LocationsSharing Knowledge, Uniting Forests: Lessons Learned from South-South Exchange 2024
December 27, 2024
Isaac Kalonda Kanyama, a delegation from DR Congo, is presenting at SSE 2024.
Key government officials from six tropical forest countries gathered in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, Indonesia from 30 September to 4 October 2024 to share knowledge and lessons learnt from implementing REDD+ to accessing and managing a variety of REDD+ Results-based Payments (RBPs), including from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Initiated by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Indonesian Environment Fund (IEF), Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, as well as East Kalimantan Provincial Government, the South-South Exchange 2024 (SSE 2024) welcomed delegations from Indonesia, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and online participation from Ecuador. The SSE 2024 aimed to serve as a knowledge sharing platform for each country’s journey towards the implementation of REDD+, access to RBPs, as well as to forge partnership among the attending nations.
“We have spent so much of the last few years [meeting] online. While it was great, it didn't foster in person relationship and this is what SSE really seeks to do: to foster in-person relationships,” said Celina (Kin Yii) Yong, Senior Regional Technical Advisor & Stakeholder Engagement Specialist, UNDP.
Deepening the Understanding on REDD+ Mechanism
REDD+ is designed to support tropical forest countries in reducing deforestation, forest degradation, and other forest-related activities that contribute to climate protection. Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), countries that succeed in reducing emissions from deforestation or degradation, or increasing carbon stock removals, are eligible for Results-Based Payments (RBPs). These financial incentives not only enhance sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities but also play a crucial role in safeguarding critical forest ecosystem services.
There are three phases of REDD+ under the UNFCCC: readiness, implementation, and results-based actions. The framework requires countries to undertake five key mitigation activities in the forest sector, including reducing emissions from deforestation, reducing emissions from forest degradation, conserving forest carbon stocks, enhancing forest carbon stocks, and promoting the sustainable management of forests.
The UNFCCC Warsaw Framework for REDD+ provides a standardized approach to track progress while remaining flexible enough to meet diverse donor requirements. However, during the SSE 2024, delegates highlighted that there is no single approach that applies universally to all situations.
“We invited six other countries that implement different mechanisms, those with Performance Based Payment (PBP) and RBP. We can learn from each other’s differences and fill in the [knowledge] gap and exchange with each other and then combine that in the end,” said Ujang Rachmad, Assistant of Economic and Development Administration, Head of Sub National - Project Management Unit Forest Carbon Partnership Facility - Carbon Fund (SN-PMU FCPF-CF).
“I think this is very interesting, and many discussions have shown that while there are differences between countries, the goal is the same, we want to learn the mechanism in implementing REDD+, in the context of both RBP and PBP that is fast, easy and measurable,” he added.
Jorge Cole and Maureen Ballesteros, delegates from Costa Rica, planting a bamboo tree at Wanadesa Bamboo Ecotourism.
Sharing Stories, Addressing Challenges
Countries implementing REDD+ have shown progress in reducing emissions the forest and other land use sector. Despite being at different stages of REDD+, participating countries embrace a practical “learning by doing”, focusing on iterative and continuous improvements rather than striving for perfection from the start.
“Here in this event, we could also learn from the experience of these countries that are using Performance Based Payments to disburse the GCF RBPs that Brazil is implementing. We will be able to use this experience to foster more actions to reduce deforestation,” says Bruno Siqueira Abe Saber Miguel, General Coordinator for Ecological and Economic Zoning, from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Brazil.
Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Indonesia are among the countries that have successfully utilized the Performance-Based Payment (PBP) modality. PBP is a specific UNDP mechanism for disbursing donor funds—such as those from the Green Climate Fund (GCF)—to recipients over the course of a project. Disbursements are made based on the achievement of pre-agreed, measurable results between project implementers and UNDP.
During the discussion, Bruno highlighted the success of the Amazon Fund, established in 2008 to bolster REDD+ implementation in Brazil. Through this initiative, Brazil successfully raised approximately USD 1.5 billion, which was used to support over 100 projects aimed at reducing deforestation across the country.
Bruno also reflected on the challenges faced by other countries in their REDD+ journeys, emphasizing critical issues such as ensuring social inclusion and stakeholder engagement, promoting gender equality, and safeguarding the rights of local communities.
“Besides sharing these great assets, which is our tropical forests, the developing countries that are together in the last few days, also share some development challenges related to their own realities like gender equality, poverty reduction, land tenure rights,” he says. “It is important to be together to discuss new kinds of action that we can develop in our own country.”
Rintan Nilaywati, head of Balai Pengelolaan Daerah Aliran Sungai (BPDAS/ River Basin Management Agency) Mahakam Berau.
Uniting Global South Voices
Many countries agree that forests, especially tropical forests, play a fundamental role not only for achieving their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) mitigation targets but also broader climate goals beyond the Paris Agreement. However, most tropical forest countries seem to face significant challenges such as illegal logging and rapid land-use changes which not only affect climate, but also lead to biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and water scarcity. As such, countries must continue to implement robust policies and regulations to protect their forests, strengthen law enforcement, and promote sustainable forest management practices. Therefore, international cooperation is vital to continuing the success of REDD+ and their contribution to the NDCs, not only in sharing knowledge and technology, but also lesson learned from countries’ efforts in implementing their national REDD+ strategies.
The SSE 2024 showcased the immense power of collaboration through sharing experiences, challenges, and innovative solutions as means to strengthen collective capacity. As countries move forward, fostering stronger partnerships and leveraging shared knowledge will be crucial to overcoming the challenges caused by climate change and ensuring the long-term health of the planet's forests.
UNDP Climate Promise recently launched a microsite for the SSE 2024. Click bit.ly/SSEREDDPlus2024 to read more about each country’s highlights from their REDD+ journey.