REDD-Monitor

The World Bank’s involvement in developing and financing REDD is one the more troubling aspects of REDD – at least for anyone aware of the World Bank’s record in dealing with people and forests. True to past form, when the Bank announced its Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in Bali in December 2007, it did so without consulting Indigenous Peoples, let alone seeking their free, prior and informed consent. When the countries involved produced their “Readiness Plan Idea Notes” without consulting Indigenous People, the Bank simply decided that consultation wasn’t necessary.

Benoit Bosquet, a “senior natural resources management specialist” is responsible for leading the development of the FCPF at the World Bank. When Bosquet spoke to more than 400 Indigenous Peoples at the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change, in Alaska last month, we might have expected Bosquet at least to offer an apology. He did not. Coming from someone who has acknowledged that “we will make mistakes” on REDD, perhaps we should not be too surprised.

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From 11-13 March 2009, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Participants Committee met in Gamboa, Panama. The Bank Information Center took part as an NGO Observer and has posted the following report on its website.

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The November 2008 report, “Cutting Corners; how the FCPF is failing forests and peoples” is now available in Spanish. The report, produced by FERN and Forest Peoples Programme looks at nine country concept notes presented to the World Bank (so called R-PINs) to get REDD money and finds that none of them has been developed in a proper consultative process, nor do they address issues as rights and governance and the whole process has been in violation of the Bank’s own procedures and guidelines.

The Spanish translation of the report can be downloaded here (pdf file 0.8 MB) and a Spanish description of the report is below. The English version of the report is available here.
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World Resources Institute has produced a Working Paper reviewing 25 “Readiness Plan Idea Notes” (R-PINs) from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. The review looks at R-PINs already approved by the FCPF trust fund committee and finds serious omissions in the way many of the R-PINs address questions of good governance of forests.

The Working Paper can be downloaded here (pdf file 100 kB).
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A colleague recently asked the question: What is the possibility of plantations being included in REDD schemes under the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility? It’s an excellent question. The response from FCPF’s Management is extraordinary, since they chose one of the most controversial potential REDD schemes to illustrate the supposed “benefits” of plantations. If it were to go ahead, this REDD scheme would involve paying APRIL, a company which is responsible for destroying vast areas of forest in Indonesia. This appears not to concern FCPF management at all.
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“Honest Engagement“, a December 2008 briefing by London-based NGO Global Witness, points out the central importance of transparency and participation in REDD schemes. The briefing notes that “Almost all previous attempts to reform the forest sector have failed when these basic principles have been ignored in decision-making.”

The briefing gives examples of both bad (Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and PNG) and good (Peru) practices, and explains what lessons can be learned from both the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the EU-Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade process. The briefing also sets out some “minimum requirements” for both transparency and participation.
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The Bank Information Center has set up an NGO listserv focussed on the World Bank’s FCPF. Details of how to join (NGOs only) below….
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At a side event in Poznan yesterday (4 December 2008), the World Bank, the Norwegian government and various UN agencies presented their plans for REDD. In response to a comment about the World Bank’s record in the forests and the new Forest Carbon Partnership Facility the Bank’s Benoit Bosquet said, “I expect that we will make mistakes.” Not a very promising sign for forest dwelling people or the forests in the tropics.
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A new report from Belgium and UK-based NGOs FERN and the Forest Peoples Programme casts a heavy new shadow over the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Based on a assessment of nine FCPF ‘Readiness Plan Idea Notes’, the groups conclude that the Bank has been cutting corners, failing to consult properly, and has ignored its own internal safeguard policies. In a joint press release, given in full below, Marcial Arias, from the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change also called for the “suspension” of all REDD activities and carbon market initiatives in indigenous areas until such time as the inhabitants’ rights were recognised.
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The government of Papua New Guinea has warned that NGOs and carbon traders will be prosecuted if they start developing REDD activities without its permission. In a strongly worded public notice, the Office of Climate Change and Carbon Trading in Port Moresby has said that “It has come to this office’s knowledge that certain NGO’s are organizing seminars, workshops in discussing Draft Payment System for environmental services including payments for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). . . . It appears that there are endless groups of NGO’s and Carbon Traders coming to PNG with ideas on REDD and proposal for benefit sharing. This dynamic is not constructive for either the government or the rural communities. Any matter regarding Climate Change and Carbon Trading is ONLY to be dealt with by the Head Office in Port Moresby with the authority of the Executive Director.”
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