19 November 2014: The Forest Investment Program (FIP) Sub-Committee heard a progress update from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which highlighted that 11 additional countries have been selected for inclusion in FCPF and that a Readiness Assessment Framework and a Methodological Framework have been approved for the FCPF Readiness Fund and Carbon Fund, respectively.

The presentation was made at the Sub-Committee meeting held on 19 November 2014 in conjunction with the other semi-annual governing body meetings of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIF). FCPF recounted its “watershed moments” in fiscal year 2014, such as the doubling of grant agreements under the Readiness Fund, an exponential increase in disbursements and the increasing number of countries reaching mid-term REDD+ readiness.

Under the Carbon Fund, FCPF noted that, with the guiding frameworks in place, its pipeline has been filled to the extent that current capitalization levels allow. Accordingly, FCPF plans to turn attention to operationalizing large-scale REDD+ programmes.

FCPF also described its revised approach to private sector engagement. Instead of asking private entities to invest in the Carbon Fund or buy carbon assets, FCPF encourages them to scale investments at the programme level. Examples provided include the production and sourcing of cocoa in Ghana, wood production in Costa Rica and concession management in the Republic of the Congo.

The presentation also covered future prospects for FCPF, noting that discussions on a pricing approach for the Carbon Fund, on the extension of the lifetime of the Carbon Fund beyond 2020, and on potentially opening up the Carbon Fund pipeline have begun. FCPF, like FIP, is hosted by the World Bank. [FCPF Progress Update Presentation] [FIP Website] [FIP Document Webpage] [IISD RS story on CIF Governing Body Meetings] [IISD RS story on FCPF Methodological Framework]