THE OSLO CLIMATE AND FOREST CONFERENCE 2010

May 27, 2010 by timbercommunity

Sweden provides SEK 500 million for action against deforestation, 100 million SEK goes to the Global Environment Facility, GEF (Global Environmental Facility) and applications for sustainable forest management and in addition bilateral assistance for at least 400 million.

In beginning of May Germany announced that they would spend at least Euro 350 million (~USD 450m) of their “fast-start” climate finance on REDD+. The Oslo Climate and Forest Conference aim to launch the Interim REDD+ Partnership through the adoption of a voluntary non-legally binding partnership document.  REDD + is the result of negotiations within the UNFCCC.

 
The Oslo conference will bring together all interested countries to establish the framework required for securing effective and sustainable implementation of REDD+ over the next few years. After Oslo, the implementation of the Partnership efforts will begin. The partnership will feed back into the UNFCCC process, and facilitate agreement on a REDD+ mechanism at COP-16 in Cancun.

As of April 15, the core group consisted of 29 countries, including 16 developing countries and 13 developed countries.

Developing countries: Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, DRC, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Mexico, PNG, Suriname and Vietnam.

Developed countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

The REDD+ Partnership to be established at the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference was very well received by ministers at the ministerial dialogue in Petersberg, Germany on May 2-4.

In Petersberg, Germany announced that they would spend 30%, i.e. at least Euro 350 million (~USD 450m) of their “fast-start” climate finance on REDD+.  The REDD+ Partnership to be established at the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference was very well received by ministers at the ministerial dialogue in Petersberg, Germany on May 2-4. The purpose of the conference was to establish an interim partnership arrangement for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+).<
 
Many countries have launched initiatives to get climate cooperation off the ground. Encouraging examples of cooperation were presented at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue that will contribute to creating the much needed trust. It was pointed out, however, that a lot more needs to be done and that transparency and coherence of countries’ contributions to fast-start financing is of utmost importance.

Key questions, such as adaptation action, technology cooperation and mitigation and MRV could be taken forward by dedicated informal task groups in order to facilitate their resolution at the ministerial level in Cancun along the lines of the very successful REDD+ initiative. In this regard ministers welcomed the offer by Spain, Costa Rica and the USA to facilitate the development of an adaptation initiative and the offer by Germany and South-Africa on a mitigation/MRV initiative. 
 
Ministers agreed to feed the constructive spirit of the Petersberg meeting back into their delegations, the negotiation groups they are representing and thus the larger group of countries that is coming together in Bonn end of May, beginning of June. They further agreed that it is critical to provide political guidance and a clear mandate to negotiators at home.
 
Ministers expressed the hope that this ministerial dialogue will contribute to progress in upcoming negotiations, to a further convergence of views and to create the much needed momentum to make the Cancun climate conference in December a success and a key milestone in our long-term endeavour to prevent dangerous climate change.
 
What is “REDD+?
REDD+ was formally introduced in Bali Action Plan where it was agreed that the international process of mitigating climate change must include the development of ‘Policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.