CSO Representative Reviews UN-REDD and World Bank's Forest Carbon Facility

March 2010: Global Witness, a non-governmental organization (NGO) representing civil society on the UN-REDD Policy Board, has submitted an assessment of the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Readiness-Preparation Proposals (R-PPs) and Joint Program Documents (JPDs) of the UN-REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) Programme. A key finding of the assessment is the need for further guidance on non-carbon monitoring from the FCPF, the UN-REDD Programme, and the international community.

The assessment examines the R-PPs that were considered at the FCPF’s fifth Participants Committee meeting in Gabon, from 22-26 March 2010, and the JPDs that were discussed at the Fourth Policy Board meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, from 18-19 March 2010. The assessment looks at how the R-PPs and JPDs address illegality and enforcement issues, the systems proposed to monitor REDD non-carbon benefits and impacts, and what type of system for independent monitoring is considered. It states that the documents focus primarily on measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon emissions and removals, but contain little detail describing potential systems for monitoring governance and other non-carbon social and environmental benefits and impacts. It also states that many of the proposed readiness activities will not immediately or directly reduce carbon emissions, and will need to be assessed in other terms