1 May 2015: Participants at the 12th meeting of the Carbon Fund (CF12) considered, inter alia: the extension of the Fund’s term beyond 2020; the 2016 budget proposal; and the Emission Reduction Programme Document (ER-PD) business process and Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) terms of reference (TOR). The meeting also provided an opportunity to share early ideas on ER-Programme Idea Notes (ER-PINs), including from Argentina, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Guyana, Laos, Mozambique and Nicaragua.

On moving towards ER-PDs and Emission Reductions Payment Agreements (ERPAs), the meeting discussed: cost recovery options; legal implications of allowing use of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents (tCO2e) for domestic compliance; options for upfront financing of ER programmes; and emerging questions on ER-PD development. The meeting also addressed technical issues, including updates on: developing guidelines on modalities and procedures for ER Program buffers; and developing specifications for registries.

The meeting was held from 28-30 April 2015 in Paris, France. The Carbon Fund, one of two funding mechanisms of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which became fully operational in May 2011, enables countries that have made significant progress in their REDD+ readiness endeavors to be selected as Carbon Fund participants, and remunerates them for verifiably reducing emissions. The Fund’s payments are aimed at providing an incentive to recipient countries and stakeholders, including forest-dependent indigenous peoples, to achieve long-term sustainability in financing forest conservation and management programmes to help reduce negative impacts on the climate from forest loss and impoverishment. [CF12 Website and Documents] [Annotated Agenda] [FCPF Website]