Can REDD stop the land grabbing crisis in Laos and Cambodia?

This week, Global Witness released a new report investigating a land grabbing crisis in Laos and Cambodia. The report looks at two Vietnamese “rubber baron” companies, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG). Global Witness found that these companies “have leased vast tracts of land for plantations in Laos and Cambodia, with disastrous consequences for local communities and the environment”.

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“Concerns grow over weak safeguard implementation,” Forest Peoples Programme on REDD and safeguards

Forest Peoples Programme’s April 2013 E-Newsletter focusses on safeguards. The E-Newsletter starts by looking at why safeguards matter. Other articles explain and comment on the World Bank’s safeguards review, forest policy and oil palm policy, the failure of safeguards in the Camisea gas project in Peru and examples from the Congo Basin and Cameroon.

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Guest Post: Is it still possible to rectify the negative impact of REDD-plus? A view from Central America

Despite the criticisms of El Salvador’s REDD readiness process, the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility has accepted El Salvador’s Readiness Preparation Plan. Nevertheless, groups and activists in El Salvador continue to question the process.

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Central American Indigenous Council raises concerns of “racial intolerance and discrimination” in UN-REDD

Central American Indigenous Council raises concerns of racial intolerance and discrimination in UN-REDD

On 27 February 2013, Panama’s Indigenous Peoples Coordinating Body, COONAPIP, withdrew from the UN-REDD process in Panama. In a letter announcing the withdrawal, COONAPIP explains that UN-REDD “does not currently offer guarantees for respecting indigenous rights” or “the full and effective participation of the Indigenous Peoples of Panama”.

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Thai Climate Justice Working Group slams Thailand’s Readiness Preparation Proposal: “The participatory process was problematic and the content of the draft was defective”

Thai Climate Justice Working Group slams Thailand's Readiness Preparation Proposal

The Thai Climate Justice Working Group has written a very critical short paper about the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Readiness Preparation Proposal for Thailand. Both the process of producing the R-PP and its content are deeply flawed.

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Letter from COPINH to World Bank: “We reject the fraudulent REDD+ process” in Honduras

On 10 February 2013, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH) wrote to the World Bank in protest against the REDD readiness process and the implementation of REDD in Honduras. This is the latest in a series of letters protesting about the FCPF’s activities in Honduras.

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Independent Evaluation Group review of the FCPF: “World Bank needs a high-level strategic discussion on its overall approach to REDD”

Independent Evaluation Group review of the FCPF: World Bank needs a high-level strategic discussion on its overall approach to REDD

In August 2012, the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank published a review of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). The review reveals some of the major flaws behind the FCPF and recommends that the World Bank needs to re-think its approach to REDD.

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REDD in Honduras: Still no agreement between Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Hondurans and the government

On 8 February 2012, the Indigenous Peoples Confederation of Honduras (CONPAH) wrote a letter to the State Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment, about the lack of consultation relating to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in Honduras. Six months later, the problems have still not been resolved.

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New report on REDD-plus schemes in El Salvador

Civil Society Organisations and Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations have written several letters about the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility process in El Salvador. Recently, researchers Yvette Aguilar, Maritza Erazo and Francisco Soto wrote a summary of the issues raised by REDD schemes in El Salvador.

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Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador reject the World Bank’s FCPF

Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador reject the World Bank's FCPF

On 23 May 2012, the Salvadoran National Indigenous Coordinating Council (CCNIS) wrote to Benoît Bosquet, coordinator of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). The letter demands the rejection of the Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) submitted by El Salvador’s Environment Ministry.

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Social organisations in El Salvador critique the World Bank’s FCPF

Social organisations in El Salvador reject the World Bank's FCPF

The Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES – Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña) and other social organisations in El Salvador have written to Benoît Bosquet, the coordinator of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) demanding the El Salvador’s R-PP is not approved.

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Honduras: World Bank, REDD and the right to consultation of indigenous peoples – a response from OFRANEH

On 29 February 2012, REDD-Monitor posted a letter from Indigenous Peoples Confederation of Honduras (CONPAH) about the lack of consultation relating to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in Honduras.

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A response from the World Bank’s Benoît Bosquet about consultation with Indigenous Peoples in Honduras

A response from the World Bank's Benoit Bosquet about consultation with Indigenous Peoples in Honduras

Last week, REDD-Monitor wrote a post titled “World Bank fails to consult with Indigenous Peoples in Honduras”. The post included a letter from the Indigenous Peoples Confederation of Honduras (CONPAH) to the State Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment, Doctor Rigoberto Cuéllar Cruz.

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World Bank’s FCPF fails to consult with Indigenous Peoples in Honduras

The Indigenous Peoples Confederation of Honduras (CONPAH) recently wrote a letter to the State Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment, Doctor Rigoberto Cuéllar Cruz, about the lack of consultation relating to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in Honduras.

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Will Germany insist on free, prior informed consent in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility?

Will Germany insist on free, prior informed consent in the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility?

Last year, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) adopted a new Human Rights Policy. The new policy is mandatory and includes a requirement for free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples and local communities.

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