Adopted, May 27, 2010

This document expresses the intent of the governments (hereinafter referred to as “Partners”) present at the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference on 27 May 2010¹ to provide a voluntary, non-legally binding framework for the interim REDD+² Partnership, within which the Partners may develop and implement collaborative REDD+ efforts. Any country wanting to contribute to REDD+ actions or support is welcome to join our Partnership.

 1. Background

REDD+ could play a crucial role in pursuing the ultimate objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in holding the increase in global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Considerable progress was made on these issues prior to and at COP 15, including the Copenhagen Accord and Decision 4/CP.15 on methodologies for REDD+, the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) on REDD+, as well as through Decisions 1/CP.13 (Bali Action Plan) and 2/CP.13. At a ministerial meeting in Paris in March 2010, further political momentum was gained when about fifty countries called for a REDD+ partnership to be formalized at the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference.

The work of the Partnership should not prejudge but support and contribute to the UNFCCC process. The Partnership would be replaced by a future UNFCCC mechanism including REDD+. The Partners reaffirm their intent to help establish such a mechanism and to enable the mobilization of financial and technical resources from developed countries in order to scale up the implementation of REDD+ actions. The Partners underline the importance of the ongoing UNFCCC negotiations on finance, as well as the efforts of the Advisory Group on Finance of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in this context. The Partners also recognize the importance of existing multilateral and bilateral initiatives on REDD+.

2. Objective

The core objective of the Partnership is to contribute to the global battle against climate change by serving as an interim platform for the Partners to scale up REDD+ actions and finance, and to that end to take immediate action, including improving the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and coordination of REDD+ initiatives and financial instruments, to facilitate among other things knowledge transfer, capacity enhancement, mitigation actions and technology development and transfer.

3. Partner Contributions

We recognize the critical need to work productively together and with a wide range of non-governmental stakeholders to achieve our shared objective under the Partnership while supporting sustainable livelihoods, providing biodiversity benefits and promoting sustainable development. Accordingly, we are determined to build sustainable and robust REDD+ capacity, including for national monitoring systems in developing countries, by effectively channeling financial and technical support to effective REDD+ actions, including results-based payments, in accordance with the Partnership principles. We will seek to identify drivers of deforestation and forest degradation resulting in emissions and the means to address these. We recognize the short, medium and long-term need to provide positive incentives to REDD+ actions.

The developed country Partners among us intend to provide scaled up funding for readiness and capacity

strengthening as well as for supporting implementation of REDD+ plans and actions, including demonstration activities and payments for results. In the margins of COP 15, six donor countries dedicated USD 3.5 billion as initial public finance over the 2010 to 2012 period, as a component of their collective commitment of fast start finance under the Copenhagen Accord, to initiate an effort of slowing, halting and eventually reversing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, while also expressing their willingness to scale up financing for REDD+ thereafter, as appropriate, in line with opportunities and the delivery of results.

Since then, further pledges of support have been made, including at the ministerial meeting on REDD+ in Paris in March 2010 and at the Oslo Climate and Forest conference in May 2010. The total pledges on 27 May 2010 stand at 4.0 billion USD.³

The developing country Partners among us are already planning and implementing REDD+ actions, including through South-South cooperation. Developing country Partners now intend, supported by appropriate and scaled up financial and technical support, and taking into account national circumstances, to develop REDD+ strategies, build the required capacity and create the enabling environment for REDD+, establish robust and transparent national monitoring systems, prepare and implement REDD+ actions and demonstration activities, and provide for the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, local communities and civil society, in the design and implementation of REDD+, and build capacity in this regard.

4. Principles of the Partnership

In their actions under the Partnership, the efforts of the Partners are to:

Be focused on support for developing country Partners’ capacity building and performance based REDD+ efforts, based on individual national circumstances.

• Be consistent with Decisions 2.CP13 and 4.CP15 and any future COP decision on this matter, as well as guided by the ongoing work of the AWG-LCA on REDD+.
• Be inclusive of all committed countries as well as representatives of relevant stakeholders including indigenous peoples, local communities, civil society and the private sector.
• Provide transparency around REDD+ financing, actions and results.
• Focus on coordinated delivery of scaled up REDD+ financing, including coordination of international support at the country level, to seek to close gaps, avoid overlaps and maximize effective delivery of actions and support.
• Consider information on financing presented in the context of the ongoing UNFCCC negotiations, as well as in the Advisory Group on Finance.
• Exchange lessons learned and transfer knowledge through discussion and presentation of our REDD+ initiatives.
• Seek to ensure the economic, social and environmental sustainability and integrity of our REDD+ efforts and to enhance social and environmental benefits.
• Promote and support the safeguards provided by the AWG-LCA’s draft decision text on REDD+, adjusted by any UNFCCC COP Decision on this matter, as well as existing programmatic safeguards, where relevant.

To this end, the Partners are to take operational measures listed in Annex II.

5. Organization of the Partnership

To work towards achieving its objectives, the Partnership is to meet regularly at senior official or political level depending on the issues at hand, with technical level meetings to address specific issues as appropriate.

Meetings will be co-chaired by one developing and one developed country Partner representative respectively, both selected for non-renewable terms through an inclusive and transparent selection process.

The co-chairs will report to the Partnership, and be responsible for soliciting and communicating Partner views, tasking secretariat services based on guidance from the partnership, and proposing meeting agendas to the partners for approval. When appropriate, co-chairs may draw support from the former and upcoming co-chairs.

We are to draw on the knowledge and expertise of The Facility Management Team of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the UN REDD Programme Team for the provision of secretariat services for the partnership, under oversight of the co-chairs on behalf of the partner countries. Their tasks should include designing and maintaining the voluntary REDD+ coordination database, organizing partnership meetings, and providing on request from the Partners related analyses, reports and papers, providing logistical support. These services should be independent of the normal functioning of the FCPF and UNREDD programme and of their respective organizations. Additional resources are to be provided to them for this purpose. Specific tasks could also be undertaken by particular countries and other organizations if agreed by the Partnership.

We are to promote inclusiveness and transparency through the participation of a representative group of stakeholders – including indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society and the private sector – as observers to the Partnership. We are also to seek timely and significant feedback on REDD+ financing, actions and results from relevant stakeholders.

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1 The Partners are listed in Appendix 1

2 Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries according to Bali Action Plan (1/CP.13).

3 These come from Australia (USD 120m), Denmark (USD 10m (2010 only)), Finland (USD 21m), France (USD 330m), Germany (at least USD 438m), Japan (USD 500m), Norway ( at least USD 1,000m), Slovenia (USD 2.5m), Spain (USD 27m), Sweden (USD 63m), United Kingdom (USD 450m) and the United States (USD 1,000m). An exchange rate of 1.24 USD/EUR has been used. Some of these pledges include loans as well as grants. More details will be made available through the emerging REDD+ database.

Appendix I: The REDD+ Partners

The REDD+ Partnership is open to all countries willing to support or undertake REDD+ actions. Interested countries may contact one of the co-chairs to join our Partnership.

 As of May 27, 2010, the Partnership included the following 58 Partner countries:

Angola, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Principe, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. 5

Appendix II: Operational Measures

Consistent with the above, the Partners decide to immediately initiate the following list of measures, which could in the future be expanded by the Partners as appropriate: 

• Establish a voluntary, publicly available REDD+ Database of REDD+ financing, actions and results, to improve the transparency and coordination of REDD+ actions and support. The Facility Management Team of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the UN REDD Programme Team are jointly requested to expeditiously propose a design for the database, in collaboration with Partner countries and other stakeholders, for deliberation at our next Partnership meeting, ensuring continuity with and building on the initial data collection effort launched by Australia, France and Papua New Guinea.
• Initiate efforts to identify and analyze gaps and overlaps in financing and take steps to address them.
• Share lessons on our REDD+ initiatives and share best practices regarding significant REDD+ actions and financing, practical experiences regarding safeguards, multi-stakeholders consultations and benefit sharing mechanisms.
• Promote and facilitate cooperation among Partners including South-South partnerships and regional REDD+ networks as well as among multilateral and bilateral REDD+ initiatives. Take the necessary measures to ensure that the REDD+ Partnership is transparent and allows relevant stakeholders to comment in a timely way.
• Prepare and agree a detailed forward work program for the Partnership, taking into consideration comments submitted by stakeholders on the interim REDD+ partnership. The program will include the following elements:

              – Workshops and formalized information exchanges to share lessons learned and best practices.

             -  Facilitate discussion on the effectiveness of REDD+ initiatives and formulate concrete recommendations for targeted improvements to multilateral initiatives.

             – Proposed schedule of future partnership meetings.

             – Determine the duration of the term for the co-chairs as well as specifying their role and method of selection.

             – Modalities for stakeholder participation in our efforts (stakeholders are invited to make proposal for such modalities in advance of the next meeting).

            – Development of guidelines and modalities for:

               *The provision of secretariat services for the partnership by the FCPF FMT and UN-REDD Programme Secretariat, under oversight of the co-chairs on behalf of the partner countries (as described in Section 5); and

               *Determining any specific tasks (as described in section 5) that could be undertaken by particular countries and other organisations for the Partnership, if agreed by the Partnership.

              *Consider proposals to effectively mobilize, deploy and facilitate enabling institutions, where relevant, in developing countries to better channel finance and technology for REDD+ actions.

Acknowledging our status as an international megadiversity hotspot

We, the Philippine Government, is committed towards further reducing our emissions from the forestry sector through the conservation and enhancement of our forests, and the expansion of our forest carbon stocks.

Our efforts towards reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation have yielded modest results over the last two decades. Our forest cover increased from 6.4 million hectares to 7.2 million hectares—an outcome of our solid partnerships with various stakeholders including forest dependent communities and indigenous peoples at the forefront of the sustainable management of our forests.

However, much remains to be done. In particular, there remains the huge potential to develop and expand 9M hectares of non-forested and degraded forestland, if given the proper support and incentives.

We therefore support the establishment and implementation of a robust REDD+ mechanism which can provide key resources and incentives that not only enable and support the sustainable management of our forests, but further nurture the Philippines’ carbon stocks.

Committed, therefore, to contribute towards the reduction of global greenhouse gases by curtailing deforestation and degradation and enhancing our forest carbon stocks, our country has begun national consultations towards the formulation of a National REDD Strategy, under a National REDD Program, and shall pursue the following key areas:
1.    Address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation towards the enhancement of carbon stocks and biodiversity protection, both on the national and subnational levels
2.    Promote REDD+ towards the attainment of sustainable development and overall poverty reduction
3.    Orient REDD+ activities against the safeguards which addresses non-permanence and leakage, the free and effective participation of indigenous people and respect for their rights, and good forest governance that is equitable and accountable
4.    Generate and develop appropriate knowledge management systems, considering guidance from SBSTA, and intensify information sharing, starting with the establishment of a national forest reference emission level and REDD+ baselines
5.    Establish a robust and transparent national and subnational reporting and verification system in accordance to national circumstances
6.    Build the capacity of institutions and various stakeholders to effectively implement REDD+ programs and projects.

We will pursue our National REDD Strategy in a phase driven approach, as early action towards mitigation and adaptation. As such, we acknowledge the importance of equitable, adequate, predictable and sustainable REDD+ financing and technology support, including support for capacity-building, to allow us to realize our National REDD Strategy.

We need to reach a strong agreement on a REDD+ mechanism by the conclusion of Copenhagen. Having an enabling agreement on REDD+ will signal commitment on the part of the international community to effectively address emissions from the forestry sector, and boost our efforts to protect and nurture our standing forests.

We represent forest-based communities and civil society organizations that are working on livelihood and conservation projects in Philippine forests. As such, we are deeply concerned about the REDD proposal which is currently under negotiation in the UNFCCC, with a final agreement expected during COP 15 in Copenhagen in December.

The most recent forestry statistics in 2003 show that total forest cover in the Philippines has increased since the previous forest assessment in 1987, mainly because of the reduced area of logging concessions and the establishment of tree plantations. However, the country’s natural forests continue to shrink due to land conversion to agricultural activities, expansion of human settlements, and extractive industries such as logging and mining. Ineffective enforcement of forestry laws and policies has worsened the problem.

Forestry experts have pointed out that the fragmentation of forest habitat and agricultural expansion are directly responsible for the threats facing the country’s unique flora and fauna. This is a serious concern for the Philippines, which has the highest species per unit area among all the countries in the world. Biodiversity studies have shown that 64% of land mammals, 44% of land birds, and 77% of amphibians are endemic to the Philippine archipelago. The floral diversity is equally diverse; the country ranks fifth in the world with up to 15,000 species of plants, more than half of them found only in the Philippines.

The proliferation of tree plantations has contributed to the worsening condition of biodiversity in Philippine forests. For many decades, the government has promoted the use of exotic species in rehabilitating denuded areas because of their potential to control soil erosion, prevent nutrient depletion, and provide forage for livestock. Indeed, many exotic species can thrive on barren lands and have a high survival rate, but they have also brought pest infestation and displaced many indigenous tree species. Government plans to allow exotic species to serve as shade trees for endemic species have not materialized, and instead, the introduced trees are competing with native trees in forest lands. Single-species tree plantations have also reduced the diversity of food and shelter for local wildlife, diminished the flow of water from catchments, and taken up nutrients from the soil.

In the Philippines millions of hectares of forest lands lie within community-based forest management areas and ancestral domain territorities. Yet just like the country’s protected areas, these areas lack financing mechanisms for the sustainable development of forest peoples, for the protection of ecosystem services and for biodiversity conservation.

With the REDD proposal, there is growing interest in the crucial role of forests to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to its many functions as a vital ecosystem that sustains life on earth. We agree that payment for ecosystem services from forests is long overdue, but we do not believe in simply equating forest protection with revenues from the carbon market. Instead, we join the voices of many forest peoples all over the world in calling for a pro-community and pro-conservation REDD. In particular, we call on the Philippine government to consider our unified stand on REDD, as follows:

General principles

• Support a REDD mechanism that includes forest conservation, biodiversity protection, and sustainable forest management (i.e. REDD ++)
• REDD should help promote the attainment of sustainable development and overall poverty reduction
• Promote good forest governance that is transparent, inclusive and accountable to ensure effective REDD implementation
• Resolve the issue of permanence through land use planning that secures long-term forest protection
• Provide regulatory frameworks, taxation and tariff policies that do not place a heavy burden on local communities to encourage the participation of low-income groups
• Address the drivers of deforestation such as population growth, global demand for minerals, bio-fuels, agriculture, industrial wood, etc.
• Review and enforce environmental laws in the forestry sector
• Implement massive and culturally appropriate information dissemination, consultation and capacity building activities among civil society, academe, government, private sector and local communities to ensure effective participation in REDD

Scope

• Provide positive incentives not only for countries with high deforestation and degradation rates, but also for countries with low deforestation and degradation rates such as the Philippines in order to protect natural forests
• Reward indigenous, traditional, and community-based forest management practices that contribute to REDD objectives
• Prioritize the following areas for REDD piloting: protected areas, watersheds and areas with existing community tenure (e.g. CADT, CADC, CALC, CBFM)

Scale

• Initiate REDD activities using the project-based approach and scale up to a sub-national and eventually, a national program given the limited information and capacities on forest carbon inventory and mapping at present.
• Start with project and sub-national baselines for reference emission levels, leading up to national baseline determination.

Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

• Advocate sustainable forest management that promotes biological diversity and other ecosystem services, apart from carbon sequestration
• Provide incentives for the expansion of forest carbon stock through reforestation, afforestation, assisted natural regeneration and other means
• Provide higher incentives for the retention of carbon in natural forests in recognition of their higher conservation value
• Encourage the retention of carbon in wood used for domestic and industrial purposes

Rights of Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities

• Ensure the full and meaningful participation of indigenous communities and forest-dependent communities in the REDD mechanism by addressing financial and economic obstacles in project preparation and protecting their sources of livelihood
• Uphold and respect Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) processes for projects within or affecting indigenous peoples in their ancestral domains
• Prioritize forest-based communities, particularly indigenous communities, as stakeholders playing a strong and active role in REDD implementation
• Implement the REDD mechanism within the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the human rights-based approach to development
• Uphold gender equity and the rights of women in all REDD processes
• Respect and recognize indigenous knowledge systems and practices among forest-dependent communities that support sustainable forest management
• Clarify and institutionalize community rights to, and ownership of, forest carbon among stakeholders with existing and valid rights to forest resources (e.g. CBFM and CADT holders)
• Develop equitable benefit sharing mechanisms adhering to social justice criteria for any REDD project in areas where community stewards clearly deserve compensation for their role in sustainable forest management

Financing

• Provide stable funds for effective capacity-building and preparedness activities prior to and during REDD implementation
• Unless CDM is overhauled , REDD financing should be implemented through a different mechanism”
• Diversify funding for REDD projects using a combination of market-based and fund-based sources
• Provide opportunities for forest communities to participate in the development, direction-setting and management of fund-based mechanisms for REDD
• Institute these safeguards for market mechanisms in generating REDD funds:
  • Ensure that the value of marketed forest carbon is insulated from risks
  • Evaluate all outright purchase arrangements between buyers and sellers of carbon to gain the greatest benefit for stakeholders, especially communities
  • Set a cap for the amount of REDD credits allowed in compliance markets

SIGNATORIES

List of organizations