A new insurance product has been launched to cover private equity fund investments in Africa and other emerging markets against political risk.
The political risk insurance has been developed by Overseas Private Investment Company (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution.
It aims at shielding investors from the political uncertainty that characterises doing business in the emerging markets and damages arising from violence related to political activity.
Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is currently reviewing one of the sector's major policies the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy.
The review has been necessitated by a number of emerging issues including institutional and legislative reforms within the forest sector and current global initiatives such as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the Government of Ghana and the European Union (EU), the EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and the Non-Legally Binding Instruments (NLBI) project.
REDD-plus is one of the most important policy tools for promoting sustainable forest management, especially in tropical countries where significantly large net losses of forest area have been observed in recent years. Malaysia is considered as a potential participant country in REDD-plus project particularly in reducing emission from forest degradation. Before engaging the mechanism the country needs to evaluate the capacity of its forest governance in particular because governance issues are emerging concern which could effects the efficiency and effectiveness of REDD-plus policies.
To advance legal knowledge and action for REDD+ development and climate change mitigation, IDLO, in collaboration with the UN-REDD Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), prepared country studies on Legal Preparedness for REDD+. The first three Country Reports on Mexico, Vietnam and Zambia distill and share legal innovations and challenges for REDD+ nationally and internationally.
The scope of the study is to keep momentum in introducing REDD+ in Bhutan and to asses the nations capacity and knowledge base, essential for compliance and voluntary market entrance, combined with an overall analysis if it is worthwhile to commit to the REDD mechanism, weighing its advantages and disadvantages, scoping the potential and possible impact and contribution to the development goals of RGoB.
Law enforcement and anti-corruption activities are essential to successful and equitable efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. REDD+ depends on the idea that governments, whether national or subnational, can create legal frameworks and plans to reduce deforestation and degradation, and put those laws and plans into practice. In countries where basic law enforcement remains an issue, we run the risk of creating reference levels in which illegality is assumed.
This is a seminar report. The seminar was part of the international course on Local Governance & Rural Decentralization, organized on a yearly basis by the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation (CDI). The course participants were practitioners from different countries and continents.
Shri Ranjan Chatterjee, Consultant, Planning Commission, said that forests are meant for every body and we need to keep balance between environment and forests. Shri Chatterjee said, “Forests are under pressure because of lack of understanding. Forests are not merely to preserve but work towards more greening with joint efforts.” Addressing a valedictory session of first Indian Forest Congress here today, Sh Chatterjee said, “At Planning Commission, we are ready to allocate money for each task, but it must have monetary evaluation.
In East Africa REDD+ has the potential to contribute to national adaptation objectives, however if uncoordinated, it also has the potential to increase vulnerability in key sectors such as agriculture, energy and water resource management. This paper outlines the linkages between REDD+ and adapation strategies in the region, and highlights where these could be strengthened.
