The first expert meeting was held in in Brasilia, Brazil, from 14-15 July 2010. Participants discussed the development of a voluntary REDD+ database to track global activities on financing, actions, results and preliminary gap analysis. Discussions on the Partnership workplan and working modalities will continue at the August Bonn Climate Change Talks.

The Newsletter highlights several other recent meetings, including: a UN-REDD, Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, and the Forest Investment Program meeting to work on a joint paper on enhancing cooperation and coherence among REDD+ institutions; a workshop with indigenous people from Asia and the Pacific on applying the principles of free, prior and informed consent to REDD+ activities; and a meeting in Georgetown, Guyana to evaluate the Readiness Preparation Proposals (R-PPs) of Argentina, Costa Rica, Kenya, Nepal and the Republic of Congo

Commentaries in the Newsletter address REDD+ in Zambia and current issues with measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of REDD+ implementation. [UN-REDD July Newsletter]

The Assembly endorsed the recommendations of the Committee of Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) on the streamlined single negotiation structure at ministerial and expert levels, with a view to ensuring effective coordination on climate change towards the 16th and 17th sessions of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, to be held in Cancun, Mexico, in late 2010, and in South Africa in 2011, respectively. In addition, the Assembly endorsed the continued role of South Africa on the CAHOSCC in the run-up to COP17. African Governments expressed their intention to seek predictable and reliable financing to fight development challenges posed by climate change.

During the opening ceremony of the Assembly, on 25 July, Mexican President Felipe Calderón expressed hope that “in Cancún, all countries will be able to make a key contribution to the fight against climate change.” He stressed the need for African countries’ support and pragmatic approach to ensure that the Cancún Climate Change Conference will be “the start of a new era of agreements on climate change and the environment.”

On 27 July, Malawi President Bingu Wa Mutharika, Chairperson of the AU, delivered a speech on the African Food Basket as a new focused approach to agriculture and food security as the springboard for growth supported by strategic transport infrastructure, energy development, information communication technology, and climate change mitigation. He also stressed the need for African countries to strengthen national institutions responsible for monitoring natural disasters and environmental changes. During the closing ceremony of the Assembly, he appealed to all AU member States to champion the African Common Position on Climate Change in various fora and play a role in mitigating climate change effects. [South Africa press release] [Calderón’s speech] [Mutharika’s speech on the African Food Basket] [Mutharika’s speech at the Summit closing]

The Uganda POA is the first of its kind in the world, and promotes solid waste composting in urban areas, a system that, unlike landfills, returns organic matter to the soil, prevents land degradation, and significantly reduces methane emissions. The new program helps Ugandan municipalities set up waste composting facilities that are financially sustainable because of the revenues generated from the sale of both compost and carbon credits. A total of 156,889 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) and 52,296 Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) will be sold to the World Bank’s Community Development Carbon Fund.

The programme also builds on South-South linkages by harnessing expertise and models of simple composting development in South Asia. And it was designed with the involvement of experts from India, who will also offer monitoring and training support. [World Bank Press Release]

dates: 14-18 March 2011  
location: Tunis (Tunis), Tunisia  
contact: CIF Admin Unit  
phone: 1(202) 458-1801  
e-mail: CIFAdminUnit@worldbank.org  
www: http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/  

In line with the “BASIC-plus” approach, additional participants were invited, with the Special Envoy of Venezuela for Climate Change in attendance as an observer. Equity in the international effort to address climate change was one of the main items on the agenda of the meeting. According to the resulting Joint Statement, BASIC ministers agree that fast-start finance will be the key for an effective result in the climate change negotiations at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16) in Cancún, Mexico, in late 2010. They express concern about the lack of operational guidelines for the provision of such resources and underscore the need for such financing to effectively be new and additional, as well as provided as grants on a concessional basis, respecting the definitions of the UNFCCC and the understandings achieved in Copenhagen. BASIC ministers also stress the need for detailed and comprehensive information on fast-start financing flows provided by developed countries, to be made available officially, stressing the need for fast-start financing to cover, in a balanced way, all the pillars of the Bali Action Plan, including adaptation and technology development and transfer.

In addition, BASIC ministers underscore the distinction between measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of emission reduction commitments by developed countries, which is related to compliance and comparability, and MRV of nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) by developing countries, which is related to transparency. They further underline that work on the MRV of international support must advance urgently, including through the development of common procedures for the reporting of finance. They state that only supported NAMAs should be subject to international MRV, in conjunction with the MRV of international support, while non-supported NAMAs will apply domestic MRV, noting that international consultations and analysis of information regarding non-supported actions would be useful to enhance transparency, through a multilateral technical exchange under the UNFCCC.

BASIC ministers also underscore that a global goal for emission reductions should be preceded by the definition of a paradigm for equitable burden sharing, emphasizing equitable access to carbon space as a central element in the building of a balanced and comprehensive outcome for the climate change negotiations. The Fifth Meeting of Ministers of the BASIC Group will be held in China from 10-11 October 2010, together with a meeting of experts to take forward discussions on equitable access to carbon space and address issues related to trade policy and climate change. [Brazil Press Release] [Joint Statement]

Jean Ping, President of the AU Commission, addressed participants by highlighting Africa’s concerns and demands for a fair and equitable outcome of the international climate change negotiations. He noted the continued need to urge developed countries to meet their historical responsibilities and make progress on delivering on the Copenhagen pledges on finance for developing countries. He reported that the Commission convened a meeting of the CAHOSCC Ministers in Bamako, Mali, on 23 June 2010, and presented a proposal on “Streamlining African Climate Change Negotiating Structure at the Ministers and Experts Levels,” which was adopted by the meeting of Ministers.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón also participated in the meeting, warning that a lack of agreement in the international negotiations will affect the poorest nations and countries. He noted that the African Continent’s priorities include energy, water resources, and land management in forestry and urban infrastructure, and that the cost of adaptation for African nations and governments could be equivalent to 5-10% of Africa’s GDP.

CAHOSCC was established in 2009 by the AU Assembly to provide leadership in the climate change negotiation process with a view to promoting an African common position. [CAHOSCC Agenda] [Calderón’s Remarks]

The representative of the Committee for Development Policy explained that the report of its 12th session (document E/2010/33) found, inter alia, that the level of funding for mitigation and adaptation of climate-resilient development paths was “vastly insufficient.” He said the report argued that the financial architecture for climate change should be governed by the UNFCCC, and recommended that action be prioritized with regard to funding allocation. He also underscored inadequate levels of external support to least developed countries (LDCs).

On 20 July, a panel discussion titled “Opportunities for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)” took place. The Council’s discussions of sustainable development aimed to provide an opportunity to explore potential opportunities for SIDS with a view towards building resilience as they confront climate change and the fall-out of the economic and financial crisis. In particular, participants addressed the following opportunities related to: the agricultural sector, for example, the emergence of new crops; the energy sector, for example, tapping new energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy; and the services sector, for example new types of tourism packages, as well as finance. On agriculture, participants focused on the opportunities in research and development related to the emergence of new crops due to the changes to the ecosystem, including those caused by climate change. They also explored initiatives in developing extreme weather-resistant crops and livestock.

On energy, participants discussed opportunities for developing technology to reduce harmful emissions as well as to improve energy efficiency and energy security.The panel discussions will feed into the two-day high-level review to assess progress made in addressing the vulnerabilities of SIDS through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, which is organized by the UN General Assembly, on 24-25 September 2010. [ECOSOC Press Release] [SIDS Panel Discussion Website]

The study responds to recommendations formulated at the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable held in the Marshall Islands in 2009, where concern was expressed about the Pacific region’s challenges in accessing available funding, effectively managing and implementing projects under current funding arrangements, and ensuring timely reporting to donors.

The study is expected to assess resources currently available to Pacific island countries for climate change initiatives, and identify likely new funding, in order to guide future national and regional responses and policies, including coordination arrangements. The results of the study will be presented to the SPREP Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place in Madang, Papua New Guinea, in September 2010. [SPREP Press Release]

The report examines foreign direct investment trends, and proposes a global partnership to synergize investment promotion and climate change mitigation and to galvanize low-carbon investment for sustainable growth and development. The five major components of the proposed partnership are: establishing clean-investment promotion strategies; enabling the dissemination of clean technology; securing international investment agreements’ contribution to climate change mitigation; harmonizing corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure; and setting up an international low-carbon technical assistance center (L-TAC).

Regarding climate change negotiations, the report also notes the current national and international policy frameworks are in flux and do not target private sector and transnational corporation contributions sufficiently and effectively. It stresses that integrating international investment policies into the climate change framework is essential when designing the new post-2012 regime. [The Report]

The grant will be used to support local authorities in creating the policy, regulatory, institutional, financial and monitoring mechanisms for the “eco-city,” which is expected to be home to 350,000 people by 2020. The project will help promote “green transport,” such as public transport, walking tracks and bicycle pathways. It will also support the construction of “green buildings” through the introduction of energy efficient building standards that are higher than the national standard.

Tianjin, China’s third largest city with a population of 11.76 million, is developing the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City in collaboration with the Singapore Government. A Framework Agreement was signed between the two Governments in November 2007. [World Bank Press Release]