REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards Initiative

Joanna Durbin, Climate, Community & Biodiversity AlliancePhil Franks, CARE International

Presented by Belinda de la Paz, Haribon Foundation (Member, International Standards Committee, REDD+ SES)

REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards What are they?

• Consist of principles, criteria and indicators that define the necessary conditions to achieve high social and environmental performance

• Provide a framework for assessment of social and environmental performance using a multistakeholder assessment process

• Support the design, implementation and evaluation of government-led REDD+ programs, enabling consistent assessment irrespective of funding source

• Aim to enhance benefits as well as avoid harm.

Standards development process

Denmark

Nepal

Tanzania

Ecuador

Liberia

60 days 90 days

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Multistakeholder workshops

Public comment periods2009 2010

1st draft

2nd draft

3rd draft

Version 1

Participating countriesCriteria:

– Significant progress towards a government-led REDD+ program

– Strong government commitment to demonstrating social and environmental performance of REDD

Participating Interested

Ecuador

State of Acre (Brazil)

Province of Central Kalimantan (Indonesia)

Nepal

Tanzania

Cambodia

Philippines

Democratic Republic Congo

Liberia

Peru

Guatemala

State of Chiapas (Mexico)

Governance of the REDD+ SES Initiative

• International Standards Committee oversees the initiative– Approves each draft of the standards, guidelines on use– Membership ensures stakeholder balance with a majority from developing countries

– Governments of countries implementing REDD+ programs– Indigenous peoples’ organizations– Community associations– Social NGOs – Environmental NGOs– Private sector

• CCBA & CARE are facilitators (international secretariat) with technical support from Proforest

Developed countries Developing countries

REDD govts Marco Chiu, EcuadorRam Prasad Lamsal, NepalEvarist Nashanda, TanzaniaMonica de los Rios, Acre

IndigenousPeoples orgs

Estebancio Castro Díaz, IAITTF, Panama

Jennifer Rubis, IPNM, Malaysia Kanyinke Sena, IPACC, Kenya

CommunityAssociations

Alberto Chinchilla, ACICAFOC, Costa Rica

Suvas Devkota, FECOFUN, Nepal Rahima Njaidi, MJUMITA, Tanzania

Social NGOs Jeffrey Hatcher, RRI, USA. Samuel Nnah, CED, Cameroon

EnvironmentNGOs

Jenny Springer, WWF, USAConsuelo Espinosa, IUCN

Mauricio Voivodic, IMAFLORA, BrazilBelinda de la Paz, Haribon, Philippines

PrivateSector

Brer Adams, Macquarie. AustraliaLeslie Durschinger, Terra Global,

USA

Rezal Kusumaatmadja, Starling Resources, Indonesia

Principle 1: Rights to land, territories and resources are recognized and respected

Criteria address:• Identification of rights-holders and their rights• Recognition of statutory and customary rights• Free, prior informed consent• Process to resolve disputes over land/resources

related to the REDD+ program• Carbon rights

Principle 2: The benefits of the REDD+ program are shared equitably among all relevant rights holders and stakeholders

Criteria address:• Identification of costs, benefits and risks of REDD+ for

different rights holder/stakeholder groups• Transparency, participation, effectiveness and

efficiency of the benefit sharing process• Monitoring of costs and benefits and their distribution

Principle 3: The REDD+ program contributes to long-term livelihood security and enhances well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities with special attention to the most vulnerable people

Criteria address:• Livelihood security benefits emphasizing most vulnerable• Decision-making process on the form benefits will take• Assessment of positive and negative social, cultural and

economic impacts• Measures to mitigate negative & enhance positive impacts

Principle 4: The REDD+ program contributes to broader sustainable development, respect and protection of human rights and good governance objectives.

Criteria address:• Contribution to sustainable development objectives• Coherence with relevant policies and strategies• Coordination between government and other relevant

agencies/organizations• Improvement in governance of the forest and other

relevant sectors

Principle 5: The REDD+ program maintains and enhances biodiversity and ecosystem services

Criteria address:• Maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity and

ecosystem services • Assessment of positive and negative impacts on

ecosystem services and biodiversity• Adaptive management of the REDD+ program in

response to impact assessment

Principle 6: All relevant rights holders and stakeholders participate fully and effectively in the REDD+ program

Criteria address:• Rights holder/stakeholder identification & characterization• Participation in design, implementation and evaluation• Representation of rights holders/stakeholders• Capacity to participate effectively• Building on existing knowledge/skills/management systems• Resolution of grievances

Principle 7: All rights holders and stakeholders and have timely access to appropriate and accurate information to enable informed decision-making and good governance of the REDD+ program

Criteria address:• Public availability of information for general awareness• Rights holders/stakeholder having information

necessary for full and effective participation• Dissemination of information by representatives to

their constituencies• Feedback from rights-holders/stakeholders to their

representatives

Principle 8: The REDD+ program complies with applicable local and national laws and international treaties and other instruments

Criteria address:• Compliance with relevant local law, national law and

international treaties and agreements• Process for resolving inconsistencies• Capacity of stakeholders to implement and monitor

legal requirements

What the standards can be applied to

1. Processes for development of country-level REDD+ programs, strategies, policies and plans

2. Implementation of country-level REDD+ policies and plans

3. Social and environmental outcomes on the ground

Role of the standards

1. Good practice guidance

2. Self-reporting on performance

– In-country multistakeholder review and approval of content

– International peer review of process (governance, interpretation and assessment)

3. Compliance

– Independently verified assessment of performance against minimum standards

Using the standards at country level

1. Governance: a multistakeholder country-level Standards Committee approves indicators, process and reports

2. Interpretation: participatory approach to development of country-specific indicators and assessment process

3. Assessment:

a. Monitoring – collection of information to evaluate performance

b. Reviewing – by stakeholders to ensure the information is accurate and credible

c. Reporting – communicating the assessment and ensuring transparency

UNFCCC – Cancun Agreement

71. Requests developing country Parties aiming to undertake activities referred to in paragraph 70 above (REDD+), …….to develop the following elements:

(d) A system for providing information on how the safeguards referred to in annex I to this decision are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of the activities referred to in paragraph 70, while respecting sovereignty;

UNFCCC – Cancun Agreement

Annex 1. Safeguards:

(a)Objectives of national forest programmes and relevant international conventions and agreements;

(b)Transparent and effective national forest governance structures;

(c)Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and members of local communities;

d)Full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders;

e)Conservation of natural forests and biological diversity,

• not used for the conversion of natural forests,

• incentivize the protection and conservation of natural forests and their ecosystem services

• enhance other social and environmental benefits;

Overview of status• Ecuador

– Facilitated by CI, CARE and Govt of Ecuador– Country-level Standards Committee created– First draft of country-specific indicators developed through stakeholder

workshop– 90-day public comment period and 2 indigenous peoples workshops– Developing a monitoring plan

• Brazil – Acre State– Facilitated by CARE and State Government– Standards committee being created– First draft of country specific indicators

Overview of status

• Nepal– Facilitated by FECOFUN and Govt. of Nepal– Standards committee in place– Safeguards integration and planning workshop in July 2011– Country specific interpretation to start in July 2011

• Tanzania– Facilitated by Clinton Climate Initiative and Govt. of Tanzania– Safeguards committee being created– Safeguards integration and planning workshop in May 2011– Country specific interpretation to start in July 2011

• Indonesia – Central Kalimantan– Facilitated by Clinton Climate Initiative and Provincial Govt.– Task force established, Standards committee under discussion– Country specific interpretation to start in July 2011?

Challenges and lessons learned

• Multiple national and international safeguards mechanisms

• Inconsistency between national legal frameworks and international obligations

• Implementing and assessing free, prior and informed consent

• Capacity to manage multistakeholder processes• How to design a monitoring plan: quantity and detail of

information needed for effective reporting• Verification: how to assess compliance given sensitivity of

independent evaluation of government-led programs

Contribution of REDD+ SES

• Consistent and comprehensive performance assessment framework developed through international consensus

• Indicators and assessment process are tailored to the country context

• Multistakeholder approach (government, civil society and private sector) enhances quality, credibility and joint ownership

• Promotes higher social and environmental performance beyond “no harm”

• Enables participating countries to communicate performance to national and international stakeholders

• Enables donors/investors to reduce risk and recognize/reward higher performance

For more information:

Joanna Durbin

Director

Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance

jdurbin@climate-standards.org

Phil Franks

Global Coordinator

CARE Poverty, Environment and Climate Change Network

pfranks@careclimatechange.org

www.REDD-standards.org