From Reference Levels To Results Reporting Redd Under The United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change

This report provides an update on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Plus1 (REDD+) forest reference (emission) levels (FREL/FRLs) and REDD+ results submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and relevant developments under the Green Climate Fund concerningREDD+ results-based payments. It illustrates the choices countries have made when constructing their FREL/FRLs and areas for improvement identified during technical assessments. Such information can help countries to learn from each other.

This report provides an update on forest reference (emission) levels (FREL/FRLs) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) results submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and relevant developments under the Green Climate Fund concerning REDD+ results-based payments. It illustrates the choices countries have made when constructing their FREL/FRLs and areas for improvement identified during technical assessments. As of early July 2019, the following REDD+ measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) milestones had been achieved: 39 countries had submitted 45 FREL/FRLs to the UNFCCC for technical assessment; 8 countries had reported REDD+ results to the UNFCCC through ten submissions (in the REDD+ technical annex of their biennial update reports), totalling more than 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) in emission reductions. Two funding proposals (Brazil and Ecuador) for REDD+ results-based payments had been approved by the Green Climate Fund. The aim of this paper is to inform countries about recent developments in the MRV of REDD+ activities under the UNFCCC. Certain developments are detailed out in the report, such as progress in uncertainty reporting and methods used to assess deforestation. Such information can help countries to learn from each other’s experiences and thus facilitate South–South knowledge exchange on REDD+.

The aim of this publication is to inform countries about the latest developments in the Measurement, Reporting and Verification for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and the role of sustainable management of forests, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, known as REDD+. It provides an update on forest reference (emission) levels (FREL/FRLs) and REDD+ results submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report illustrates the choices that countries made when they constructed their FREL/FRLs and areas for improvement identified during technical assessments. The report also provides an update of the evolving context of REDD+, including a summary of the Green Climate Fund’s recently approved pilot programme for results-based payments for REDD+. As of early 2018, the following REDD+ measurement, reporting and verification milestones had been achieved: Thirty-four countries had submitted 38 FREL/FRLs to the UNFCCC for technical assessment. The UNFCCC had published 22 FREL/FRL technical assessment reports, and a further 16 technical assessments were ongoing. Four countries had reported REDD+ results to the UNFCCC through five REDD+ results submissions (in the REDD+ technical annex of their biennial update reports), totalling more than 6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent in emission reductions, mostly in Brazil. All five technical analyses of REDD+ results had been completed. Eighty-eight percent of the countries that had submitted FREL/FRLs had completed or were establishing national forest inventories.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been providing support to member countries on national forest monitoring for decades. Best practices and lessons learned from this support are summarized in FAO´s Voluntary guidelines on national forest monitoring (VGNFM). The guidelines provide principles, elements and best practices for the establishment and implementation of a multipurpose National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS). The aim of this paper is to strengthen the elements and guidelines provided in the VGNFM in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). It also includes a deeper analysis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change decisions and the most recent methodological recommendations provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, focusing on the three pillars of an NFMS for REDD+: a Satellite Land Monitoring System, a National Forest Inventory, and REDD+ reporting, including the combination of remote-sensing and ground-based forest inventory to estimate anthropogenic forest related Greenhouse Gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks.

Amid the discontent of developing countries about the lack of reliable finance for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), the issue of verification of results-based activities reached an impasse in the 2012 Doha negotiation round of the UN Climate Convention, leading to the suspension of the formulation of a REDD+ Methodological Guidance. The disillusion about REDD+ finance mainly stems from the weakness of demand on carbon markets. Presently, development assistance is the main funding source, which brings up the old debate around aid conditionality, because obviously ‘results-based’ implies conditionality for funding. This paper assesses the issues of REDD+ financing and verification in the context of the negotiation positions of the key countries in the present debate. In its preparation, a number of interviews with REDD+ negotiators have been undertaken, in order to better understand the different positions. The study first narrows down the focus on international verification to UN-based funding mechanisms, while bilateral and multilateral funding for individual country activities will usually be granted under individually agreed conditions. Summing up, the study proposes options for the consistent verification of all Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Options, of which REDD+ is only one, under a transparent, peer-reviewed International Assessment and Review process. The more realistic proposal seems to be a second-best option of verifying REDD+ activities only. A REDD+ Effectiveness Assessment is proposed for internationally results-based finance for REDD+ emission reductions at national level. Different modalities are discussed for the choice of reviewers.

Livestock food systems need to be rapidly rethought to tackle the global climate crisis. This book examines how climate concerns for the livestock sector are governed in international law and addresses the sector's inclusion (or lack thereof) across the international governance of climate change, agriculture, forests and trade. The book provides a wide-ranging analysis of legal regimes at the international level that affect emissions from cattle (and where relevant, livestock more broadly). On this basis, tensions, interactions, and common themes for livestock emissions mitigation across the international climate change, forestry, agricultural and agri-trade regime are identified. This showcases where productive synergies and damaging tensions have emerged across the cross-cutting nature of livestock governance, enabling goals of fairer and more effective emissions mitigation for the sector to be achieved. In addition to addressing issues such as food security and public health, the book highlights the problem of affluence in reducing cattle emissions from meat consumption. This key insight is significant in terms of tackling future livestock emissions trajectories, particularly in relation to securing climate justice within the agricultural sector and securing equitable and effective livestock solutions. The book is a key text for all those with an interest in the legal governance of climate change and agriculture, adding to the timely debate on the future sustainability of the global diet and the relationship between affluence and climate change.

Climate change is a major challenge for agriculture, a vital source of food, income and employment for most of the world’s poor. Agricultural investments, as a result, need to become more climate sensitive. This is as true for general agricultural investments focused on development outcomes as for projects specifically addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. This comprehensive knowledge product provides investment practitioners with practical reference material on integrating climate risk considerations at all stages of the investment project cycle, from design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Produced by multidisciplinary teams across FAO, the knowledge product is organized as a compendium of modules and thematic sections. It builds on a 2012 FAO guidance document and draws on the most recent information and data sources, including the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. It also showcases FAO-developed tools, tested approaches and selected experiences, and discusses climate financing opportunities for agriculture.