28 August 2009: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme) has published its first newsletter.

The newsletter describes recent news related to REDD, including: the treatment of the issue during the Group of Eight meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, in July 2009; recent information regarding the UN-REDD Programme website; and progress made in Bonn, Germany, at the recent meeting of the UNFCCC parties.

In addition, the newsletter has a section on features and commentary, which includes a call for nominations to the UN-REDD Programme Policy Board. This section also describes collaboration between the UN-REDD Programme and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Lastly, the newsletter includes sections on reports and analyses and upcoming events related to REDD. The UN-REDD Programme is a collaborative initiative between the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). [UN-REDD Newsletter]