The July issue of the UN-REDD newsletter describes the joint UN-REDD/Forest Carbon Partnership Facility needs assessment in 15 countries, which took place between March and May 2012; highlights the call for comments on the Tanzania National REDD+ Strategy; and notes the call for nominations of civil society representatives to the UN-REDD Policy Board.
19 July 2012: The UN Collaborative Programme on REDD’s (UN-REDD) July Newsletter reports on the third meeting and workshop of the REDD+ Partnership in 2012, which was held in Santa Marta, Columbia, from 1-2 July 2012.
The Newsletter opens with a piece by Yemi Katerere, Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat, who underscores that the cost of readiness is greater than initially anticipated, and that the rate of return from land-based investments is generally lower than expectations of conventional investors. He stresses that investments are not just about carbon and that to create enabling conditions for the private sector, the public sector and governments need to develop tools to reduce perceived and actual risks.
The newsletter also: describes the joint UN-REDD/Forest Carbon Partnership Facility needs assessment in 15 countries, which took place between March and May 2012; highlights the call for comments on Tanzania’s National Stretegy for REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of carbon stocks); notes the call for nominations of civil society representatives to the UN-REDD Policy Board; describes UN-REDD assistance to Panama on Safeguard Information Systems for REDD+; outlines two seminars in which UN-REDD participated on tackling corruption in REDD+; and describes approaches being taken by Indonesia and Viet Nam on forest monitoring capacity.
Finally, the analysis section of the newsletter describes: the opportunity that the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) has opened for REDD+ as a catalyst for a green economy; a report from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on mapping biodiversity benefits from REDD+; support from UN-REDD on South-South Exchange on Forest Monitoring Systems; and two new issues of “Go-REDD+” from UN-REDD in Asia-Pacific. [Publication: UN-REDD Programme Newsletter, Issue #30]