REDD Development Dividend Task Force Meeting

1. REDD Development Dividend Task Force Meeting 25 – 26 January 2011 Richmonde Hotel Manila, Philippines With support from the Norwegian Development Agency

2. Building REDD Policy Capacity for Developing Country Negotiators and Land Managers IISD – ASB-ICRAF Project 2010-2011 With support from the Norwegian Development Agency

3. Background and Project Objectives Project Background: • Overall aim of building and strengthening policy capacity in developing countries engaged in REDD negotiations under the UNFCCC • Builds on series of workshops held in Asia and Africa in 2009-10 • Funded by NORAD under the Climate and Forest Initiative 2010 civil society support programme Project Goals: • The international REDD framework/mechanism is designed to meet development dividend needs of developing countries • National REDD processes include development dividend considerations

4. The Development Dividend An important element will be ensuring that REDD activities are designed in a way that accounts for the Development Dividend, which includes: • Quality – ensuring sustainable development benefits, e.g., poverty alleviation, indigenous rights, community livelihoods, technology transfer, biodiversity conservation; • Quantity – ensuring robust GHG reductions; and • Equity – ensuring that all countries, including small and vulnerable countries, are able to benefit from REDD.

5. 2010-2011 Activities • REDD-DD Task Force Meeting • Explore salient issues in the development of REDD modalities and processes • Help develop processes and modalities for REDD at the national, regional and international level that effectively account for development dividend considerations; and • Identify key research areas and research partners.

6. 2010-2011 Activities • Regional Workshops • Research priorities and key issues as determined by Task Force will feed into regional workshops in Africa (Cameroon) and Asia (Vietnam) • Focus on helping negotiators and stakeholders develop REDD in a way that effectively accounts for development dividend considerations • Workshops will support the negotiating process, and produce a policy brief to be delivered to negotiators.

7. 2010-2011 Activities • Policy Papers • To be developed as inputs to the regional workshops with guidance from Task Force • Developed by IISD and ASB-ICRAF in collaboration with Southern organizations in Asia and Africa • Final papers will be developed after review by workshop participants and Task Force members

8. 2010-2011 Activities • Web Platform for South-South Learning • Complement to other project activities, interactive platform for gathering, sharing and disseminating information on REDD • Facilitating the exchange of experiences between participants from different countries and regions • Public area and sign-in only section for Task Force members and workshop participants

9. Discussion Session #1Striking a Balance in REDD Deborah Murphy, IISD REDD Task Force Meeting Manila, Philippines 25-26 January 2011

10. REDD and Co-Benefits REDD guidance encourages consistency with sustainable development – economic, environmental and social benefits. Potential co-benefits include: • Poverty alleviation • Improved livelihoods of local and Indigenous communities • Biodiversity conservation • Improved forest governance • Technology transfer

11. Development Dividend • Quality – generating sustainable development, co-benefits • Quantity – ensuring robust REDD investments, and that REDD credits are affordable and accessible • Broad participation – encouraging wide participation in REDD and that smaller countries are able to participate

12. Critical Issues (1) • Understanding the demand for co-benefits – What are investor and project developer concerns regarding co-benefits? What are the concerns of host and donor countries? Is there a need for research to better understand the range of attitudes and concerns? • The trade-offs in generating co-benefits – What are the trade-offs in REDD initiatives? How can countries understand the trade-offs between difference initiatives?

13. Critical Issues (2) • Designing a financial mechanism – What options for financing REDD could be considered by the AWG-LCA? Are there ways for a market mechanism to consider co-benefits? Are there other options to generate co-benefits that are complementary to a market mechanism? • Measuring co-benefits – Is there a need for internationally accepted indicators of co-benefits? Or should host countries be responsible for determining the level of co-benefits? Can existing work help in the assessment of co-benefits?

14. Critical Issues (3) • Broadening the REDD mechanism in future years – How can REDD modalities and processes be designed to ensure that broader land-use sectors can be brought into the mechanism at a later date?

15. Discussion Session #2Strengthening MRV for REDD Florence Bernard and Peter A Minang, ASB Partnership at ICRAF World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) REDD Task Force Meeting Manila, Philippines 25-26 January 2011

16. MRV Definition • Measurement - The process of data collection over time, providing basic datasets, including associated accuracy and precision, for the range of relevant variables • Reporting - The process of formal reporting of assessment results to the UNFCCC, according to predetermined formats and according to established standards (IPCC Guidelines and GPG) • Verification - The process of formal verification of reports

17. COP 16 Outcomes for MRV • Parties agree that a robust MRV system is necessary for REDD • The Cancun agreement calls for national forest reference emission levels (REL) and/or forest reference levels (RL), and robust and transparent national forest monitoring systems • Annex II of the COP 16 AWG-LCA decision: SBSTA to provide methodological guidance on MRV

18. IPCC Guidelines • Measurement and estimation of two variables : forest area change and carbon density • RL/RELs established and verified, taking national circumstances into account • MRV based on robust national forest inventories and subject to periodic external review • The IPCC GPG provides “3 tier” framework for estimating emissions, with respect to the level of detail and accuracy required. • Five reporting principles: consistency, comparability, transparency, accuracy, and completeness.

19. Country Actions on MRV

20. Country Actions on MRV

21. Country Actions on MRV

22. Critical Issues (1) • The basis for carbon accounting in MRV systems Gross carbon emissions from deforestation or net accounting? How to address degradation? How to address conversion? • The level of accuracy required –Could a set of simple interim indicators, or verifiable proxies, be used to assess the performance of REDD actions in the early stages? What MRV thresholds are acceptable for donors and investors? • RL/REL levels – What types of RL/REL levels should be set up?

23. Critical Issues (2) • Linking national and local MRV, and involving local stakeholders in MRV – How effective are the subnational activities for accounting for national leakage and for additionality? Can the involvement of local stakeholders help to verify permanence? • Cost of MRV – How can developing countries raise funds for MRV given that costs are still poorly known? • REDD and NAMAs – Should REDD MRV be consistent with the MRV approaches for NAMAs and in a broader future climate change agreement?

24. Critical Issues (3) • Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) – Is there a need for an inventory agency responsible for coordinating QA/QC for MRV activities? • Capacity Building – Most developing countries lack capacity to implement effective MRV. What are priority capacity building areas? Could regional approaches help to address capacity issues? • Non-carbon performance-based MRV – Should countries be required to report on and monitor safeguards? On co-benefits? What is the link between MRV of emission reductions and MRV of safeguards?

25. Discussion Session #3Addressing Safeguards Jessica Boyle, IISD REDD Task Force Meeting Manila, Philippines 25-26 January 2011

26. What are Safeguards? • Broadly understood as policies and procedures that aim to address both direct and indirect impacts to communities and ecosystems • Identify, analyze and ultimately work to mitigate risks • Have become contentious topic in the REDD debate

27. Safeguards in the Cancun Agreement on REDD • Calls for a system to provide information on how safeguards are being addressed and respected • Range of safeguards covered in Annex 1 • Policies and mechanisms to ensure these safeguards are effectively addressed not yet fully developed • SBSTA work programme to develop guidance on a system for providing information on how safeguards are being addressed and respected, while respecting national sovereignty

28. Existing Policies and Procedures to Consider • UN-REDD Programme • Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the Forest Investment Program (FIP) • Bilateral programs and Initiatives • Certification Schemes • Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) • International Agreements • Informal local, customary and traditional governance

29. Critical Issues • Establishing safeguards in REDD processes – Should safeguards be developed at the international or national level? Is there a need to establish minimum standards for safeguards? Can existing work, such as the CCB Standards, help in the process? • Translating safeguards into action – Are there lessons learned from other institutions and related instruments that may help inform the REDD safeguard process, anticipate challenges, and provide potential solutions to ensure effective implementation? • Monitoring safeguards – What international requirements for monitoring safeguards are needed? Should the monitoring of safeguards be linked to MRV requirements, and if so, how?