Tue, Dec 11, 2012
The Meeting at UN Environment Programme's
World Conservation Monitoring Centre Comes
After Another Round of Climate Change Talks
1 December 2012 - In the fight against climate
change, forests play a crucial role. Worldwide,
deforestation contributes more than transport
to global greenhouse gas emissions.
But as well as locking
away vast amounts of carbon, forests are
key to many countries' development, which
is why three United Nations agencies ? backed
by an initial US$35 million from Norway
? launched the UN-REDD Programme in 2008.
The Programme helps countries to get ready
for REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation, 'plus' conservation
and enhancement of forest carbon stocks
and sustainable management of forest.
Further Resources
UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest DegradationAccording
to UNEP's Julie Greenwalt: "The idea
of REDD+ came about because 15-17% of the
world's carbon emissions occur when deforestation
or forest degradation happens. Forests are
storing all this carbon and when we chop
down the forests it gets released into the
atmosphere. This contribution to the world's
greenhouse gas emissions is higher than
the transportation sector, so forests are
recognised as a major issue in climate change."
"Forests are also
a major part of development in a lot of
countries. When the US, UK and most European
countries developed, they consumed much
of their natural resources. As a result,
most of the world's remaining carbon rich
forests are the developing world. It's important
to provide incentives for these countries
to develop in ways that retain their forest."
Which is where REDD+
comes in. Aimed at tipping the economic
balance in favour of sustainable management
of forests, REDD+ will make a major contribution
to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. At
the same time, the forests' formidable economic,
environmental and social goods and services
will continue to benefit countries, communities
and forest users.
"Countries have
different historical rates of deforestation.
REDD+ is about reducing those rates of deforestation
and then making carbon payments for this.
In Nigeria, for example, the deforestation
rate is around 3.4%. That's extremely high,
but for any success Nigeria has in reducing
that rate through a REDD+ Programme, they
would be compensated via a carbon payment,"
Greenwalt explains.
The REDD+ story, however,
goes beyond carbon. As the idea has developed,
it's widened to take into account the multiple
benefits forests provide ? from soil conservation
and water catchment to biodiversity and
forest products ? rather than solely the
carbon that they capture.
"When REDD+ first
came about it was all about carbon, through
the UN climate talks, which regarded deforestation
from the stand point of tackling climate
change," she says. "But it quickly
became clear that forests and REDD+ activities
have benefits that aren't just about carbon.
Forests are important for their environmental
benefits ? for biodiversity, for ecosystem
services like water quality and soil retention,
but also in terms of livelihoods for people
who live in and around the forest."
Which is why groups
representing indigenous peoples and forest
communities are playing an increasingly
active role in REDD+. According to Victor
Illescas Lopez of the Association of Forest
Communities of Guatemala: "REDD+ for
us means reducing exclusion in forest-related
decision-making ? that's why we're part
of readiness and are observers for Latin
American civil society at the UN-REDD Policy
Board."
"In Central America,
there are 50 million hectares of forest,
mostly under rights of indigenous and campesino
communities. They can develop their own
mechanisms for REDD+ based on more integrated
sustainable forest management including
carbon, but not with the rest of the benefits
as happy accidents. We are not married to
REDD+, but with multiple benefits we feel
like we are starting to speak the same language,
not just about carbon but about poverty
reduction."
Lopez was one of 46
delegates, including people from 16 UN-REDD
Programme partner countries, who met in
Cambridge, UK last month for a workshop
on "REDD+ Beyond Carbon: Safeguards
and Multiple Benefits", convened by
UNEP. Over three days, participants from
Africa, Asia and Latin America exchanged
experiences of REDD+ planning for multiple
benefits and safeguards, how they are preparing
the ground for REDD+, and how the UN-REDD
Programme can support them.
Roney Samaniego of ANAM,
Panama's national environment authority
explained how Panama had used spatial decision-support
software to identify priority areas for
protection of coastal and marine biodiversity.
He emphasised that "[in this workshop],
the interaction with other countries and
their experiences is useful. It's helpful
not to duplicate things that didn't work.
Things that seemed really difficult, if
you talk to someone who's done it they seem
much simpler."
Laksmi Banowati of Indonesia's
UN-REDD Programme emphasised that "The
most important thing is to know more about
safeguards, valuation and mapping, and about
the status of other countries ? we want
to learn what's going on in other countries".
She described how, in Central Sulawesi,
they had used spatial analysis to identify
which areas were potentially appropriate
for which REDD+ actions, and where benefits
to biodiversity would be greatest.
Under the climate change
convention, countries have agreed a broad
set of safeguards to reduce any risks and
increase the benefits from REDD+. The job
now is to put these into practice. Roger
Bokwala outlined how the Democratic Republic
of Congo had developed a set of standards
to ensure that social and environmental
issues were integrated in planning for REDD+.
The workshop agreed that social and environmental
risks and benefits are closely connected,
especially for people living on or near
forests. Mina Setra from the Indigenous
Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, Indonesia
said, "You can't separate the environmental
from the social. Forest degradation also
happens due to social problems and vice
versa. It's all connected."
Costa Rica, Tanzania
and Viet Nam all shared their national experiences
of monitoring and Safeguard Information
Systems, and discussed the different roles
of monitoring by local communities and satellite
data. Laksmi Banowati added that "Most
challenging for Indonesia now is monitoring
and a Safeguards Information System. We've
done a lot on safeguards, certification
and governance but until now have not had
monitoring systems. We need support on how
to collect safeguarding information and
put it into one system."
According to Greenwalt,
there are challenges in capacity building,
and a need for better data and information,
but a key issue is that for developing countries,
tackling deforestation is only one of many
competing priorities. "They have to
consider a whole range of issues from education
to health to environment. Forests are just
part of that," she says. "REDD+
links to so many other issues ... The complexities
and priorities make it difficult. There
needs to be sustained momentum and political
will. This isn't something where you'll
instantly see results, it's a process and
it's a long process, and to get it right
needs engagement over a protracted period
of time."
And getting it right
matters to all of us, not only the UN-REDD
partner countries. As for the world's oceans
and the polar icecaps, what happens in the
world's forests has global implications.
"This is about the health of the planet,
not just in terms of climate change, but
these precious forests that are incredible
resources. Unfortunately most people in
the North don't have this strong connection
to the natural environment," says Greenwalt.
"I'm a city girl.
I grew up in the US not the rainforest but
what really struck me when I started to
work for this project was this term 'forest-dependent
communities'. We use it a lot, but the irony
is that we're all forest dependent. Everyone
in the world is forest dependent. Whether
we know what a forest looks like or can
identify a tree or ecosystem service, we
are all truly dependent on forests. We can
at our peril choose to ignore this, but
at some point in time we will have to recognise
that, just like we're all dependent on the
oceans, we all are connected to this."
And REDD+ has a vital
role to play. "What we're talking about
in these workshops are good interventions
that are beneficial to countries and to
people," she adds. "This isn't
just a passing fad. When you think about
these really difficult issues you have to
have a suite of tools, and REDD+, by helping
frame deforestation in terms of carbon and
tackling climate change gives us another
tool [to explain why] forests are so important
to the planet."
+ More
UNEP Establishes New
Body to Advance Environmental Law, Justice
and Governance
Fri, Dec 7, 2012
The World Congress on Justice, Governance
and Law for Environmental Sustainability
saw representatives of over 60 countries
calling for the creation of an international
network to support efforts to achieve sustainability
through stronger legal responses to environmental
pressures.
Washington D.C. / Nairobi, 07 December 2012
- The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) has appointed a new council of senior
legal figures to advance the role of law,
justice and good governance in achieving
sustainable development.
The nine-member advisory council includes
Chief Justices, senior judges, auditors
and legal academics. Led by UNEP, it will
provide strategic guidance to the international
community in improving the legal foundations
for achieving international environmental
goals, and overcoming legal barriers to
inclusive sustainable development.
The establishment of
the International Advisory Council for the
Advancement of Justice, Governance and Law
for Environmental Sustainability follows
a major meeting of Chief Justices, Attorneys
General and Chief Prosecutors, Auditors
General, government ministers and other
members of the global legal community in
Brazil in June 2012.
The World Congress on
Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental
Sustainability saw representatives of over
60 countries calling for the creation of
an international network to support efforts
to achieve sustainability through stronger
legal responses to environmental pressures.
The new council aims
to meet that request, and is tasked with
engaging the legal and auditing community
worldwide, supporting the development and
implementation of environmental law at all
levels, and encouraging the further expansion
of environmental jurisprudence.
The Council will also
provide strategic advice on the provision
of information, data and technical assistance
to support governments and other bodies.
"Establishing new
and strengthened mechanisms and institutional
frameworks based on the rule of law is a
prerequisite for the transformative change
needed to achieve environmental sustainability,
sustained and inclusive economic growth
and the eradication of poverty", said
Amina Mohamed, UNEP Deputy Executive Director,
at the inauguration of the council in Washington
D.C.
"Social justice
must go hand-in-hand with efforts to improve
environmental sustainability. With its expertise
and global reach, the new council will be
a powerful global advocate for law, justice
and good governance. It will give renewed
impetus to efforts to secure the solid legal
foundations on which an inclusive, low-carbon,
resource-efficient green economy can be
built," added Ms. Mohamed.
UNEP's Global Environment
Outlook (GEO-5) report, released in June
2012, found that among 90 of the most important
environmental goals agreed to by the international
community, significant progress had only
been made in four.
Legal barriers to achieving
these goals include the spreading of responsibilities
for the environment among many different
institutions at national and international
levels, leading to the fragmentation of
environmental governance.
At the completion of
the World Congress in June, countries and
partners recognized "the importance
of rules-based societies?effective governance
frameworks, equity and justice, as inextricable
aspects of environmental sustainability."
They also underlined
the need to support the auditing community
in monitoring the effectiveness of environmental
policies, progress towards environmental
goals, and ensuring government accountability.
In addition, the overall
outcome document of the Rio+20 summit, The
Future We Want, acknowledged that democracy,
good governance and the rule of law are
essential for sustainable development, inclusive
economic growth, social development, environmental
protection and the eradication of poverty
and hunger.
It highlighted the need
for institutions at all levels that are
effective, transparent, accountable and
democratic.
"Effective governance
must be built on sanctioning enforceable
laws, disclosure of information by private
companies, promoting public participation
and engagement by civil society, ensuring
adequate incentive and punishment structures,
and strong auditing institutions as barriers
against illegality and corruption,"
said Scott Fulton, General Legal Counsel
of the US Environmental Protection Agency,
and member of the newly-appointed council.
The Council will work
with a range of partners including academia,
NGOs, think tanks, governments and others
to improve collaboration on environmental
law, governance and justice.
