INTERNATIONAL NEWS ON REDD+

• Carbon Fund Participants decides to extend the Carbon Fund from December 31st, 2020 to December 31st, 2025.

• Large-scale emission reductions programs under the Carbon Fund combined have the potential to transform over 100 million hectares of land in 11 countries.

• 11 Carbon Fund countries have signed Letters of Intent (LOIs) which is a first step towards an Emission Reductions Payment Agreement.

• At the FCPF Participants Committee, Nineteenth Meeting in Washington DC (PC19), the Participants Committee, through Resolution PC/19/2015/4 allocated an additional grant of $5 million for Vietnam REDD+ readiness implementation for the period 2016-2018. To date, 15 countries in the

Readiness Fund have reached the mid-term of their Readiness Grant and 8 countries have been allocated an additional grant of $5 million.

NEWSLETTER NO. 4

PROJECT ON SUPPORT FOR THE REDD+ READINESS PREPARATION IN VIETNAM

The project “Support for the REDD+ readiness preparation in Vietnam” is funded by Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)/ World Bank with the total amount of US$3.8 million, lasting for 3 years (2013-2015). REDD+ is an initiative to reduce green gas emissions through deforestation, forest degradation, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forests.

May 2015

MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT

• Between 16th and 21st March, Central Project Management Unit (CPMU) worked in two villages of R’But and N’Doh, Dak G’long, Dak Nong province to instruct on the methods and procedures of forestland allocation, sustainable forest management planning and discussion on REDD+ pilot modeling. It is seen after that is the two villages of N’Doh and R’But is affordable in terms of forest resources and legality to allocate to the people on a long-term fashion. Land allocation decision for Dak G’long Peoples Committee will be validated until 2015; therefore FLA should be done with the project’s technical assistance.

• Between 23rd and 31st March, an expert team visited Quang Binh and Quang Tri to help the provinces prepare and deploy the REDD+ pilot models in line with the 2015 work plan; discuss preparation for the development of Quang Binh Forest Protection and Development Fund; coordinate between Quang Tri and the project to deploy the equitization of Ben Hai Forestry Company.

• During 3-4/4/2015 in Hue city, VNFOREST and CPMU organized a workshop on “Afforestation responding to climate change, replicating the high-value production forest models”. The workshop concentrated in discussing the organization and deployment of the project on Coastal forest protection and development responding to climate change in the period of 2014 – 2020 and its Action Plan.

• On April 18th in Ha Tinh city, VNFOREST and CPMU

held a technical workshop to develop Emission Reductions Program Document (ERPD) with the participation of 6 provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue. The parties commit to complete ERPD in time in October 2015. The project is the focal point to support and coordinate the technical assistance and resources during the development of ERPD. To date, the provinces have collected the necessary data for ERPD development.

• Regarding REDD+ awareness raising, CPMU worked with Sustainable Forest Management Institute (SFMI) to organize training courses for government officials, NGOs and journalists with the aim of building capacity on managing, operating and knowledge on climate change and REDD+. Since April 2015 until now, 3 out of 9 courses have been conducted.

• Between 22nd and 28th March, CPMU supported Dak Nong PPMU to train for trainers to support for awareness raising at communes and villages, agreed on the curriculum and lectures for the local people and ethnic minorities.

• Quang Binh PPMU organized training courses to raise awareness about climate change and REDD+ for different target audiences: 02 traning courses for forest protection staff in the Forest Protection Stations, Forest Rangers Team and Provincial Forest Protection Department between 7th and 10th April; 03 training courses for forest owners and local people of Truong Son and Lam Thuy communes

between 7th and 14th May; and 04 training courses for local people in project pilot villages.

• On April 23rd, in Quang Son commune, Dak G’long district, Dak Nong PPMU has worked with Le Duan primary and secondary school to launch an advocacy drawing contest on “Protecting forest, protecting your living environment” with 300 students participated. The contest helped to improve their knowledge and understanding about the roles and benefits of forests to the life, also, created favorable condition for them to express their drawing skills and creativity.

• On March 8th, Quang Tri PPMU organized a study tour to learn about development of Provincial REDD+ Action Plan (PRAP) in Lam Dong for the members of provincial REDD+ Steering Committee, PPMU and Quang Tri Forest Protection Department. As it is experienced by Lam Dong province, aside from the project consultants’ expertise, project staff’s participation should also be in place to facilitate the current and future operations. The calculation of carbon stock should be made together with the forest inventory data by each period to get the most accurate results.

EMISSION REDUCTIONS PROGRAM DOCUMENT (ERPD)

The FCPF consists of two separate mechanisms, the Readiness Fund and the Carbon Fund. The FCPF Readiness Fund ($385 million) assists tropical and subtropical forest countries to develop systems and

policies for REDD+ readiness while the FCPF Carbon Fund ($465 million) is designed to pay for performance-based payments for carbon emission reductions.

Milestones of REDD+ ReadinessReadiness Fund

R-PP Formulation

R-PPASSESSMENT

Readiness Preparation

MIDTERMPROGRESS

REPORT

R-PACKAGEASSESSMENT

R-Package must beendorsed by the PC before anER Program is submitted and

an ERPA is signed

EMISSION REDUCTIONS

PROGRAM IDEANOTE (ER-PIN)

EMISSIONREDUCTIONS

PROGRAMDOCUMENT

(ERPD)

SIGNATUREOF EMISSIONREDUCTIONS

PAYMENTAGREEMENT

(ERPA)

Carbon Fund

National REDD+ StrategyImplementation

Upon selection of the ER-PIN intothe Carbon Fund pipeline, a legally-binding

Letter of Intent is signed

The pipeline for the Carbon Fund is now considered filled with 11 selected Emission Reductions Program Idea Notes (ER-PINs) from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Chile, Ghana, Nepal, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. ER-PINs that are accepted into the FCPF Carbon Fund pipeline will be required to provide an ERPD – to be developed by the

ER implementing entity. The ERPD, in combination with other documents such as the country’s Readiness Package, provides the information required by the Carbon Fund Participants to decide whether to proceed to negotiating an Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) for the proposed ER Program.

Processing Steps: From ER-PIN to ERPA Implementation

Vietnam’s proposed ER program encompasses the North-Central Agro-Ecological Region, an area of land totalling 5.1 million ha (16% of the total land area of Vietnam see Figure 4.2), of which 80% is hillsand mountains and the remaining is coastal plains with agricultural land, accounting for 14% of the natural area. The region is administered as six provinces – Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue – and is home to 11 million people (12% of the total population). The national Forest Protection Department’s annual forest cover monitoring data indicates that 44% (2.3 million ha) of the proposed ER Program area was forested in 2012; nearly all (95%) of which, is natural forest. Over half (1.7 million ha) of the region’s forestland is under the management of the state; nearly one third (0.9 million ha) has been allocated to individual households or village communities.

The Government of Vietnam proposed its ER Program in June 2014 by at the eleventh meeting of the FCPF Carbon Fund Participants. Subsequently, Vietnam and the World Bank signed a Letter of Intent in January 2015 agreeing, in principle, to pay for emissions reductions generated through the implementation of the program. At present, Viet Nam is making efforts to develop ERPD and intends to present a final ERPD at the fifteenth meeting of the Carbon Fund Participants (tentatively scheduled for March 2016).

Much of the required ERPD information will be built upon the REDD+ Readiness process and documentation. The FCPF has issued an ERPD Template that summaries all the required information for submitting the ER. The FCPF Carbon Fund has developed the 2013 Methodological Framework that provides the overarching guidance

and standards for carbon accounting and ER Programs in the form of 38 criteria and 74 indicators (C&I). These criteria and indicators are organized around 5 major components: (i) level of ambition; (ii) carbon accounting; (iii) safeguards; (iv) sustainable program design and implementation; and (v) ER program transactions.

These processes will lead to the eventual signing of the ERPA which will define the transaction mechanisms for selling and buying of the “performance based payments” –including verification of the required environmental and social due diligence defined in the ERPD. The Bank will review and clear the ERPD, the Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet and all relevant safeguards plans/documents.

The ERPD contains several environmental, social and safeguards sections summarized below, listing the key ERPD sections and associated criteria and indicators from the Methodological Framework with an explanation of required information. These ERPD contents follow many of the commonly found Bank project safeguard policy related elements in terms of general background environmental and social baseline; analysis of drivers and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation; assessment of land and resource tenure; relevant local, regional and national laws, statutes and regulatory frameworks; stakeholder information sharing and consultation mechanisms, etc. Much of this information will have been collected as part of the REDD+ Readiness safeguards processes including the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA), Environmental Social Management Framework (ESMF) and other relevant REDD+ Readiness documents.

1. 2. 3.ER-PIN Submitted(REDD+ Country or authorization entity)

ER-PIN Reviewed+Selected into Pipeline(Carbon Fund Participantsand World Bank)

Letter of Intent signed (REDD+Country/authorizationentity and World Bank)

ER ProgramDocument Submitted(REDD+ Country orauthorized entity)

5.6. ERPD Reviewed +Selected(Carbon Fund Participantsand World Bank)

7. ERPA Negotiation +Signing(World Bank andCarbon Fund Participants)

8. Implementation, Veri�cation, Payments(Carbon Fund Participants and REDD+ country/authorized entity )

Draft ER ProgramDocument Prepared(REDD+ Country/authorizationentity with technical supportfrom the World Bank)

4.

Readiness Package Submitted (REDD+ country) and endorsed (FCPF Participants)

ER Program Due DiligenceIncludes assessing technical (e.g. REL, MRV) and

programmatic elements (e.g. sub-national arrangements, bene�ts sharing in accordance with

Carbon Fund’s Methodological Framework

(FMT, Carbon Fund Participants)

World Bank Due DiligenceProgram appraisal and Safeguards assessment (includes assessment of associated economic,

technical, institutional, �nancial issues and risks, and social and environmental safeguards)

(World Bank)

Methodological Framework Safeguards Criteria and Indicators

Criterion 24: The ER Program meets the World Bank social and environmental safeguards and promotes and supports the safeguards included in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) guidance related to REDD+.

Indicator 24.1: The ER Program demonstrates through its design and implementation how it meets relevant World Bank social and environmental safeguards, and promotes and supports the safeguards included in UNFCCC guidance related to REDD+.

Indicator 24.2: Safeguards Plans address social and environmental issues and include related risk mitigation measures identified during the national readiness process, e.g., in the SESA process and the ESMF, that are relevant for the specific ER Program context taking into account relevant existing institutional and regulatory frameworks. The Safeguards Plans are prepared concurrently with the ER Program Document, and are publicly disclosed in a manner and language appropriate for the affected stakeholders.

Criterion 25: Information is provided on how the ER Program meets the World Bank social and environmental safeguards and addresses and respects the safeguards included in UNFCCC guidance related to REDD+, during ER Program implementation.

Indicator 25.1: Appropriate monitoring arrangements for safeguards referred to in Criterion 24 are included in the Safeguards Plans.

Indicator 25.2: During ER Program implementation, information on the implementation of Safeguards Plans is included in an annex to each ER monitoring report and interim progress report. This information is publicly disclosed, and the ER Program is encouraged to make this information available

to relevant stakeholders. This information is also made available as an input into the national systems Safeguards Information System ( SIS) for providing information on how safeguards are addressed and respected required by the UNFCCC guidance related to REDD+, as appropriate.

Criterion 26: An appropriate Feedback and Grievance Redress Mechanism (FGRM) developed during the Readiness phase or otherwise exist(s), building on existing institutions, regulatory frameworks, mechanisms and capacity.

Indicator 26.1: An assessment of existing FGRM, including any applicable customary FGRMs, is conducted and is made public. The FGRM applicable to the ER Program demonstrates the following: Legitimacy, accessibility, predictability, fairness, rights compatibility, transparency, and capability to address a range of grievances, including those related to benefit sharing arrangements for the ER Program; Access to adequate expertise and resources for the operation of the FGRM.

Indicator 26.2: The description of FGRM procedures, included in the Benefit-Sharing Plan and/or relevant Safeguards Plans, specifies the process to be followed to receive, screen, address, monitor, and report feedback on, grievances or concerns submitted by affected stakeholders. As relevant, the Benefit-Sharing Plan and/or relevant Safeguards Plans and/or ER Program Document describe the relationship among FGRM(s) at the local, ER Program, and national levels.

Indicator 26.3: If found necessary in the assessment mentioned in Indicator 26.1, a plan is developed to improve the FGRM.

Key ERPD sections

1. Entities responsible for the management and implementation of the proposed ER Program

2. Strategic context and rationale for the ER Program

3. ER Program location

4. Description of actions and interventions to be implemented under the proposed ER Program

5. Stakeholder consultations, and participation

6. Operational and financial planning

7. Carbon pools, sources and sinks

8. Reference level

9. Approach measurement, monitoring and reporting

10. Displacement

11. Reversals

12. Uncertainties of the calculation of Emission Reductions

13. Calculation of Emission Reductions

14. Safeguards

15. Benefit-sharing arrangements

16. Non carbon benefits

17. Title to Emission Reductions

18. Data management and registry systems