RECOFTC
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REDD+ Partnerships, Processes, People…

04 October 2010
Ben Vickers, RECOFTC
Stories of Change
The Center for People and Forests

Talks about talks about REDD are underway again. Two days before the Tianjin round officially began, the REDD+ partnership met to discuss how to pay for REDD+ readiness, how effective multilateral efforts have been so far, and the latest happenings with country-level work. 

So what’s new? Benoit Bosquet of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility reported that a planned analysis, looking at how multilateral institutions can link up for REDD readiness efforts, has not begun for lack of available consultants.  Now that is a little puzzling – if there’s one thing the world is certainly not short of, it’s REDD consultants.

Duncan Marsh of The Nature Conservancy – the lead agency in the RAFT program – reported that REDD+ partnership efforts to coordinate financing for readiness is a “useful first step.” The formation of the REDD+ partnership is itself a progressive step, of sorts. But, according to Chris Lang of REDD Monitor, and most civil society organizations following this topic, it’s a step down a narrow, private track with severely restricted access. The workshop on Saturday reinforced this impression as discussions on multistakeholder engagement were very much an afterthought. Others are reporting a general lack of confidence in the ability of the joint chairs of the partnership – both from the Asia-Pacific region – to move the agenda forward. Moreover, for many developing countries, the focus on the REDD+ partnership risks subverting the carefully-balanced process in the UNFCCC negotiations.

 There has been some notable practical progress with readiness programs. Over the last year, the UN-REDD work in Vietnam has got ‘boots on the ground,’ moving on from strategy development to the testing of field activities – particularly with the process for obtaining (or not) Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). RECOFTC was involved in developing a toolkit for evaluating this process, which will hopefully lead towards a more efficient and effective process by the time countries are ready to implement their national REDD+ strategies. Vietnam’s movement on FPIC is an important step forward for addressing civil society concerns about the social impacts of REDD+.  Other countries need to catch up.