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On 5 and 6 July 2022, Libreville, Gabon hosted a high-level meeting on the global finance framework for biodiversity. The panel was initially comprised on July 5 of CAFI, the ADB, AFD, and the EU, and completed on July 6 by KFW and Winrock. It has been observed that the donors’ activities in the Congo Basin forests are mired in chaos. There are 35 funding efforts overall in the Congo Basin, with coordination being a challenge. In order to reassure the private sector, there is a need to reflect on developing an optimal coordination system as well as review the PES and their indicators. Please download the preliminary report
High Level Round Table on financing: Development Banks, Climate/Biodiversity Funds and carbon market mechanism gather to discuss the “Fair Deal” for the protection of Central African forests
Welcome remarks and opening statement: the Honourable Dr Christian Ruck, Goodwill Ambassador and CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Panel members : Development Banks, Climate, Biodiversity and Forest Protection Funds: CAFI, ADB, AFD, Winrock International, KFW
Moderator : Mr Maxime Nzita Nganga Di Mavambu, ECOFAC VI's Head of Mission for Regional Technical Assistance and former CBFP Co-Facilitator (Resource Person)
Rapporteur : Jean Bakouma, Director of Conservation, WWF Congo Basin
Preliminary report.
The high-level meeting on the international financial architecture for biodiversity was held on 5 and 6 July 2022 in Libreville, Gabon. The session focused on four issues:
The panel was composed of CAFI, ADB, AFD and the EU on 5 July and completed by KFW and Winrock on 6 July.
It has been observed that donor efforts promoting the Congo Basin forests are conducted in a disorganized fashion. There are 35 funding initiatives underway, but coordination is lacking. This calls for reflection on developing the best possible coordinating mechanism, the PES and their indicators; as well as the best strategies for reassuring the private sector.
All the panellists agreed with this observation, and went on to propose possible solutions.
There is a need for an integrated coordination mechanism. We require a pilot for fundraising. There is also the issue of the credit market. The credit process needs to be streamlined. For the EU’s Philippe Mayeux, this issue is not new, which is why OFAC was established, and following its launch, there was an influx of large investors.
For the AFD, the answer lies in a two-part solution at the programming level: There is an investor database, although it is not widely known. Donors should take initiative before committing themselves. They need to access the database.
For CAFI, this coordination needs to happen within the donor college. It goes beyond having a database. Coordination is a time-consuming process. Resources must be made available and coordination committees must be established in the capitals if the CBFP is to coordinate donors. The coordination team needs a mandate before anyone can assume leadership of coordination.
For the ADB, it is important to understand what responsibilities fall to each country and those that behove to the partners, as well as strike a balance. The Bank needs to recognize that coordination requires money, time and patience. Therefore, the donors must accept this cost.
Because implementation takes place on the ground in the countries, coordination must take place at two levels: regionally and then nationally. The ADB believes the countries should coordinate, but we must acknowledge that some countries lack the capacity to do so, requiring regional level coordination to assist those nations. If there is to be coordination, it must be done by the regional organization most suited to cross-country coordination.
Coordination must take place throughout the project cycle. How do we make a coordinated approach work at the operational level?
The first step is to agree on what exists. Analyse and map out existing resources. How do we incorporate thematic coordination? The ADB could take the lead on certain themes.
The issue of the coordinator's mandate needs to be considered: complementarity, division, subsidiarity, and comparative advantage.
For the AFD, it is important to distinguish between political and operational coordination. The Glasgow "Pledge" lays out principles for political coordination. Given the significance of the CBFP, the donors college should allow for such coordination since CAFI and COMIFAC are coordinating structures. This will ensure coherence and guarantee that the Congo Basin is represented. The CAFI coordination model should also be considered.
There are two options. For instance, the CIGAR, a hybrid coordination structure that prioritizes thematic and financial coordination, was established at ICRAF.
A first option: the coordinating body could be transformed into a secretariat to which the nations would assign a mandate, much like ECCAS assigned COMIFAC a mandate.
Coordination should also be a topic of high-level political dialogue.
There are also other issues to be considered, such as the fact that REDD+ targets do not include intact forests and yet we can’t protect ecosystems (or their services) if they are not compensated.
If we want to protect ecosystems, there needs to be political dialogue on payment for conservation efforts.
Regarding the second issue, it is important to note that some nations, including Gabon, desire extra rewards in addition to those provided by the REDD+ process. So, the issue is how to set up "Fair Deal" financing arrangements.
CAFI complements bilateral flows and has worked on investment plans. Donors want to improve efficiency and boost verification capability. Positive indicators suggest that deforestation is stabilizing. Despite all the progress made, monitoring and assessment still need to be improved. We want to alter CAFI's course such that it places more emphasis on output and performance.
We have a first agreement with Gabon, but the funding provided is insufficient. It is easier to measure carbon than biodiversity. We need more capacity and more results.
How do we link this to our intervention, CAFI’s intervention?
First lesson: Data is crucial. The only nation with accurate data is Gabon. Only one or two nations have provided reference levels, and many more are still lacking. Therefore, the region needs to be developed/strengthened in order to gain access to climate funding.
Central Africa may need a slightly different type of funding. Donors must consider every aspect of IFLs (Intact Forest Landscapes), which enables nations to retain high forest cover.
Deforestation increases with even the smallest concession in nations where little is done to curb it. Countries need to develop, but they need to demonstrate political commitment.
Absorption capacity is an additional issue. We have numerous partners, want to raise funds, and require strong coordination and capacity across the nations.
Finally, there are requirements: reliable data, verification, and political commitment.
In China, contextualized standards have been developed.
Carbon financing is the foundation of the "Fair Deal."
At the ADB, 40% of the bank's commitments are directed towards climate financing, however the bank has some reservations about the sustainability of some of the “pledges”. Governance and market openness are crucial when discussing PES (payment for ecosystem services) or carbon. How do we establish it? Is it a niche market or a standard supply-demand market?
How do we ensure that the States have the minimum capacity needed to intervene in these carbon markets, when that ability is in doubt? How can development aid help?
Why not ease the rules in order to facilitate access to climate finance?
Putting rules before capacities to allow for negotiation with other actors.
This can help if official development assistance is used to strengthen the States.
In the AFD’s view, 3 points must be considered:
The first is the link between climate and biodiversity, for example, LFIs are not taken into account in climate models, mistakes can be made when biodiversity is not taken into account.
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The second point: what climate-related actions is Gabon taking? Can we find a deviant model given the CB's unique characteristics? Develop specific models for the Congo Basin and consider the prevailing model.
The third point is whether we can envision this carbon financing as a more tightly integrated component of macroeconomic development models. Better integration of carbon financing would incorporate national debt. This would help to broaden the spectrum of carbon finance and increase its significance for development.
Establishing linkages between political and economic interests, development and debt.
However, the biodiversity issue is difficult to track in terms of metrics.
For WCS, there is no incentive to protect LFIs. No one is paying for LFIs. WCS is developing an initiative. The idea is to build a small portfolio of projects to demonstrate the existence of initiatives for LFI conservation. We need pilot sites, what metric will we measure?
Second point
We must revisit our coordination with private investors like Bezos.
Enhance the role that forests play in financing for both biodiversity and climate change.
At the national level, we must review intervention frameworks, starting with already existing frameworks in the countries. We must investigate the possibilities for active management outside of protected zones.
Finance for sustainability is a possible solution, but there are conditions that must be met before we start working with Gabon.
We have 8 to 10 years to change the trajectory and the LFIs, ad that would be at least 30% of the solution. Under the GEF, more than USD 300 million have been earmarked for LFIs. In countries with high forest cover and low deforestation, LFIs are gaining popularity. A workshop can be envisaged within the framework of the GEF.
The deviant model: why do we disregard climate microfinance? Microfinance, which must reach the communities, serves as an inspiration for the funding strategy that will reach those communities.
According the CBFP, the COMIFAC countries struggle to access financing because all the measurement criteria are beyond their reach, so the countries get frustrated and ready to give up. Why not consider how to support the countries knowing that they have limited resources?
Third question: What organizations can help the subregion? What potential scenario could the subregion have to help the private sector reduce risks? How can public and private funds be combined?
CAFI. We need to distinguish between the private sector’s role in the carbon market and its function as an economic player. No one will pay for carbon if we are unable to verify it, hence a system for carbon accounting must be established.
Project financing must take into account the real economy.
There are existing large-scale economic operations or the agro-industry sector to be considered. The most straightforward approach is to have a project that can show a return on investment; we need a zero-deforestation project that generates a return on investment.
According to the ADB, the forestry industry is a niche sector within a global economy. How do you manage risks? The ADB has resources available to manage risks. if we are successful in providing the private sector with genuine, clever incentives. However, some questions remain:
How are private sector tax regimes defined in public policies? Public policy for regulating the private sector has two facets; concerning the private sector, how do you get finances? The ADB is working to industrialize Gabon's timber industry in order to foster secondary and tertiary processing.
For the AFD: 2 points to be considered: First, the AFD is fortunate to have access to a range of private sector financing options. However, it should be noted that the Congo Basin as a whole is in a challenging institutional situation, has poor capacity for absorption, and few economic actors who accept financing from AFD, notably in the banking sector. There is a need to enhance the business climate and procedures.
Secondly, the private sector has tremendous potential to invest in conservation. Example 1: The AFD established the management plans for the Congo Basin forestry sector 30 years ago. Today, they need to be updated, so the States are renewing their commitment for another 30 years. The Congo Basin's management strategies need to be improved.
The wood industry; yes indeed. The question is how to respond to the States in the area of agricultural demands? How to help companies transition towards "deforestation-free" production, but there is also a concern about small scale farmers. We need to offer them "deforestation-free" technical itineraries.
For more information, please download the documents below:
The Climate Chance Summit Africa 2023 will bring together on the 23rd, 24th and 2th of October 2023 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaounde 1,500 African actors from the "climate community": high-level personalities, experts, actors in the field, representatives of local governments, businesses and organised civil society.
Celebrations for World Environment Day 2023 kicked off in host-country Cote d’Ivoire, as millions of people prepare for similar activities across the world. Venues across the capital city, Abidjan – from its historic lagoon to its first modern art museum - shone the spotlight on this year’s theme #Beat Plastic Pollution.
Congo Basin Carbon brings together information on various research and education projects in the Yangambi and Luki MAB Reserves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through this website we hope to strengthen research networks and improve project visibility, specifically for carbon research. Tropical rainforests such as the forests of the Congo Basin comprise nearly half of the world’s vegetation carbon. Intact tropical forests represent a carbon sink at a level that is higher than other vegetation types. The issues of carbon stocks, sinks and sources in tropical forests are therefore a central topic in international policy debates on climate changes.
At last year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), 141 leaders committed to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. Forests, particularly tropical ones, are known to play a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere, partially offsetting the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. This is a highly valuable service to the global climate, meaning the world should be willing to pay to ensure it happens. In this policy note, we look at just how valuable that service is, and put that in the context of aid efforts to protect forests.
During the process of photosynthesis, trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Rainforests act as important 'carbon sinks' stemming global heating. The Congo rainforest is the planet’s most important “lung,” new data has revealed. The world’s rainforests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide, slowing down global warming.
The world is getting a better understanding of just how important forests are in the global fight against climate change. New research, published in Nature Climate Change and available on Global Forest Watch, found that the world’s forests sequestered about twice as much carbon dioxide as they emitted between 2001 and 2019. In other words, forests provide a “carbon sink” that absorbs a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year, 1.5 times more carbon than the United States emits annually.
This brief describes the first efforts to integrate agroforestry with charcoal production in the Yangambi tropical forest landscape. Activities resulted in both increased food crop production and reforestation, as well as the establishment of producer-led local associations and greater collaboration between communities and local authorities.
The GEF Secretariat prepared this document to summarize the GEF’s potential role in a financial mechanism for the internationally legally binding instrument under negotiation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). The document is prepared to help inform deliberations. It also includes questions and answers to key issues raised thus far by countries. GEF’s role as Convention Financial Mechanism: The GEF serves as a/the financial mechanism for five Conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Minamata Convention on Mercury, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
On May 8, 2023, in the BOUN'S Hotel conference, in Yaoundé, a workshop was held to launch the process of drawing up the Cameroon Country Investment Plan (CIP) on the nexus of transboundary transhumance, protected areas, peace and security, and development. Please download the final communiqué of the workshop...
Geneva and Yaoundé, 26 May 2023. The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Land Planning of Cameroon (MINEPAT) and CAFI are launching two Calls for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations concerned, representing a maximum of 60 million US$.
WWF is supporting the Government of Cameroon in her effort to restore more than 12 million hectares of degraded landscapes in the country. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife committed, on behalf of the Government of Cameroon, to restore 12,062,768 ha of degraded landscapes under AFR100 and the Bonn Challenge by 2030. Of these, 80% are in the three northern regions of Adamaoua, North and Far North; with the remainder in the high plateau, Centre region, vast forest and coastal areas (Mangroves).
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting transparent and accountable governance of climate and environmental funds, we are pleased to invite you to two upcoming online sessions. These sessions will offer valuable insights, strategies, and best practices for combating corruption, and reinforce our collective efforts to create a more sustainable future. We hope you will join us for these important discussions.
International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated each year on 22 May, is an opportunity to not only acknowledge the crucial role healthy biodiversity plays in the survival of the planet but also to assess the nature crisis. With the theme ‘From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity,’ this year’s Day follows the historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 196 nations at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022.
Bukavu, May 10, 2023 – The Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB) is deeply saddened to announce the death of its ecoguard Alain Lukinga, born in Kakongya on June 12, 1989, who sacrificed his life for the protection of the PNKB in an armed clash in Cibumbiro between the villages of Kajeje and Lukananda in the Mudaka groupement, in Kabare territory in South Kivu.
From April 19 to 20, 2023 a workshop for the development of a national investment plan for Nigeria on transhumance and related topics was held in Abuja, NIGERIA. This workshop, funded by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany, aimed to...
The SWM Programme is the first international initiative to tackle the wild meat challenge by addressing both wildlife conservation and food security. It is an initiative from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD).
In a bid to boost indigenous people and local communities’ (IPLC) engagement in wildlife protection around Lobéké National Park in Southeast Cameroon, Lobéké Management has signed social pacts with 34 Bantu and Baka communities in the Park. Thirty-four social pacts were signed between the communities and the Lobeke Management in December 2022, with each pact corresponding to a community project worth FCFA 300,000.
This report highlights the impacts of direct as well as indirect deforestation through mining. It presents for the first time ever the deforestation embodied in the consumption of products and showcases the extensive deforestation potential that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) can have on forest ecosystems.
A new toll road in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province is under construction to improve access to the interior of Borneo, including to the nation’s new capital city, Nusantara. Construction of the road, however, poses immediate environmental risks, as the route cuts through a forested area with high conservation value that connects the Sungai Wain protected forest, coastal mangroves, and Balikpapan Bay. Prior to road construction, the integrated forest and coastal ecosystem supported populations of orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins. Conservationists say the construction of this toll road belies the Indonesian government’s claims that the development of the new capital will be green and sustainable.
The tobacco industry causes a fifth of Zimbabwe’s forest loss. What is being done to minimise this? At the beginning of this century, the Zimbabwean government embarked on an audacious land reform programme, ostensibly to correct the injustices suffered by local people when the land was colonised. The controversial programme saw an estimated 170,000 black Zimbabwean families – mostly small-scale farmers – taking over agricultural production from about 3,000 white-owned farms.
SAN MARTÍN, Peru (AP) — The Cordillera Azul National Park on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes takes in a sweep of Amazon rainforest, mountains and waterfalls in a territory about the size of Connecticut, so precious that tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits have been sold in a program that supporters said would protect its trees.
To fight climate change and biodiversity loss, the new law obliges companies to ensure products sold in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation. While no country or commodity will be banned, companies will only be allowed to sell products in the EU if the supplier of the product has issued a so-called “due diligence” statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation, including of irreplaceable primary forests, after 31 December 2020.
A number of reports have found that an Indonesian government program to establish large-scale agricultural plantations across the country has led to deforestation. More than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of forests, including carbon-rich peatlands, have been cleared in Central Kalimantan province for the so-called food estate program, according to a spatial analysis by the NGO Pantau Gambut. Last year, the NGO Kaoem Telapak detected 100 hectares (250 acres) of deforestation in food estate areas in North Sumatra. Villagers whose lands have been included in the program have also reported an increase in the severity of floods since their forests were cleared to make way for the food estates.
Press release 3 May 2023 | The German government will make two billion euros available for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the commitment at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin today. This makes Germany the first major donor to announce its contribution for the upcoming pledging conference for the Green Climate Fund. The conference will take place in Bonn on 5 October and will be chaired by Development Minister Svenja Schulze. The Green Climate Fund is one of the largest climate action funds of the world. The creation of the fund was an important objective of the developing countries, which have an equal say in how funds are spent on climate mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries.
With GEF and LDCF support, Nespresso, IUCN, and TechnoServe are working together to promote more sustainable and resilient coffee farming practices in South Kivu. Antoinette Shabanyere’s 1,800-tree coffee farm in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is at the forefront of efforts by local communities to adapt to climate change.
The Second Consultation Meeting (CM-2) for GCF’s second replenishment (GCF-2) was held on 27-28 April. Hosted by GCF and moderated by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the replenishment facilitator, the two-day virtual meeting convened over 100 current and prospective contributors where they received updates on GCF and discussed matters related to the replenishment process.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Suze Percy-Filippini is impressed with the progress made by the department of Forestry in the implementation of the Forest Farm Facility –FFF Program in the Choma District of Southern Province.
This case study forms part of a series of six case studies on mobilizing internal finance within Forest and Farm Producer Organization (FFPOs) prepared by forest and farm FFPOs for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the Jwa Ngwaane Community Cooperative Credit Union, established by the Kassena Nankana Baobab Cooperative Union (KANBAOCU) through the mobilization of 96 Village Savings and Loans Associations.
The African Regional Exchange, a three-day workshop co-organized with CIFOR-ICRAF, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and the Kenya Forest Service, brought together farmers, bankers, governments, and development partners from across Africa to discuss ways to ensure smallholder farmers have access to the finance they need to improve and scale up sustainable forest and farm management practices.
This agrobiodiversity case study (No.6) from Zambia is the sixth of six case studies prepared by forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the actions of the Choma District Tree Nursery and Growers Association (CDTNA). CDTNA represents 111 members, either individual nursery growers or collective enterprises that furnish diverse tree seedlings for forest and agroforestry restoration projects across Southern Zambia.
Oyéoussi Charles Balogoun is the Africa Representative of the NGO Panel under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Civil Society Panel (CSO Panel) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) represents nearly 500 organisations accredited to the Convention. Charles Balogoun is also the Global President and Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Afrique Espérance. He answers ENVIRONNEMENTALES’s questions on the state of desertification in Africa.
A common vision of sustainable finance is being developed in Central Africa. The project is at the heart of an international forum scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». An initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).
Delegates to the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development emphasized the need for forward-looking, high-impact initiatives involving all relevant actors, to enable the structural transformations Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) needs to “resume and sustain the path to 2030.”
Kenya loses 2–2.4 percent of its gross domestic product annually due to the effects of climate change, such as drought and floods according to according to a 2018 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics study. Droughts alone cost the country 8 percent of GDP every five years. Arid and semi-arid rangelands (ASALs) occupy over 80 percent of Kenya’s landscape, and are home to about 36 percent of the total human population, and seventy per cent of the nation’s livestock and 90% of wildlife. Livestock's contributions account for 80 percent of household incomes in arid lands, and 65 percent in semi-arid lands.
Sitting at the forefront of the climate crisis, forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) have a vital role in supporting smallholder resilience and attaining climate change and biodiversity goals. Together, their members have a transformative potential to achieve sustainable development and respond to climate change at scale.