Category Archives: Indigenous peoples

Surinamese government, indigenous groups and NGOs join together to protect forests

By | Bio | Published: March 30, 2011

As EDF’s Amazon Basin Project coordinator, I spend much of my time working in Latin America with our non-governmental allies to discuss REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) with indigenous groups.

REDD+ has come so far since conceived two decades ago; the general framework has been approved by the United Nations, and now countries will be spending time in the UN meetings hammering out the details at the international level.

In the meantime, EDF is partnering with groups like the Coordinating Body of the Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples (COICA), the Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM), and U.S.-based Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) to help tropical rainforest countries and local governments with preparing for REDD+ policies to go into effect – what’s called “REDD+ Readiness.”  (Read about our REDD+ training workshops in Ecuador).

Suriname: a young country with a great opportunity for REDD+

The smallest independent country in South America, Suriname is covered mostly by tropical forests, which are threatened by logging, mining and new development. (photo credit: Wayne Walker, WHRC)

COICA recently organized a REDD+ training workshop in the small South American country of Suriname to educate their fellow Indigenous leaders.  (EDF, IPAM, and WHRC were there to help with presentations on REDD+ Readiness information and logistics.)

Suriname is a densely forested country that’s home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and for its size one of the most ethnically diverse in the world.  Its topical forests, which cover most of the country, and biodiversity stand to benefit greatly from REDD+ policies as the country faces a growing interest in logging, mining, and new development, which would further contribute to the country’s deforestation and threaten the forests’ biodiversity.

Suriname is also a young country – having only gained independence from The Netherlands in 1975, it still has many basic issues to work through before REDD+ could be implemented.

Government participates with indigenous groups to conserve forests

Surinamese workshop participants participate in “REDD+ Readiness” training sessions to learn how to reduce deforestation in their country. (photo credit: Wayne Walker, WHRC)

These REDD+ training workshops are typically conducted by non-governmental organizations and attended by a number of indigenous group leaders, but this one was unique: for the full five-day workshop, the Surinamese government participated side-by-side with the indigenous leaders to learn the most effective ways to preserve the country’s forests.

During the workshop, various government officials presented how their respective ministries are developing policies related to REDD+.  The government officials’ involvement is important because policy development for the REDD+ programs requires a great deal of collaboration between indigenous groups, who will be most affected by the policies, and the government, which is designing the policies.  It’s a common problem in REDD+ countries for the government and indigenous groups to have only limited dialogue, so the earlier these conversations take place in Suriname’s REDD+ process, the more constructive the conversations will be.

A big challenge facing Suriname that is also a basic tenet for any potentially successful REDD+ program is determining the country’s laws on ownership of land and resources.

There are still many areas of the country and indigenous groups that lack “titles” to their lands, which means indigenous groups don’t have official ownership of the land they’re living on, and consequently don’t have the legal ability to decide whether potential deforestation activities such as logging and natural resource extraction can happen.  Indigenous groups are pushing for full ownership rights for REDD+ activities, which would allow the groups to reap the benefits of activities they choose to allow on their land.

Since the government is still in the process of determining how to address the land-titling, the workshop sparked spirited discussions between the indigenous leaders and government officials, addressing both sides of the challenges of determining the land-titling.

A government official works with Surinamese indigenous leaders to measure the circumference of trees during a REDD+ Readiness workshop. (photo credit: Wayne Walker, WHRC)

But by the workshop’s end, the indigenous groups understood very well that before REDD+ could work for them and their lands, the government first needed to determine their rights to their land and resources.  Government interest in REDD+ finance can help indigenous groups win recognition of their land and resource rights when governments realize that these will be crucial to accessing REDD+ markets.  Another potential way of addressing this issue is to define REDD+ as an “environmental service” and ensure that those providing the service, including indigenous communities, are the beneficiaries.

A resolution for the land rights in Suriname (and thus full REDD+ policies) is likely still years away, but it’s critical for all parties to continue a constructive dialogue like this throughout the process. The recognition of rights and new dialogues and cooperation between governments and indigenous leaders will ensure successful REDD+ programs.

Also posted in Deforestation, REDD | 1 Response

People, plots and pixels: both high- and low-tech skills needed to measure carbon in forests

By | Bio | Published: March 1, 2011

This post was originally featured on the World Bank's Development in a Changing Climate blog.

If you are in a forest in Ecuador and see indigenous communities standing with an android phone, a measuring tape and a good pair of boots, don’t be surprised. These ‘indigenous forest carbon monitors’ have been trained to collect field data by measuring a 40m x 40m sample plot. They align the center of the square plot with a GPS coordinate associated with the center of a satellite footprint, and measure the diameter of the trees in the plot. Once the measurements of the trees are determined, they are sent via phone to scientists who use satellite images – and now even images available on Google Earth – to estimate the amount of carbon stored in forests.

Indigenous forest carbon monitors practice using a GPS device, whose readings will be used along with satellite imagery to determine the density of forests. (photo credit: Max Nepstad, WHRC)

These communities can efficiently traverse terrain that is typically inaccessible to foreign technicians. The result is better forest carbon density maps that can determine changes in the amount of forest carbon present over time.

With the cutting and burning of trees contributing to about 15% of global carbon dioxide emissions, any realistic plan to reduce global warming pollution sufficiently – and in time to avoid dangerous consequences – must rely in part on preserving tropical forests.

A critical part of ensuring that the rate of deforestation is decreasing – and the part where skeptics are most vocal – is monitoring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) the area and density of forests. The MRV process measures the amount of carbon stored in a forest, and also helps make sure that further deforestation and degradation do not occur. It also requires both modern technology and old fashioned boots on the ground.

Modern technology, boots on the ground both needed for good forest monitoring

On the technical side, scientists analyze thousands of different satellite images, developing sophisticated algorithms to estimate the amount of carbon stored in forests based on what they see in the pictures.

However, accurately translating what they see to actual carbon estimates requires large amounts of “field data” – the boots on the ground.  This presents a great opportunity for indigenous communities to play a leading role in helping to reduce deforestation.

Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have partnered with the Coordinating Body of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA) to host a number of training workshops in Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, where measuring forest carbon was one of the most popular portions of the workshop that introduced them to REDD+ – reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

WHRC, COICA, and EDF have identified many opportunities for Indigenous Peoples with proper training to contribute to the MRV of REDD+ policies. There is increasing interest and demand by local communities to be involved in the development of national forest carbon MRV systems, and a lot of potential for the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) program, for example, to help stimulate demand for indigenous involvement in MRV through programs at the national level. The next couple of years are crucial for many countries who are now developing forest carbon MRV systems on a national level, and it is important to ensure that these plans include Indigenous Peoples.

REDD+ policies are currently being negotiated at international climate talks, and MRV will be a particularly hot topic at this year’s meetings, particularly given that its design – and role for Indigenous Peoples – was left undetermined at the 2010 U.N. climate change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico.

But groups aren’t waiting for the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to act. For example, as part of its Pan-Tropical Mapping Project, WHRC coordinates the technical skills of scientists, government technicians, and nongovernmental organizations throughout the world. Their capacity building efforts (through REDD+ workshops) with COICA are gaining international attention and have been the focus of a recent presentation to the World Bank.

With training, local indigenous peoples are using their familiarity with the forest to do the same job, but with a few added benefits. While they gain a marketable technical skill, they are able to collect more field data and across larger areas. They also tend to have a greater stake in the process and design of national deforestation policies, resulting in better policies. The process provides them with better information about the state of their forests, leading to better land management and prepares them for negotiations with government and private investors.

Learn more about EDF's work with indigenous peoples protecting forests and livelihoods in the Amazon Basin.

Also posted in Deforestation, REDD | Leave a comment

The Cancún Agreements: what they mean, where issues now stand, and where they’re going (to Durban!)

By | Bio | Published: December 15, 2010

Jennifer Haverkamp is EDF’s Managing Director for International Policy & Negotiations.

The deal U.N. climate negotiators reached last week in Cancún is modest, but the gathering’s dramatic conclusion does restore confidence in the U.N. process, which was limping badly after last year’s fiasco in Copenhagen.

Observers witnessed one of the most dramatic closing “plenary” sessions of the 16 years of negotiations yet, complete with rounds of standing ovations as the Mexican chair overrode Bolivia’s vocal objections and efforts to block adoption of the agreement.  But, seeing themselves as holding in their hands not just the fate of the U.N. climate process, but also the credibility of the multilateral system, 193 of the 194 countries united to adopt the “Cancún Agreements” and redefine what the climate convention’s “consensus” decision-making process means.

Unlike so many previous meetings, ministers and their negotiators vacated the Moon Palace beach resort with giddy relief and a renewed self-confidence in their ability to make progress in this particular forum.  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks appear to have stumbled back on track.

The Cancún Agreements

Once the euphoria wears off, the Cancún Agreements will look much like the Copenhagen Accord brought in from its limbo, but with more elaboration, more institutions and committees, and a detailed work program for 2011 that will necessitate additional negotiating sessions.

The Agreements contain no new binding national pledges to cut carbon emissions, and no decision about whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to cut greenhouse gases whose first “commitment period” is set to end in 2012.  But the Agreements do include a commitment by rich nations to create a $100 billion Green Climate Fund to help developing countries reduce their emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.  And for the first time, the UNFCCC has put its seal of approval on a framework for reducing emissions from deforestation.

The Cancún deal was reached in significant part by kicking down the road the most difficult decisions, such as the fate of the Kyoto Protocol’s second round of commitments, and how to merge the Kyoto agreement with the parallel “LCA” negotiating track, where negotiations over obligations for the U.S. and major developing countries are lodged.

The Agreements are a package of decisions balanced across the main areas of negotiation, and include:

  • a reaffirmation of countries’ Copenhagen Accord commitments to curb their greenhouse gas emissions (also known as mitigation)
  • a legal structure for the reporting and monitoring of mitigation and finance commitments
  • a strong decision on emissions from deforestation (REDD+)
  • the creation of a Green Fund and attendant institutional arrangements
  • “centers and networks” to advance the transfer of clean technology
  • institutions to assist developing countries with adaptation

What Cancún means for 2011’s Durban talks

Despite these successes, the prospects for achieving an overarching, legally binding agreement by the next Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP-17) in Durban, South Africa are not materially brighter than before.

With Japan and Russia adamantly declaring they won’t re-up their Kyoto commitments beyond 2012 without the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, India and China on board with commitments, and with no prospect of U.S. legislation anytime soon, the building blocks for a deal are still elusive.

Moreover, the South African hosts have large shoes to fill: Cancún’s success is widely attributed to the diplomatic skills of Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa, and its Special Representative on Climate and U.N. Permanent Representative, Luis Alfonso de Alba, and to Mexico’s ability to run an inclusive, transparent confidence building process throughout the year.

The UNFCCC remains a forum worthy of countries and non-governmental organizations’ active engagement, but all involved need to take a long-term view of its prospects for reaching a comprehensive agreement and meanwhile continue to pursue opportunities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in other forums.

Cancún outcomes: where policy issues stand now

On the first day of the talks, we shared a list of what we expected would be the most important issues to watch in Cancún.  It’s now clear that reducing emissions from deforestation and finance were big winners in the two-week conference, but each major policy saw some movement.

Here’s a breakdown of what happened with the main policy issues at COP-16 in Cancún, how our expectations fared, and what it means as countries turn their sights on COP-17 in Durban.

Avoiding Deforestation (REDD+)

In what Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared “undoubtedly one of the greatest outcomes of this conference”, the UNFCCC adopted a decision on deforestation and climate change.  Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) was seen by many as an area most likely to make some progress in Cancún if an overall agreement could be reached, but negotiators managed to exceed expectations, approving the key elements needed to make REDD+ a reality.

In a welcome move, negotiators agreed to all three proposed phases of REDD+: REDD+ readiness (phase 1), REDD+ implementation (phase 2), and results-based payment-for-performance (phase 3).  The agreement also includes a global goal for reducing emissions from deforestation, and allows for interim state-level REDD+ programs that have clear paths toward becoming national-level.

In the next year, countries will explore the options for financing all three phases and report back their findings in Durban.  To ensure REDD+ policies’ workability and durability, countries must use the sustainable and large-scale funding that carbon markets can generate, and heading out of Cancún, all but one country – Bolivia – agrees that markets should be explored.  The decision also instructs the technical advisory group to the Convention to decide on the monitoring, methods and safeguards needed to implement REDD+ in the next two years.

The basic framework that this decision creates will give countries and the private sector the needed guidance and certainty to make REDD+ a reality.  In a historic achievement, after five years of debate, the UNFCCC has put its seal of approval on REDD+.

Indigenous Peoples and REDD+

The role of stakeholders was strengthened through the REDD+ decision’s incorporation of social and environmental safeguards.  The decision includes transparency measures for protections for indigenous peoples, who are critically important to REDD+ policies because they are best-suited to monitor and protect their land from deforestation.

The Parties also agreed to tie financing for REDD+ activities to these environmental and social safeguards, meaning countries will have to show they are protecting forests and indigenous peoples in order to receive financing for their REDD+ projects and giving indigenous peoples more control over the financing of their development pathway.

The REDD+ decision also importantly includes a reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that could provide for annual reporting of social safeguards by countries to the UNFCCC, and should provide a safeguard framework from which to start REDD+ readiness work.

Finance

Finance has been and remains one of the lynchpins for a comprehensive global climate deal.  Cancún produced a good, balanced result, establishing a Green Climate Fund (GCF) while focusing more on institutional arrangements for finance than on by when and from where funds might come.  The GCF, a top-line demand of developing countries, will disburse funds devoted to climate mitigation and adaptation activities.

The funds are to be governed by a board of 24 members – with equal representation from developed and developing countries – and includes mechanisms that allow recourse to experts.  The structure also ingeniously addresses the concerns of the developing world; instead of using current and existing institutions for setting the guidelines and the delivery of long-term finances, the World Bank is deemed an interim trustee of the funds for the next three years and will manage and deliver the funds under direction from the Board with clear administration and accounting guidelines.  Under this process, Parties will have transparency and control of the process, and are ensured balance between financing activities for climate mitigation and adaptation.

For short-term finance issues, the Cancún Agreements reiterate developed countries’ commitments in the Copenhagen Accord to deliver on “fast-start finance” within three years, and include commitments to better reporting, balance among themes (e.g. adaptation, mitigation, forestry, and capacity building), and prioritization for the most vulnerable nations.

Now long-term finance will be the larger focus, though Parties postponed addressing sources of finance and commitments, instead taking note of the report of the U.N. Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Finance (AGF) and designating a Standing Committee for the Fund to mobilize resources for long-term financing.  This postpones – to Durban or beyond – a discussion of long term finance options, pending establishment of the Committee.

The AGF report clearly indicates there are multiple ways to reach the targeted $100 billion-per-year climate funding by 2020, including well-designed and transparent market mechanisms.  Governments must take the first step in providing financing, but ultimately the only truly scalable and sustainable source of finance is the private sector, responding to proper government incentives – which is why it was encouraging to see in the negotiating text language supportive of markets.

To ensure effectiveness and build confidence in the GCF, the global community must now guarantee transparency and accountability in how the funds are generated, allocated, and spent.

Shared Vision (Long-Term Targets) and Pledges

One of the most contentious issues in the negotiations, and a top priority for the United States, was giving the emission reduction pledges of last year’s Copenhagen Accord a more formal status under the U.N. climate agreement.  Because they spanned both developed and developing country commitments, and thus departed from the Kyoto Protocol’s stark division of responsibility, where and how this was done carried major baggage.  Ultimately, the Parties simply “took note of” the pledges, arguably little improvement over their taking note of the Copenhagen Accord.

The Parties did, however, agree on the need to take urgent action to meet the long-term goal of holding temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius, a level above which the planet is expected to suffer serious irreversible impacts.  Notably, they also agreed on the need for “peaking emissions”, and to work in 2011 towards identifying a timeframe for when emissions at a global level should reach their peak and begin declining.  And, addressing a “must have” of the Small Island States, they agreed to a review and possible strengthening of the goal to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  Agreeing on an actual collective emissions reduction goal by 2050 was postponed until Durban.

Transparency & Accountability (MRV)

Thanks in large part to a compromise proposal from India’s Minister Ramesh, the U.S. and China were able to reach agreement on their biggest sticking point: transparency and accountability (known in the UNFCCC as monitoring, reporting, and verification, or MRV) for developed and developing countries’ mitigation actions and for the financing of developing country actions.

The agreement requires developed countries to enhance the reporting of their mitigation actions (including submitting annual emission inventories and reporting on their progress in achieving their emissions reductions), and also to improve the reporting of their financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries.  It requires developing countries to improve their reporting on emissions and actions, with their reports subject to domestic monitoring, reporting, and verification “in accordance with guidelines to be developed under the Convention”.  The reports will also be reviewed by independent technical experts.

The Parties also agreed on a workplan for enhancing the relevant guidelines.  These provisions are an important step toward national accountability, but what precisely goes into those guidelines, how they are applied, and how they are enforced remain crucial open questions that will have to be answered credibly if the UNFCCC is to support a viable global carbon market and ensure that countries deliver the emission reductions needed to avert dangerous climate change.

Land-Use and Forestry

Heading into Cancún, hopes were high that agreement could be reached on the accounting rules for emissions from changes in land use (like forestry), which are a prerequisite to setting targets for the Kyoto Parties’ second commitment period.  Parties in Cancún had the opportunity to reach consensus on robust rules with strong environmental integrity that would enhance accuracy, comparability, completeness, consistency, and transparency in land-use accounting – but they only managed a few baby steps toward this goal. ‪

Parties ultimately agreed to require developed countries to undertake a technical review of how they were constructing their chosen forest-accounting baselines (initial level of emissions), and agreed on a detailed set of guidelines for conducting such reviews with environmental integrity.  The technical review process was developed in response to developing countries’ (and non-governmental organizations’) concerns about potential loopholes and a lack of transparency.

These scientific reviews will ensure developed countries will be forthcoming about their data in a comparable and consistent way; their data will be reviewed by independent experts from around the world; and the review process will catch any problems.  The strength of this review process also creates a powerful disincentive for any Party that is considering a baseline that isn't comparable, consistent, or as accurate as other Parties'.

All other questions were put off – including those that could have made progress toward delivering a complete package, like forest management baselines, and the accounting for harvested wood – with the intention of finalizing them by Durban, when Parties will also have the benefit of seeing the results of the technical reviews.  In the meantime, countries should focus on accomplishing a robust and timely review, and resolving these remaining elements of the package in a way that maintains the environmental integrity of the system.

Future of the Kyoto Protocol

The Parties punted on one of the most contentious issues facing them: the fate of the Kyoto Protocol.  In Cancún, developed country parties to the Kyoto Protocol finally embraced a collective goal of reducing their emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, though with caveats, and without agreeing to a second round of emission reduction commitments after 2012.  Both Japan and Russia had announced they would not sign up for post-2012 obligations without seeing the United States and major emerging economies take on obligations as well.

Instead of forcing the issue, parties agreed that discussions will continue in the coming year, with the goal of avoiding a gap between the first and second commitment periods.  Also postponed to Durban were decisions on how long the second commitment period should be.

International Shipping & Aviation (Bunker Fuels)

Negotiations on the international transport sector reached a deadlock in Cancún, with Parties unable to agree on even the opening language of negotiating text to address bunker fuels, nor any general framework for an agreement, nor a work plan for the coming year headed toward Durban.‪

As such, Parties missed their opportunity to send a clear signal to the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization – the U.N. agencies for international maritime shipping and aviation affairs which have accomplished next to nothing on climate over 16 years – that greenhouse gas emissions from international transport must be regulated immediately. ‪

There is clear disagreement in multilateral negotiations on international shipping and aviation, which makes it even more important for regions and states to continue moving forward in regulating the emissions from these sectors.  The international forums should push forward on the development and implementation of global sectoral measures to reduce emissions from international transport.  However, they must work in parallel with regional systems, whose right to regulate these sectors instead of waiting for uncertain and belated action from these bodies should be preserved.

Momentum as preparations for Durban begin

Even though Cancún’s talks just ended, the trek to Durban has begun – and there’s a lot to be done before COP-17 starts on Nov. 28, 2011.  We expect the Parties will schedule several additional sessions between now and then to start hammering out some details and move negotiations forward before reconvening in South Africa.

This year’s measured success, particularly with REDD+ and finance, offers an encouraging start for the coming year, but it’s up to countries to maintain the momentum – and for nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholders to keep them headed toward the ambitious, durable outcome we so desperately need.

Many of our colleagues have also posted thoughtful analyses of the Cancún summit outcomes.  See, for example, posts by Harvard University’s Robert Stavins, World Resources Institute’s Jennifer Morgan, and Natural Resources Defense Councils’ Jake Schmidt.

**EDF’s international climate experts contributing to this blog post include Steve Schwartzman (REDD+, Indigenous Peoples); Gus Silva-Chávez (REDD+); Chris Meyer (Indigenous Peoples); Richie Ahuja (Finance); Gernot Wagner (Finance); Annie Petsonk (MRV, Future of Kyoto Protocol); Jason Funk (Land-Use and Forestry); Miriam Chaum (Land-Use and Forestry); and Jenny Cooper (International Shipping & Aviation).  You can read their updates from Cancún at http://blogs.edf.org/climatetalks/category/un-negotiations/cancun/.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), Deforestation, Forestry, News, REDD, UN negotiations | 2 Responses

Modest advances made at Cancún climate talks, forests and finance among winners

By | Published: December 11, 2010

After talks in Cancún predictably went hours over their scheduled Friday-evening end, the United Nations climate conference approved, early this morning, a modest package of climate initiatives that includes preserving forests and creating an international green fund.

Jennifer Haverkamp, managing director of EDF's international climate program, said the package of climate initiatives was "modest, but important":

The U.N. has now put its seal of approval on compensating countries for protecting their forests.  And Mexico’s skillful leadership here has helped to rebuild confidence in the U.N.  process.

However, not all issues were decided in the Cancún talks.  To reach agreements, the conference postponed some of the toughest decisions, but pledged to make progress on them before next year's meeting in Durban, South Africa.  Haverkamp said this morning's outcome:

represents only a fraction of what’s needed.  Despite the best efforts by many countries, glaciers are still melting faster than this process is moving.

Key components of the Cancún Agreements

The package of initiatives agreed to this morning, referred to as the "Cancún Agreements", includes provisions for:

  • Implementing key elements needed to compensate countries for protecting their forests under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).  The initiative includes environmental safeguards for preserving threatened forests and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The conference agreed to allow state-level REDD+ programs for a limited time, with a clear goal of establishing nationwide programs.
  • Creating a Green Climate Fund to help developing countries find ways to reduce their emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.
  • Transparency and accountability. The conference agreed to obligations and the development of guidelines for accurately accounting for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and for countries' financing commitments.

This is part of a series from EDF's experts, who are blogging regularly from the U.N. climate conference in Cancún on EDF's Climate Talks blog.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), Deforestation, News, REDD, UN negotiations | 1 Response

Indigenous peoples march for rights in Cancún, not against reducing deforestation policies

By | Bio | Published: December 7, 2010

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post mentioned the indigenous peoples’ march was not in rejection of carbon markets, however the press release issued by the group does have language rejecting carbon markets.  This post reflects the correct information, and we apologize for the error.

One of the more anticipated events at the U.N. climate conferences is the annual civil society protest-march held during the negotiations.  This year’s in Cancún has already received a lot of attention because of the anticipated larger-than-normal participation by indigenous peoples and rural groups.

There have been rumors for weeks now that this year’s march would be to protest policies for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

However, it was encouraging to see the press release from the official indigenous peoples caucus, which says, instead, the indigenous peoples are marching to request that a future global climate deal:

  1. Respect the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples contained in the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): UNDRIP is actually contained in the annex on safeguards for REDD+ implementation, so they already have this in place in a final agreement.
  2. Respect Their Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC): Indigenous peoples want the right to say “no” to any REDD+ projects on their land.  FPIC is contained in UNDRIP, so it is technically already in a potential final agreement on REDD+.  However, indigenous peoples would like to see it explicitly included.
  3. Recognition and respect of indigenous peoples traditional knowledge and use of it as a solution for climate change: Indigenous peoples have been conserving the forest since the beginning, and they want some of their knowledge used and recognized.  In a sense, they are saying “Work with us when you are designing REDD+ programs because we can make them better.”  The potential REDD+ final agreement does already require "full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular, indigenous peoples and local communities" in REDD+ programs.

Indigenous peoples, who contribute crucial expertise and traditional knowledge about the forests and are the best-suited to monitor and protect the trees, must play a central role in REDD+. Above: an indigenous community learns how to estimate the amount of carbon is stored in the tree, which they will report for future REDD+ projects.

The Coordinating Organization for the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA), an indigenous peoples group who EDF works with, recently spoke about their organization’s REDD policy.  COICA is not for or against REDD+, but requests certain rights be recognized, such as right to land, resources and self-determination.  Once these rights are ensured, COICA believes, indigenous peoples can make a decision for themselves whether to participate in REDD+ projects or not.  EDF also believes these rights to land, resources and self-determination are the foundation for any REDD+ project or program to be successful.

Back at today’s march, sure there were groups participating with an anti-REDD+ message – but they are not the majority.  To place all indigenous peoples in the category of anti-REDD+ groups is a mistake, especially given the official statement from their caucus saying nothing of the sort.

There are a number of indigenous groups within – and outside – the U.N. climate negotiations, and we’re encouraged to see the focus of the official indigenous peoples’ march is not against REDD+, but instead for recognition of their own rights.

This is part of a series from EDF's experts, who are blogging regularly from the U.N. climate conference in Cancún on EDF's Climate Talks blog.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), News, REDD, UN negotiations | 7 Responses

Brazil’s record-low 2010 deforestation more proof U.N. must act on avoiding deforestation

By | Bio | Published: December 2, 2010

Brazil’s announcement of a record low in Amazon deforestation in the last year is tangible evidence of why negotiators at the U.N. climate conference in Cancún, Mexico can and should move forward on a global plan for preserving forests.

Brazil's deforestation hit a record low in 2010, due largely to successful policies -- including protecting indigenous lands -- being discussed now in the U.N. climate conference in Cancún. Above: deforestation in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

While the U.N. is mired in debate over what negotiating text they should use and whether policies for REDD+ (Reducing in Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) can really work, Brazil has already laid the groundwork for REDD+.

Brazil has slowed deforestation to a record low of about 6,000 square kilometers in 2010 – what amounts to a 14% drop from last year and a whopping 67 percent from the average rate between 1996 and 2005 – and has shown how REDD+ can work in practice.

Critical elements of Brazil’s effort include:

  1. improvements in enforcing laws
  2. using top-of-the-line satellite measurement systems
  3. large-scale creation of new parks and reserves, including extensive indigenous territories, in active agriculture frontiers

Brazil has also created a national baseline from which to start measurements (the average deforestation from 1996–2005), and is developing equitable ways of distributing benefits.

Cancún talks should look to Brazil's success with avoiding deforestation

In Cancún, U.N. negotiators need to stop quibbling over text and take a closer look at how REDD+ can work in real life.  Brazil is leading the world in preserving its valuable forests, protecting its indigenous people and curbing carbon emissions.

The evidence is in: there is now peer-reviewed science that shows that Brazil's creation of new protected areas the size of France – which include indigenous lands – contributed very substantially to its historic reductions in national deforestation.  Recognizing indigenous rights and protecting their territories is clearly central to stopping large-scale deforestation, and this is working in Brazil.

Brazil has also done an outstanding job ramping up law enforcement, and creating new protected areas, creating a real impact on reducing deforestation.

But to make these reductions sustainable over time, Brazil needs to create positive incentives for forest conservation — for indigenous and traditional communities and for small and large farmers.

That’s where REDD+, and the carbon markets it would create to help protect forests, can help Brazil and other forested nation on the globe.

This is part of a series from EDF's experts, who are blogging regularly from the U.N. climate conference in Cancún on EDF's Climate Talks blog.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), Deforestation, REDD, UN negotiations | Leave a comment

Indigenous peoples' informed voices critical in Cancún

By | Bio | Published: December 1, 2010

One of the biggest issues expected to be addressed in the U.N. climate summit that started Monday in Cancún, Mexico is Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

REDD+ policies provide economic incentives for forest conservation by taking into account the amount of carbon trees store and putting a value on living forests and their ecosystems, but REDD+ also has an important human element to it.

A critical component of making REDD+ policies effective is engaging indigenous peoples who both rely on the rainforests for their survival and have valuable knowledge of the forest lands.  Their livelihoods and cultures are put at risk when forests are destroyed, so they have a great deal to gain from preserving their forests through the REDD+ approach.

Indigenous peoples’ involvement within U.N. climate process increasingly strong

Nearly 250 indigenous leaders from around the world, skilled at lobbying for areas of concern for them, are participating in the U.N. climate negotiations going on now in Cancún. (photo credit: Max Nepstad, WHRC)

Many indigenous leaders from around the world have recently become involved in the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations, after years of being cut out of political decision-making processes here and in their home countries.

This year, nearly 250 indigenous leaders from around the world are participating in the negotiations in Cancún.

These indigenous leaders have, through their sustained efforts, become experts in many issues within the negotiations, and represent countries, their own indigenous organizations or other “civil society” organizations.  Through their intensive involvement in the negotiation process over the last few years, they have become very skilled at lobbying for areas of concern for them, such as the reference to the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples in the REDD+ negotiation text.

Indigenous leaders within the U.N. are effective representatives of indigenous issues

It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of protests against large institutions like the U.N., but it’s important to remember that the official participation of indigenous peoples within the U.N. process is already making encouraging process.

In a paper by the Foundation for International and Environmental Law and Development earlier this year, Chair of the REDD negotiating group Tony La Vina wrote that when compared to other stakeholders in REDD+ negotiations, indigenous peoples were the most effective at lobbying for their issues (pg. 16).

Various indigenous leaders are now part of their governments’ official delegations and directly involved in formulating policy.   And while leaders who are on their countries’ official delegations do have to follow their government’s line of policy when speaking at the conference, they also have access to and are able to participate in meetings that are closed to civil society organizations.

Many indigenous leaders see the U.N. process as a positive step toward increased human rights through the processes at the national level that the U.N. and other REDD+ processes have delivered, and participation within the U.N. process is a positive step in the development of indigenous peoples’ dialogue with their governments.

EDF is working with indigenous leaders at the Cancún negotiations to ensure that REDD+ policies being negotiated increase both the protection of the human rights of the indigenous peoples who live in the rainforests and the conservation of the world’s forests.

This is part of a series from EDF's experts, who are blogging regularly from the U.N. climate conference in Cancún on EDF's Climate Talks blog.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), REDD, UN negotiations | Leave a comment

Cancún climate talks: policy issues to watch

By | Published: November 30, 2010

EDF's experts have been closely tracking policy issues at the United Nations climate talks in Cancún, where representatives from nearly 200 countries have come together for two weeks for the annual meeting of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In our opening statement and blog yesterday, we identified avoiding deforestation, increasing transparency and financing climate change mitigation activities as critical issues that the Cancun conference must address to move negotiations forward.

Our team has been following these policy issues and others, and below we highlight some background and recommendations for issues we expect will feature prominently in the negotiations. (Note: due to the nature and complexity of these policies, some of our explanations are more detailed than others.)

Cancún Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP-16)

Historically, the UNFCCC has served as the primary forum for developing consensus-based global agreements to address climate change.  Since last year’s meeting in Copenhagen, where countries fell short of agreeing to a comprehensive new treaty, the best way forward has not been clear.  Going into Cancún, there are encouraging signs that Parties are still invested in coming to an agreement within the U.N. process.

However, reaching consensus will take a long time, and, as Parties continue to work on this overall agreement in the UNFCCC forum, they fortunately are not waiting on an outcome from the U.N. before they start taking actions domestically.  Instead, a parallel process is emerging at countries’ national and sub-national levels, where countries and regions are developing their own paths forward to curbing climate change, including through bilateral and multilateral deals.

No binding treaty is expected to come out of Cancún, but countries can and should develop a work plan and timetable for the coming year leading up to 2011’s conference in South Africa and, if possible, agree on a balanced package of interim decisions in key areas.  Success in Cancún will be defined by enough continued momentum to both reenergize the U.N. negotiating process and put the world back on track to an eventual comprehensive approach to reducing global emissions and achieving climate safety.

Measurement, Reporting & Verification (MRV)

Transparency and accountability are critically important issues with respect to ensuring countries meet both their mitigation commitments and their financing commitments, and devising appropriate rules for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) is a central issue on the table in Cancún.  Experience indicates that nations often are willing to agree to more comprehensive mutual inspection and verification systems on a bilateral basis than they will agree to in a multilateral context.  We look forward to nations launching a process in Cancún to develop an MRV framework in the UNFCCC, while at the same time advancing the MRV issues through bilateral and regional approaches as well.

Finance

Key finance issues on the table in Cancún include developing an institutional structure for the Green Fund and mustering the political will to ramp up long-term financial commitments.  It is clear from the U.N. Advisory Group on Finance report that getting to the pledged $100b-per-year funding for climate mitigation activities is possible, but doing so will require serious political will and economic incentives.

The most fundamental such incentive is a price on carbon of around $20-25 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions in key emitters by 2020. Strong policies such as energy efficiency standards are equally important to bend the greenhouse gas trajectory. Policy makers must step up to the plate now.

Direct public finance will be necessary to catalyze private finance. Regardless of the source, there must be transparency and accountability in how the funds are generated, allocated, and spent.  Ultimately the only truly scalable and sustainable source of finance is the private sector, yet governments must take the first step.

Parties also must come to an agreement on institutional structure, which must be transparent, accountable, and efficient, and a framework for action to establish it.

Avoiding Deforestation (REDD+)

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is one of the policy areas in the UNFCCC negotiating texts with the least amount of language still is bracketed (meaning still under discussion), and is among the areas most likely to see progress in Cancún – if countries have the political will to do so.

As written, the REDD+ policy will be implemented in three stages; in Cancún, Parties should agree to a decision on the widely supported first two phases of REDD+, including REDD+ readiness (phase 1) and – if some issues are overcome – REDD+ implementation (phase 2).  REDD+’s 3rd phase, which includes more contentious issues like establishing a market for REDD+ credits and which allows “sub-national accounting”, can be finalized in next year’s meeting in South Africa.

A major consideration in developing REDD+ policies is the role of indigenous peoples, who are the best-suited to monitor and protect their land from deforestation.  Many indigenous peoples support REDD+ activities that protect their rights to their land and resources, and seek recognition of the principles from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  The indigenous peoples caucus in the UNFCCC also wants the funds generated from their conservation roles in REDD+ policies to be used to finance a development pathway that they control.

The REDD+ language under consideration could be improved if it strengthened protections for indigenous people, increased the role of stakeholders in negotiating processes, and provided greater clarity on technical issues, such as how a country can set up its baseline (initial level of emissions) and basic elements needed for its national action plan to implement REDD+.  However, if Parties in Cancún can agree on the first two phases of REDD+ and maintain or strengthen the policy’s current language, a strong REDD+ final package should be attainable next year in South Africa.

Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF)

Accounting rules for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) activities should be decided before countries set their emissions reductions targets.  In Cancún, Parties have the opportunity to reach consensus on robust rules with strong environmental integrity that will enhance accuracy, comparability, completeness, consistency, and transparency in the accounting.

Parties need to take the important step of making accounting for forest management activities mandatory for all Parties.  The accounting rules for forest management should reward countries who put in place better management practices, and should penalize Parties who do not.  To achieve this, the process for constructing baselines needs to place stricter limitations on the policies and measures that may be included in the reference level by limiting them to 2005 at the latest.  A cut-off date of 2005 will allow Parties to properly reward additional activities undertaken since the Kyoto Protocol came into force and will prevent perverse incentives for recent and planned increases in emissions.  This step should be coupled with a stronger review process for the baselines, to make it more transparent, consistent, and accurate.

To increase transparency in the review process, party submissions and reviewers’ comments should be made available to stakeholders so that stakeholders are able to evaluate and respond.  To improve consistency, Parties should work to standardize their expectations about global factors that affect forest management decisions.  To improve accuracy, the teams who perform the reviews should be explicitly authorized to recommend potential solutions to any problems identified in the data and methodologies, in the same way review teams are currently enabled under the Kyoto Protocol.  These steps will help establish strong incentives for better forest management practices.

Beyond forests, Parties should also make progress toward expanding accounting to include more land management activities, such as cropland and wetland management.  One step in this direction would be to adopt a broader definition of “wetland management” – one that includes changes to hydrology, ecology, and water chemistry.  Including these land management activities in the accounting and defining “wetland management” will both make accounting for land use more accurate and provide incentives for better management of these.

Kyoto Protocol

Parties in Cancún should continue to strengthen and increase emissions reductions commitments in the Kyoto Protocol framework to establish a strong U.N. backbone for “bottom-up” regional and state-level actions and a robust carbon market.

While the first commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol is scheduled to end in 2012, the framework, including its mechanisms and accounting system, should continue to exist after 2012.  In the event that there is no second commitment period (2013-2020 or 2013-2018) agreed, national-level surplus carbon allowances that are in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol should remain valid after 2012, which will help meet expectations from countries when they enter an international agreement.  Even if no second period is agreed on, to prepare for future commitments Parties should agree to a decision that extends the functioning of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation mechanisms after 2013.

In the long term, if the Parties succeed in devising a comprehensive new agreement, key elements of the Kyoto Protocol architecture – including its accounting system, carbon market, and compliance regulations – should become part of any new global climate agreement.  In the transition to such a new agreement, the Kyoto Protocol can play an important role in areas such as strengthening commitments of Kyoto Protocol Parties and strengthening rules for forestry and land-use policy.

International Shipping & Aviation (Bunkers)

Parties in Cancún need to send a clear message that greenhouse gas emissions from international transport must be regulated immediately.  For nearly two decades, countries party to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) — the U.N. agencies for international maritime shipping and aviation affairs — have made minimal progress in devising global, sectoral policies to regulate bunker fuels, the fuel that powers the engines in ships or aircraft.  To catalyze progress in these agencies, Parties in Cancún must reach a decision on bunker fuels that encourages IMO and ICAO to continue working toward global measures to reduce emissions from their respective sectors, while respecting the legal authority of regions and nations to regulate greenhouse gas emissions on their own.

This is part of a series from EDF's experts, who are blogging regularly from the U.N. climate conference in Cancún on EDF's Climate Talks blog.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), Deforestation, Forestry, REDD, UN negotiations | Leave a comment

Cancún climate talks can spur momentum toward global deal, national and regional actions

By | Published: November 29, 2010

The United Nations climate conference begins today in Cancún, Mexico — a two-week intensive negotiations session with nearly 200 countries meeting to broker a global deal addressing climate change, in a city best known for its white-sand beaches and spring break getaways.

Beyond the city's reputation as a vacation destination and the conference's casual dress code, in Cancún countries are finding themselves at a critical point when they need to restore momentum toward a global climate deal, even as many are embarking on their own domestic and regional efforts to curb climate change rather than waiting on a global deal.

U.N. forum can make progress on climate issues

The U.N. climate conference starting today in Cancún can make progress in global climate issues, especially in avoiding deforestation, transparency and finance. Countries are already taking their own actions domestically to curb climate change. (photo credit: UNFCCC)

The clouds of last year's hyped meeting in Copenhagen still loom over the negotiations, and both environmental groups and countries themselves have been tempering expectations for the Cancún summit after Copenhagen concluded with countries making only non-binding commitments in the conference’s final hours.

However, as the negotiations begin today alongside the sun and surf, EDF's Managing Director of International Climate Policy Jennifer Haverkamp said there are reasons to look to Cancún for some positive movement:

Despite the lowered expectations this year, it’s critical to remember that Cancún is an opportunity for countries to move forward on critical climate change issues. There is still positive progress to be made on curbing deforestation, increasing transparency, and financing climate change mitigation activities.

In parallel process, countries already taking national steps

Since the Copenhagen conference, there have been clear signs that parties are still interested in reaching an agreement within the U.N. process, and Cancún is their opportunity to show they can find a way — despite disagreements over some of the fundamental issues.

But as negotiators continue to work toward an overall agreement in the UNFCCC forum, nations are not waiting on an outcome from the U.N. before starting to take their own domestic and regional actions, in what has become a parallel process to that of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Haverkamp said:

While the U.N. will continue to be the preferred forum for reaching a global deal, the good news for a planet that can’t wait is that a parallel process is emerging at national and state levels, with countries and regions developing their own paths forward through domestic actions and bilateral and multilateral deals to curb climate change.

One example of success in this parallel process is when earlier this month the Governors of California, the Brazilian state of Acre and the Mexican state of Chiapas signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a working group to promote efforts on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) at the state level.  The MOU — whose working group will make recommendations to California’s Air Resources Board on how reductions in deforestation from Acre, Chiapas, and eventually other states enter California’s carbon market — clearly shows that state governments can take effective steps to substantially reduce emissions and grow their economies without waiting for an international agreement.

Opportunity in Cancún to move forward on critical issues

Haverkamp identified three critical issues the UNFCCC's Conference of the Parties (COP-16) needs to address in Cancún to move forward:

1. Implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

REDD+ policies have the best chances of advancing at Cancún of any of the climate effort.

But a major consideration in developing REDD+ must be indigenous peoples, who are the best-suited to monitor and protect their land from deforestation. The REDD+ language needs to strengthen protections for indigenous peoples, increase the role of stakeholders in the negotiating process and provide greater clarity on technical issues in establishing baselines for emissions and plans for implementing REDD.

2. Launch comprehensive and transparent monitoring, reporting and verification and reporting (MRV) systems that may be used in bilateral and regional agreements.

Experience shows that nations often are willing agree to more comprehensive inspection and verification systems on a bilateral basis than in a broader multilateral context.  We encourage negotiators to launch a process in Cancún to develop an international framework for monitoring, verification and reporting that can simultaneously be used by countries pursuing bilateral and regional approaches.

3. Establish transparency and accountability for climate financing efforts in developing nations, whether the sources are public or private.

It is clear from the Advisory Group on Finance report that getting to $100 billion per year in climate funding is possible, though it will require serious political will and incentives, and a price of at least $20-$25 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.

Direct public finance will be necessary to spur private finance, but regardless of the source, there must be transparency and accountability in how the funds are generated, allocated, and spent.

We must recognize that eventually it is private capital, the engine of global growth, that will shape the new carbon constrained global economy.

EDF has a team of experts on the ground in Cancún, and we'll be posting on this Climate Talks blog regularly — check back with us soon.

Also posted in Cancún (COP-16), Deforestation, Economics, Forestry, News, REDD, UN negotiations | Leave a comment

Ecuadorian indigenous community takes forest conservation into own hands

By | Bio | Published: October 29, 2010

The Shuar community is an indigenous group in the Ecuador Amazon Rainforest that is fiercely independent and has successfully kept mining and petroleum exploration off of its lands.  In that sense, the Shuar people have always been conservationists, and they’re now looking into how reducing deforestation can help them continue to conserve their homeland.

Indigenous community’s innovative conservation program goes national

Ecuador deforestation

Ecuador’s Shuar community developed its own program to prevent deforestation, a serious contributor to global warming pollution. (photo credit: Max Nepstad, WHRC)

A number of years ago, a Shuar community developed a conservation project in which the community could be compensated by the Ecuadorian government for conserving the group’s lands.

After successful implementation of this pilot program, Shaur leaders are now examining how this type of program might be translated into a larger project of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) for their entire territory.

The Shuar presented their pilot program to the Ecuadorian government, which then used it as a basis for the current Socio Bosque program that pays forest communities and individuals throughout the country to protect its forests.

Locals become leaders in protecting forests

Ecuador REDD training session

Workshop participants practice using a GPS device, which will be used, along with satellite imagery, to determine the density of the forest. (photo credit: Max Nepstad, WHRC)

A critical part of any REDD project is measuring the carbon in trees; that’s because the amount of compensation communities receive for conserving their forests is directly related to how much carbon the trees are estimated to hold.

In order to determine how much carbon the trees hold, certified technicians are sent into the forest to take necessary measurements, such as trees’ diameters and forest density.  Because the technicians generally are from urban areas, they often hire indigenous guides to help them find the specific locations required for measuring most efficiently.

But that’s changing, thanks to growing interest among indigenous communities in taking a greater role in conservation of their land, and the help of groups like Environmental Defense Fund and leaders like Juan Carlos Jintiach, a Shuar and the Chief of Economic Policy and International Cooperation for the Coordinating Organization for the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA).

Juan Carlos recognizes the opportunity for indigenous peoples to perform the measurements themselves.  Instead of having outsiders come in and measure the carbon in the community’s trees, indigenous communities can measure it themselves, earn good wages, and learn to value another resource in their forests: carbon.

Workshops offer paths to greater conservation, participation

Ecuador WHRC measuring trees

Workshop participants look on as Wayne Walker from Woods Hole Research Center (EDF’s partner) shows how to measure a tree’s diameter, which will help in estimating how much carbon the forest stores. (photo credit: Max Nepstad, WHRC)

Two weeks ago, EDF, with Woods Hole Research Center and COICA, co-hosted a workshop to train the Shuar on measuring carbon in forests.

The training workshop, which has been adapted for numerous other indigenous groups in the Amazon Basin, teaches and empowers indigenous peoples with technical skills needed for measuring carbon trapped in forests, like using a GPS to find specific coordinates; measuring out a 40 x 40 meter “parcel” of forest; and measuring the diameter of each tree in that area.

At the end of the three-day workshop, it was clear to me and all those involved that there is a great opportunity for indigenous peoples to use forest carbon measuring to contribute to REDD.

The indigenous leaders at our training left with a solid understanding that there are also opportunities for indigenous peoples to play a key role in and gain economically through conservation.  We hope this can, in turn, act as a catalyst for more indigenous participation in REDD, and potentially increase input by indigenous peoples into the development of government REDD policies.

But most importantly, indigenous peoples with forest carbon measuring skills will be able to generate not only good jobs for locals based on conservation, but also generate important information regarding the amount of carbon in their lands that will help them make better land management – and conservation – decisions for the future.

Learn more about our work with indigenous peoples protecting forests and livelihoods in the Amazon Basin.

Also posted in Deforestation, REDD | Leave a comment