Several private organizations and multilateral and bi-lateral public institutions have put in place, or plan to put in place, mechanisms to provide financial and technical support to help developing countries who are Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to deforestation and the forest degradation (REDD). These initiatives intensified following decisions made during the 13th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in December, 2007 (the Bali Action Plan) that encourages Parties to provide financial support and implement actions to build capacity to voluntarily reduce emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation.

Several specific initiatives focus on the Congo Basin: AFD, Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF), the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), WB-Forest Investment Program, UN-REDD Initiative, Prince’s Rainforest Project, etc.

In the spirit of the Declaration of Paris, the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC proposes organizing, with the support of the German Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Parternship (CBFP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a consultation meeting to develop a common understanding of these initiatives and to strengthen the ties between them in order to maximize their efficiency and impact going forward. Besides the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC and the CBFP Team, participants will include the Focal Points of the UNFCCC of each of the countries concerned (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo), and representatives of the bilateral and multilateral sponsors and other technical and financial partners (CIFOR, IUCN, ONF, etc.)

The conference will take place during one day, beginning with presentations for each initiative of the following elements:

◊ Objectives and expected results ( goals, objectives, manadates)

◊ Geographic scope (countries of the Congo Basin concerned) and thematic focus

◊ Nature, amount and timing of financing ( launch and initiation dates, milestones, phasing)

◊ Eligibility criteria (beneficiaries and activities) Disbursement conditions (matching funds, etc.)

◊ Methods of implementation, partnership arrangements for design, development and implementation

The second session will focus on the identification of partnerships, the definition of joint actions when deemed appropriate, as well as the definition of a flexible consultation mechanism for the future.

To confirm your participation and for logistic information, please contact Ms Brandi Klotz (brandi.klotz@wwfus.org), +1-202 - 778 9790