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]

dates: 4-6 August 2010  
location: Bali (Jakarta Raya), Indonesia  
contact: AFP Secretariat  
phone: +62-251-622-622  
fax: +62-251-622-100  
e-mail: AFP@cgiar.org  
www: http://www.asiaforests.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221&Itemid=256  

dates: 28-30 July 2010  
venue: UN Campus, Langer Eugen, Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10, 53113 Bonn  
location: Bonn (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Germany  
www: http://cdm.unfccc.int/EB/055/index.html  

dates: 26-27 August 2010  
venue: UN Headquarters, New York  
location: New York (New York), United States of America  
contact: David Koschel  
e-mail: koschel@un.org  
www: http://www.unitar.org/ny/environmental_negotiations  

Some of the other issues discussed by the Group at its first meeting included: options for the Commonwealth to make an enhanced global contribution as a source of constructive ‘soft power’ in the pursuit of collective global goals; the format and content of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and Ministerial meetings; and options for civil society interaction with government leadership.

The Eminent Persons Group was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their summit in November 2009, with a view to sharpening the Commonwealth’s impact, strengthening its networks, and raising its profile. The Group is scheduled to meet again in October 2010, and March 2011, before reporting to leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2011. [Commonwealth Press Release]

A submission has been received from Brazil (FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/MISC.3) relating to views on topics to be covered and organizations/experts to be invited to the in-session workshop on the scale of emission reductions to be achieved by Annex I Parties in aggregate and the contribution of Annex I Parties, individually or jointly, to this scale.  Further submissions relating to the workshop (FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/MISC.2) have also been received from: Bolivia, Brazil, China, Grenada, Indonesia, Japan, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain on behalf of the EU, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Submissions from Bolivia, Japan, and Sri Lanka (FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/MISC.5) have also been received on their views on document (FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/6/Add.1) (draft decision titled “Proposed amendments to the Kyoto Protocol pursuant to its Article 3, paragraph 9″) for consideration by the AWG-KP 13, with a view to facilitating the updating of the document at least two weeks before AWG-KP 14.

The UNFCCC Secretariat has also received submissions  (FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/MISC.4) from Japan and Spain, on behalf of the EU, on available new data and information on their expected use in the next commitment period of land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), emissions trading and the project-based mechanisms, including expected carry-over of units from the first commitment period to the next commitment period, as well as related assumptions made when presenting their pledges for emission reduction targets. [The Submissions]

He called on the more than 140 participants to act on the great challenges of our times, including by ratifying treaties on climate change, nuclear non-proliferation and economic development, and to fund these commitments. Ban underlined that global issues, such as peace and security, human rights, climate change, and the well-being of families and societies are also great local issues. He stressed the need for parliamentarians’ leadership in ensuring effective governance to address the financial, food and economic crises, which he noted are compounded by the impact of climate change.

Urging participants to “remind Governments of their international obligations,” Ban told them that “with your strong leadership, our future will be much brighter.” The Conference will conclude on 21 July 2010. [Ban's Statement] [Conference Website]

The methodology, which was adopted by the European Commission in June 2010 to be incorporated into the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED), complies with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. It aims to give industry, governments and NGOs a tool to work with in establishing certification schemes for biofuels, which are required for compliance with the RED. [EU Press Release] [JRC Sustainability of Bioenergy Site]

Figueres commenced her new duties on 8 July 2010, becoming the fourth UNFCCC Executive Secretary. She was appointed as the new UNFCCC Executive Secretary by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 17 May 2010. The appointment was endorsed by the Bureau of the Convention. [UNFCCC Announcement] [Climate-L.org Story on Christiana Figueres' Appointment]

He underlined that climate change, desertification and land disputes can be drivers of conflict. He concluded by noting that Security Council efforts to address the additional challenges will be “the best way of bringing about real protection for civilians.” [The Statement]