GEF STAP workshop:
REDD, Forest Conservation and Sustainable Forest Management:
Options for GEF-5 (LULUCF, SFM to REDD)

Tuesday 31 March 2009, 9:00am to 5:15pm
Room U3-435, World Bank U building, 1800 G Street, Washington, DC (Map)

Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) dominated by tropical deforestation contribute to nearly 25% of CO2 equivalent global emissions (IPCC, 2007). The IPCC concluded that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) are critical to addressing climate change through stabilization of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere. The Stern Review also reinforced this finding and concluded that curbing deforestation is a highly cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has the potential to offer significant reductions fairly quickly. In 2007, the World Bank started the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) to support the development of REDD. The United Nations Collaborative Programme on REDD in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) was launched in 2008 as a collaboration between FAO, UNDP and UNEP. The UNFCCC is in the middle of negotiations on the methods and guidelines for implementing positive incentives to address REDD. The GEF, being the operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC, is likely to be involved in operationalising the emerging REDD framework.

The GEF is currently developing strategic programs for its fifth replenishment, covering the period from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2014. Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) have been formed for all current focal areas and the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) program. STAP will be represented on each TAG and this workshop and associated consultancies will be part of STAP’s contribution to GEF-5 strategies for climate change, SFM, land degradation and biodiversity.

For further information and meeting documents see http://stapgef.unep.org/activities/technicalworkshops/SFM_REDD