In the Media
LEAF publishes Asian REL Workshop Proceedings
September 29, 2011
Forest Carbon Asia
The USAID-funded Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) Program held its technical capacity building program with a training workshop focused on the creation of Reference Emission Levels (RELs) from 23-25 August, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Fifty seven government officials and regional specialists attended the event, representing Lower Mekong countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), as well as Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.
The workshop focused on the technical issues surrounding reference emissions levels (RELs), as well as the financial aspects of REDD+ and began exploring the best methods to develop regional collaboration. Robust and accurate RELs are a baseline from which countries will be able to monitor emissions reductions, and position themselves to potentially receive payments for these reductions under initiatives such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Participants shared their challenges and lessons learned through open discussions and a number of breakout sessions.
On the first day introductory speeches were given by Ms. Carrie Thomson (USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia Acting Mission Director), Dr. Sandra Brown (Director and Chief Scientist for Winrock’s Ecosystem Services Unit) and Dr. David Ganz, (LEAF Chief of Party) followed by country presentations on their REDD+ status. Participants were then divided into groups to discuss topics; a) REDD+ Strategy Development; b) REL and MRV Creation; and c) Pilot/Demonstration Project Development. A common theme identified during the first day was conveying REDD+ to local communities through people with expertise in communication is vital to make the process effective and efficient.
Day two covered the key role played by RELs in the financial architecture of REDD+, the technical aspects of establishing a REL, how to project historic emissions, a case study on this issue and tools that the LEAF countries could use when working on their RELs. The representatives were grouped into six breakout groups by country to discuss what national circumstances need to be considered to reach projections over a 10 year period. The theme identified was that REDD+ needed to serve as a tool for poverty alleviation and compliment economic development. The main lessons learned are that there needs to be good financial incentives, a mandate from financing agencies and that cooperation and transparency are essential as is strong leadership.
In day three, countries discussed what various demonstration project site selection parameters may be, how sub-national interventions may fit into a national REDD+ mechanisms through nesting and the conversation was opened to what platforms would be most appropriate for countries to share knowledge and lessons learned in order to move forward together on REDD+.
Please click here to view the workshop proceedings.
Please click here to view the collection of PowerPoint presentations.
Keywords: Asia, Cambodia, carbon, emissions, Laos, LEAF, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, PNG, REDD, Thailand, Vietnam