishing Forest Fee Management Committees in villages where they do not exist (to be implemented by the rural councils through their engagement with local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance).
build transparency into the use of RFA funds at the rural council and village levels through the posting of RFA revenues and expenditures in public gathering places, printing them in local newspapers and periodicals, and annual meetings with villagers to present and explain expenditures financed by the RFA (to be implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance together with the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife). In addition, mayors should be required to publish annually a full list of the projects funded under the RFA with their locations and costs.

The Environmental Committee in the Cameroonian Parliament, in partnership with civil society organizations, should take the lead in ensuring increased accountability in the expenditure of RFA revenues by:

acting as an ombudsman for villages with complaints of RFA revenue mismanagement;
investigating specific cases of the misuse of RFA funds;
holding public hearings, if an RFA audit fails, that involve all the villages in the rural council area so that the leaders can be sanctioned for their failure to use the funds according to existing laws.
commissioning a study of the enforcement chain to identify actions to increase sanctions for the misuse of RFA revenues and to strengthen the enforcement chain.

WRI Releases Guide to Help Extractive Companies Work with Local Communities

Paul Mackie — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:52:07 -0500

Natural-resources extractive companies are profiting financially and socially when they consult with affected communities before and during the construction of projects.

“Rio Tinto and De Beers, for example, have negotiated agreements with communities to avoid harm and provide benefits. In so doing, they have gained local support for projects, and communities have seized opportunities for development,” said Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute (WRI). “But more work needs to be done. Too often, the rhetoric in support of community engagement does not match the practice.”

The report, Breaking Ground: Engaging Communities in Extractive and Infrastructure Projects, takes an in-depth look at international community engagement standards and how they often fall short of providing guidance to companies and communities. The work follows WRI’s 2007 report, Development Without Conflict, and is designed as a user’s guide to help companies and local community liaisons implement successful standards on-the-ground.

“Many national laws and financial institutions’ policies require companies to implement some type of community engagement in extractive and infrastructure projects, but do not necessarily provide guidance on how to do so,” said Kirk Herbertson of WRI, lead author of the report. “When local communities participate in the design and implementation of a project, they are more likely to understand and support the changes brought about by the project.”

In one of the examples from the report, community engagement during the construction of a natural gas project in the Philippines saved a U.S. company millions by allowing the company to complete construction ahead of schedule. In another example, from Guatemala, a mining company helped rebuild its damaged reputation by inviting local communities to test and monitor water quality, as a way to provide credible assurances that a mine was not polluting their water source.

WRI’s accompanying video documentary on Thailand’s Mae Moh coal power project shows what happens when companies and governments refuse to engage the communities they develop. Hundreds of people filed a lawsuit against the government-controlled Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), alleging the coal mine and power plant poisoned them with toxic sulfur dioxide emissions and mine dust, and damaged their crops. On Tuesday of this week, which is officially the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Week, a Thai court ruled that EGAT must compensate each of the victims and restore the environmental damage of the coal mine.

Extractive industry experts said at the World Bank conference that they continue to recognize the importance of engaging communities in mining projects, despite the ongoing economic crisis.

Ecuador Proposes Leaving Oil Untapped to Protect Forests and People

Remi Moncel — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:45:42 -0500

The Government of Ecuador recently announced that it is pursuing efforts to leave the oil under Yasuni National Park untapped to protect the rainforest, its species and its inhabitants.

President Rafael Correa proposed the Yasuni-ITT Initiative in the summer of 2007, and was set to decide this month whether to move forward with the project, or to begin the process of selling licenses to extract the oil. “The project will move forward for another 6 months,” said Fander Falconí, Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, extending the decision deadline through June 2009.

If Ecuador ultimately succeeds in convincing the international community to compensate it for the revenues forgone from the exploitation of oil, the funds raised will support the preservation of nearly 5 million hectares of biodiverse rainforests, protect 180,000 members of indigenous and Afro Ecuadorian communities, and help put Ecuador on a more sustainable energy path.

The Yasuni National Park is located in the easternmost corner of Ecuador’s Amazon region. Yasuni was named a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1989 and scientists including Jane Goodall and E.O. Wilson have called it “one of the most biodiverse places on earth.” At least two indigenous tribes, the Tagaeri and Taromenane, maintain their traditional lifestyles in voluntary isolation in Yasuni.

The innovative proposal aims to leave 20% of Ecuador’s oil unexploited forever. To make the proposal economically viable, Ecuador aims to generate funding to offset a portion of the foregone revenue and use these funds to pursue sustainable development projects in line with the country’s National Sustainable Development Agenda.

The plan would create a new financial instrument to support Ecuador’s long term sustainability goals and would place an economic value on biodiversity.

WRI’s Jake Werksman said the “innovative” proposal “challenges all to think differently about sustainable development.” “It’s homegrown,” he added. “It’s holistic in the sense that it seeks to achieve multiple objectives, and it is solutions oriented.”

How the Yasuni-ITT Initiative Would Work

View the Ecuadorian Government’s Yasuni-ITT presentation:

According to recent studies funded by the Government, the proposal would leave 20% of Ecuador’s proven oil reserves—or around 840 million barrels of oil—untouched. If this oil were drilled, processed and burned as fuel, 407 million metric tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted into the atmosphere.

Roque Sevilla, who leads the Ecuadorian Commission on the Yasuni-ITT initiative, presented the proposal as an attempt to link “two big issues”. “One is global warming and the other one is the loss of biodiversity. And we wanted to link them both.”

Over a ten-year period, Ecuador would issue Yasuni Guarantee Certificates (or CGYs according to their Spanish acronym) equal to the 407 million tons of CO2. The objective is for the CGYs to be recognized as equivalent to the carbon offsets now traded under the European Trading System (ETS), EU Member States and companies operating under the EU ETS would purchase and trade the CGY credits as they do other GHG allowance credits. Income from the sale of CGYs would go to the government, with the total amount of income received dependent on the prevailing market price of carbon.

The money raised would go into a Trust Fund managed and overseen by members of the Ecuadorian Government, non-governmental organizations and financial contributors.

Interest from the Trust Fund would only be used to fulfill the following five initiatives included in Ecuador’s National Sustainable Development Agenda: forest protection and recovery, changes to the country’s energy supply and demand, and domestic sustainable development initiatives (see presentation above for more detail).

Ultimately, the Ecuadorian government wants the Yasuni-ITT Initiative to become a “pilot project” for other countries such as Papua New Guinea, Peru and Brazil to follow.

Keys to Success and Remaining Questions

Since the international launch of the proposal in the summer of 2007, WRI has hosted several technical workshops with international development and finance experts, members of the Ecuadorian Government and civil society partners to assess and improve the viability of the proposal.

Roque Sevilla and Yolanda Kakabadse, members of the Commission leading the Yasuni-ITT initiative, came to WRI in December 2008 to solicit reactions and advice from the environmental NGO community based in Washington D.C. They aimed to refine and garner support for President Correa’s bold proposal. NGOs and academics from the U.S. and Quito joined the meeting via web-based conference call.

“If we can manage to move Ecuador’s government for the next 100 years into eliminating the thought of oil exploration in protected areas,” Kakabadse said, “that would be an enormous achievement–because this link between biodiversity and climate change would be really proven to be effective.”

At these meetings, a number of questions were raised about the proposal, with many participants identifying areas where the proposal can be strengthened:

Will the project’s scope and ambition extend beyond the ITT oil block? The proposal gains in value and credibility if it can demonstrate Ecuador’s broad commitment to the Park beyond the ITT oil block. A moratorium on that particular oil field would hold little environmental value if neighboring oil blocks, also located in the Park were drilled. In addition, the Certificates of Guarantee Yasuni (CGYs) should stand for more than their value in offsetting carbon emissions. An emphasis should be put on the multiple benefits of the Yasuni Park’s protection: biodiversity conservation, protection of indigenous livelihoods and support for sustainable development projects in Ecuador.
Will local communities be engaged? Engagement of local groups in the early stages of the development of the proposal carries several benefits. Engaging civil society in Ecuador, while also presenting the proposal to international audiences, demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensure that the Yasuni-ITT initiative meets the needs of local communities and is being developed in partnership with them. In addition, local groups can help refine the concept by, for example, fully understanding and communicating the value of the untouched forest, identifying opportunities for the investment of the funds generated, and proposing ideas for a politically viable and inclusive governance structure to manage those funds.
What about possible leakage from the carbon offsets? A carbon offset is environmentally sound only with the guarantee that the avoided emissions will not be displaced to another location – that leakage will not occur. It must be articulated clearly how a reduction of oil production in Ecuador would lead to a marginal decrease in world oil consumption. It can be argued that oil demand would shift to other suppliers thereby resulting in no change in global greenhouse emissions. Another valid perspective might be that, Ecuador’s action, by putting a portion of world oil reserves off-limits is marginally reducing world oil supply stocks and accelerating the global transition toward alternate sources of energy.
Will this proposal reduce greenhouse gas emissions? In absolute terms, avoiding the extraction and burning of oil can reduce the total amount of world emissions of greenhouse gases (assuming that the leakage issue presented above is addressed). However, linking the CGYs to carbon markets such as the one in the European Union weakens this claim. In fact, such a move would simply allow European emitters to comply with their regional standard in a more cost effective way. Emissions there would still be capped at the level established by the European Commission – not lower – with or without the partnership with Ecuador on Yasuni-ITT. What such a partnership would bring however is the protection of other valuable biological and human assets provided by the Park: its incredible biodiversity, its indigenous livelihoods and the support of sustainable development projects in Ecuador through the funding generated by the carbon offsets.
What will prevent Ecuador from abandoning the initiative? To gain the confidence of potential investors, the legal structure of the Trust Fund needs to be put in place promptly and shared widely. The Government has indicated that disincentives would prevent a future Ecuadorian administration from defaulting on its commitment. In addition, Quito has said that guarantees would be included to return invested funds with interest to the creditors if such a default were to happen. These sound principles need to be built into the Trust document and shared with the international community more publicly.
Will countries like Saudi Arabia replicate the Yasuni-ITT model? The possibility of replicating the initiative in other regions is promising, under certain conditions. Similar models in other countries would put a greater share of world oil supplies off-limits and accelerate a shift toward renewable fuels to meet global energy demands. If emissions allowances are generated in exchange for such moves, however, other countries with larger oil reserves such as Saudi Arabia might flood carbon markets. This would cause the price of offsets to drop and dampen the environmental effectiveness of existing cap-and-trade regimes. In addition, the Yasuni precedent might prompt coal producing states to claim similar compensation for halting the extraction of a heavily polluting fuel. Here again, one option may be to emphasize the non-carbon benefits of the Park’s protection. Much fewer instances and regions would pass Yasuni’s biodiversity test. Such favorable treatment could be reserved to those countries whose oil reserves lie beneath highly valuable biological, human and cultural assets.