The UN-REDD Programme, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) have taken some important steps forward over the past month to improve coordination and support to REDD+ countries. At the end of June, representatives from the UN-REDD Programme had the opportunity to attend both the FIP Sub-Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., and the FCPF Participants Committee meeting in Georgetown, Guyana. At both meetings, the working draft of the UN-REDD/FCPF/FIP joint paper, entitled, “Enhancing Cooperation and Coherence among REDD+ Institutions to Support REDD+ Activities”, received important endorsements by both governing bodies.
The UN-REDD Programme, FCPF and FIP are discussing both short and long-term options to enhance cooperation and coherence among REDD+ institutions in support of REDD+ activities at the country level. From joint missions, planning meetings and templates, to developing a joint delivery platform with common standards, the three organizations are developing pragmatic options for fostering collaboration among existing REDD+ institutions. Cooperation among these three initiatives has significantly strengthened in the past few months, supported not only by their governing bodies but also inspired by the establishment of the Interim REDD+ Partnership.
The demand for this degree of collaboration is undeniable to strengthen support to national REDD+ efforts by the UN-REDD Programme agencies (FAO, UNDP and UNEP), World Bank and the Multilateral Development Banks, as well as GEF. REDD+ continues to be one of the most cost-effective ways of mitigating climate change and more and more countries are expressing their desire to to become “REDD+-ready”. With this increasing interest comes the need to ensure national readiness efforts are supported in the most coordinated and efficient way possible.
We look forward to continuing our work on this front with our partners. An update of our enhanced coordination plans is expected to be presented at our first joint meeting, scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. on 6 November, in conjunction with the meetings of the UN-REDD Programme Policy Board, FCPF Participants Committee and the FIP Sub-Committee.
Yemi Katerere
Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat
