May 2010: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and RECOFTC-Center for People and Forests have released a report on perspectives for Asia-Pacific with regard to forests and climate change following the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 15), which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.

The report, titled “Forests and climate change after Copenhagen – An Asia-Pacific perspective,” outlines 12 questions addressed by a meeting of the REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) Learning Network, which took place on 3 February 2010, in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting’s questions included, inter alia: progress on REDD given a lack of binding emission reductions targets from COP 15; funding mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+), including the voluntary market; approaches to ensure engagement of local stakeholders; REDD+ and the potential for forest governance reform; operationalization of REDD+ and REDD+ readiness; and ways for local stakeholders to benefit from carbon markets. [The Report]