January 2011: The UN-REDD Programme has released its latest Newsletter, reporting on recent activities related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+).

Yemi Katerere, Head of the UN-REDD Secretariat, provides some reflections on the REDD+ agreement that emerged from the Cancun Climate Change Conference held at the end of 2010. He notes that the agreement outlines the scope of REDD+, the type of eligible activities, safeguards and main elements, and identifies pending methodological issues to be addressed. The Newsletter also outlines UN-REDD’s participation in the Conference, highlighting Forests Day 4.

The Newsletter further reports on national-level activities, including: assistance provided by Norway and UN-REDD to Mexico in strengthening its system for measuring, reporting and verification (MRV); the launch of a UN-REDD national programme in Zambia; and an upcoming consultation on free, prior and informed consent for REDD+, to be held from 24-27 January 2011, in Arusha, Tanzania. The Newsletter features editorials on the International Year of Forests by Jan McAlpine, Director of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF), and how early lessons learned on REDD+ will help navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead. It also includes reports from two workshops on calculating opportunity costs (November 2010, Arusha, Tanzania) and on land tenure and climate change mitigation (November 2010, Rome, Italy). [UN-REDD Newsletter]