Dr. David Woodruff, John Niles and others discuss terrestrial carbon at the University of California San Diego's Sustainability Solutions Institute Greenovation Forum. Watch the video here.
December 7th, 2011 - For Immediate Release
The Tropical Forest Group launched Phase 1 of the US REDD Finance Database (www.usreddfinance.org) on December 7, 2011 at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.
The Tropical Forest Group (TFG) has archived and transcribed all instances where US government agencies state either financial flows for sustainable tropical forestry or quantitative forest impacts (such as hectares protected, trees planted, kilometers of firebreaks, etc). The goal of the database is to improve transparency around US government REDD+ finance and monitor how well the US is meeting its fast start finance REDD+ pledge of $1 billion.
The information is in a searchable online database (www.usreddfinance.org). The US REDD Finance Database currently records 800+ discrete instances where US agencies state financial flows to countries or quantitative impacts on forests. The US REDD Finance Database website includes a library of all the data’s source documents. The database compiles information from US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Tropical Forest Conservation Act annual reports, the US State Department fact sheets on Fast Start Finance, and data submitted by the US government to the REDD+ Partnership’s Database.
“The US REDD Finance Database allows American taxpayers and the international community to see for themselves how America helps developing countries conserve their forests and what quantitative impacts on forests are being reported,” said Cara Cummings of the Tropical Forest Group. John-O Niles, Director of the Tropical Forest Group adds, “The US REDD Finance Database is a model for aligning financial support from a donor with measurable actions in threatened forests worldwide. It’s an important tool in this new world of disaggregated climate change governance and cooperation.”
Key elements of the US REDD Finance Database are: every reported financial flow or forest impact is linked to the source document from where the data came, the fiscal year of the financial flow or forest impact is indicated where possible, every stated financial contribution denotes which agency reported the finance and which agency was responsible for the finance, linkages between finance and impacts are indicated where possible, locations within countries of stated impacts or finance are provided where available, grantees or specific programs are indicated where possible.
Questions on the database should be directed to: reddfinance@tropicalforestgroup.org
Press enquiries should call John Niles, Director of TFG at +27 84 736 96 99
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December 5, 2011
On Saturday, SBSTA 35 approved draft text on methodological guidance for REDD+ at COP 17. The three issues on the table were 1) reference levels, 2) safeguards, and 3) measuring, reporting and verification (MRV).
The draft text on MRV is a SBSTA decision, largely pushing this work to the next SBSTA. The draft COP decision on reference levels is overall strong, and punctuated by the establishment of a process that will assess the reference levels after countries submit them. Many groups think the text on safeguards, however, has been diluted since the Cancun Agreements.
To read the two texts adopted by SBSTA, please click on the links below:
December 1, 2011
Talk about irony. Just outside the COP17 conference center in Durban South Africa, a large rhino statue greets incoming delegates. And in the past few weeks, two rhino sub-species have gone extinct - the Vietnamese Javan rhino and the western black rhino. Extinct. As in, never again in nature on this Earth.
By all indications, multitudes of species will go extinct in the near future. Despite the promise and excitement of REDD+, for these rhino subs-species REDD+ was too slow. The price of ivory has skyrocketed. The resources of developing countries to fight poachers are inadequate. Goodbye rhinos. Read more...
TFG submits Again on REDD+ Reference Levels
September 19, 2011
As the next round of climate change talks approach, there United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asked again for official submissions on REDD+ reference levels. To any normal person, the latest submission on the topic by TFG is a 9-page exercise in arcane ecological intergovernmental complexity. But for the UNFCCC and hopes for a new REDD+ Mechanism, reference levels are absolutely essential and long over due. If you want to really tickle your brains, read this. More...
“Justification and Recommendations for a
UNFCCC REDD+ Mechanism "
March 4, 2010
The Tropical Forest Group has released a 10-page report, “REDD+ and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Justification and Recommendations for a UNFCCC REDD+ Mechanism. " This report is an elaboration of TFG’s February 2011 submission to the UNFCCC process under the Cancun Agreements. The report provides a context for key developments within and outside the UNFCC process on REDD+, calls for the immediate creation of a new UNFCCC REDD+ Mechanism, and suggests key components for such a mechanism. (Read TFG’s report calling for a new UNFCCC REDD+ Mechanism here).
In his concession speech after the 2010 mid-term elections,
President Obama said that prospects for meaningful US climate
change legislation are doubtful and will be for years.
With the US and the international community unable to take
even modest steps to combat global warming, the State of
California has stepped up in a big, big way. Despite record unemployment rates and deficits, California
voters trounced a measure that would have suspended AB
32, California’s landmark climate change law. California’s
AB 32 cap and trade program will soon be the biggest market
for compliance emission reductions outside of Europe.
In
the wreckage of the Copenhagen talks and the new political
landscape in America, California is the most dynamic jurisdiction
for climate change implementation in the world. More...
OUR MISSION The Tropical Forest Group (TFG) supports humanitarian carbon projects predominantly in conflict and post-conflict areas of the tropics. We combine technical project support with policy, science and advocacy to conserve and restore the planet’s remaining tropical forests, fight climate change, and improve the lives of people.
extinct