The United Nation’s REDD Program has approved $18 million in support of forest conservation projects in five pilot countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and Viet Nam.
The UN-REDD Program — a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Development Programme and the UN Environment Programme — was launched to ensure that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) becomes part of a post-2012 framework on climate change. UN-REDD is providing funding to jumpstart projects in tropical countries that have prepared national REDD strategies. The World Bank is also supporting initial REDD projects via its Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.
Deforestation and degradation accounts for roughly 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a source second only to electricity generation. Under a business-as-usual approach, tropical forest loss could release 87-130 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere by 2100.
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Norway emerges as champion of rainforest conservation
(03/19/2009) While citizens in western countries have long paid lip service to saving rainforests, Norway has quietly emerged as the largest and most important international force in tropical forest conservation. The small Scandinavian country has committed 3 billion krone ($440 million) a year to the effort, a figure vastly greater than the $100M pledged — but never fully contributed — by the United States under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA). Norway now hopes it can help push to include forest conservation in the successor to the Kyoto Protocol by providing funding and fostering cooperation among international actors like the UN and World Bank, as well as developing countries, to fund the creation of an international architecture which makes it possible to incorporate deforestation and degradation into a post-2012 climate regime.
Indonesia applies for REDD partnership to protect forests
(03/04/2009)
Indonesia has applied to join the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, becoming the largest developing country to apply to a program that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving tropical forests, reports Reuters.
Despite financial crunch, donors pledge $100M for rainforest conservation
(10/23/2008)
Donors meeting this week in Washington D.C. pledged more than $100 million to the World Bank’s new initiative for conserving tropical forests. In addition to the $100 million in donations, the World Bank announced that more than forty developing countries have asked to join the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility — the Bank’s foray into the emerging market for forest carbon credits. 25 countries have so far been selected to participate in the initiative, which builds capacity for countries to earn compensation through the carbon markets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Experts say the mechanism could eventually lead to the transfer of billions of dollars per year to fund conservation and rural development in tropical countries, while at the same time helping fight climate change. Deforestation and land use change presently accounts for around a fifth of anthropogenic emissions.
14 countries win REDD funding to protect tropical forests
(07/24/2008)
Fourteen countries have been selected by the World Bank to receive funds for conserving their tropical forests under an innovative carbon finance scheme.
