Topic: REDD

This working paper is part of a series of regular updates on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) readiness process. It reviews documentation detailing national REDD initiatives emerging from the FCPF in order to assess how these efforts are dealing with fundamental issues of forest governance that underpin deforestation and forest degradation problems in REDD countries. Without addressing these issues it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reduce deforestation and degradation at the national level and deal with risks of leakage. We recommend improvements to the FCPF process that will support these objectives.

If reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is to work effectively, developing countries will need support to build the capacities required for enforcing their own laws and regulations. At present, timber production that violates the developing country’s own laws both acts as a barrier to REDD and costs these countries billions of dollars per year. This paper examines the approach taken by Parties to the challenge of illegally produced timber, and proposes measures to support developing countries in tackling this problem that could form part of the climate framework to be negotiated in Copenhagen.

The first step for developing countries to access financing under the Readiness Mechanism of the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is the development of a Readiness Plan Idea Note (R-PIN). This paper considers the extent to which R-PINs approved by the FCPF trust fund committee addressed questions of good governance of forests. The objective of this exercise is to identify issues that will need to be addressed more completely as countries proceed with readiness programs.