Republic of the Congo news Archives

The EU REDD Facility addresses climate action and land-use planning at the 13th Forest Governance Forum

9 June 2022/by EU REDD Facility

The 13th Forest Governance Forum took place in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, from 23-24 May 2022. Following the forest commitments made in 2021 in Glasgow, UK, at 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP 26), the Forum addressed the intersection of forest governance, the green economy, climate change and land-use planning. The EU REDD Facility engaged and delivered a presentation at a panel on COP26 and the climate action. The Facility also convened and chaired a parallel session on land-use planning and forests.

Opening ceremony of the Forest Governance Forum (EU Ambassador in Brazzaville, Minister of MEF, Coordinator of CJJ and the Director of CIDT of the University of Wolverhampton). Source: Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility.

Fern convened a plenary session titled ‘Building on COP26 to Promote Inclusive and Ambitious Climate Action,’ which was moderated by the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) Secretary. It aimed to examine progress and gaps in commitments and actions to improve climate governance in the Congo Basin and beyond. It also formulated recommendations so that nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and just and transparent climate finance lead to greater protection of forests and forest peoples’ rights.

In a presentation on ‘Revised NDCs: What’s in it for forests, rights, and livelihoods?’ Jim Djontu and Alice Bisiaux of the EU REDD Facility underlined that the gap between emission reduction pledges and what is needed to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit temperature increase to 1,5 ºC above pre-industrial levels is still significant. In this context, they assessed the progress made in the revised NDCs of some Congo Basin countries, underlying the essential role nature-based solutions can play in addressing the climate challenge. In many cases, NDC pledges related to the forest and land-use sector can still be made more ambitious and specific. In particular, the national climate plans should better address forest governance issues and include quantified tenure and natural resource rights for indigenous peoples and local communities.

Furthermore, although the revision of the NDCs have been carried out through a greater engagement of civil society compared to the 2015 version of these national plans, their recommendations have only been very partially taken into account.

The EU REDD Facility also convened a parallel session on land-use planning and forests, which was chaired by Jim Djontu.

Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility, chairing the panel on the land-use planning and forests. Source: Igerha Bampa, GTCRR. — *Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility, chairing the panel on the land-use planning and forests. Source: Igerha Bampa, GTCRR*.

Panellists underlined that the progress made, and the approaches deployed in land-use planning are context-specific. These approaches may be top-down, bottom-up or combined. This influences the dynamics of the process, the achievement of the defined objectives, the emerging lessons and constraints encountered.

The Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon have embarked on ambitious and multi-annual land-use planning processes following differentiated trajectories adapted to their local contexts and realities with the support of international and local partners, such EFI, the CAFI, Initiative Développement and Rainbow Consult.

Land-use planning, and associated tools have been recognised by the administration, development partners, civil society, and the private sector as an essential basis for better land governance, more coherent development planning and the reconciliation of divergent interests in land-use and allocation in the rapidly growing economies of the countries of the sub-region.

The EU REDD Facility shares 10 lessons for ending tropical deforestation

13 June 2021/by EU REDD Facility

As the EU REDD Facility marks its 10-year anniversary, it has released a summation of key lessons learned in working to strengthen efforts to ensure tropical forests meet their potential to limit climate change. Over the last decade the Facility has worked towards empowering stakeholders to strengthen the rule of law, to promote sustainable land use and investment, and to enhance supply chain transparency.

These insights are shared as the 14th edition of the EU Development Days on the Green Deal for a Sustainable Future gets underway. The EU has a strong track record of global leadership in dealing with deforestation and forest degradation, and the European Green Deal commits to measures to support deforestation-free value chains. The Facility’s work is aligned with this ambitious response to the continued widespread destruction of the world’s forests.

“Significant progress has been made over the past few years towards ending deforestation and understanding the drivers and solutions to this complex problem,” said Christophe Van Orshoven, EU REDD Facility Team leader. However, he said it was necessary for “governments, the private sector and citizens all over the world to urgently step up action to protect and restore the world’s forests.”

The lessons that the Facility has learned over the past decade include the need for clear and well-enforced legal frameworks for land use, land-use planning that is participatory and collaborative, and partnership approaches that build an enabling environment for sustainable land-use.

“We hope that these lessons help to shape and accelerate future action”, said Van Orshoven. In years ahead, the Facility intends continued support to countries to find innovative approaches and solutions to their land-use governance and development goals, and opportunities for dialogue and partnership.

EU REDD Facility releases highlights and insights from 2020

13 May 2021/by EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility has published its annual report for 2020, with highlights and insights into work achieved over the year.

In 2020, COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges for the world’s forests and the people depending on them. While some forest and agricultural sector operators and producers prioritised economic survival over environmental standards, the Facility’s partners remained committed to improving land-use governance as part of efforts to slow, halt and reverse deforestation.

Tropical rainforest, Latin America — *The EU REDD Facility annual report for 2020 explains how COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges for the world’s forests. Source: Gustavo Frazao.*

The EU REDD Facility annual report highlights growing interest in supply chain transparency approaches in response to evolving market requirements. Building on progress made in tracking jurisdictional sustainability of Indonesian palm oil, the Facility worked with public and private sector stakeholders to assess feasibility of transparency approaches for cocoa sectors in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Colombia and Ecuador.

The Facility’s Land-use Planner was increasingly used in 2020 by partner countries to support decision-making. An updated version of the tool brought together a wider set of information to the community of users, including land-use data, methods and case studies.

In Colombia and Indonesia, the Facility worked on community forestry as path to improving livelihoods and achieving climate commitments.

As a means of deforestation-proofing investments to leverage finance to meet climate and forest goals, the Facility continued roll out of its Land-use Finance Tool. In 2020 Cambodia used the tool to help to build the case for more international support and improve spending coherence. The Democratic Republic of the Congo also started to use the tool to track all public land-use spending since 2009.

In assessments of payment for environmental services models for progress towards sustainably produced cocoa, the Facility confirmed the importance of incentive mechanisms for covering initial investment costs of shifting to sustainable production.

About the EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility supports countries in improving land-use governance as part of their efforts to slow, halt and reverse deforestation. It also supports the overall EU effort to reduce its contribution to deforestation in developing countries. The Facility focuses on countries that are engaged in REDD+, an international mechanism that incentivises developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their forest and land-use sectors. The Facility is hosted by the European Forest Institute and was established in 2010.

Disclaimer

This website has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the Governments Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the European Forest Institute’s EU REDD Facility and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of funding organisations.