Audio and Video: Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister opens Katoomba XVII, vows to Integrate Economy and Environment
The 17th Katoomba Meeting has kicked off in Hanoi with a recap of Vietnam’s rapid embrace of payments for ecosystem services and calls for the nation to take the lead in promoting REDD in climate-change talks – as well as a reminder that environmental finance will only work if local communities are given a seat at the table.
23 June 2010 | An overflow crowd of farmers, financiers, policymakers, academics, and environmentalists has packed the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a two-day conference focusing on payments for ecosystem services.
We’re posting near-live video as it becomes available here, and then gradually dropping it into this page with more structure — and also with accompanying audio-only streams for those of you in low-bandwidth areas or who prefer audio.
You can listen to the audio streams by left-clicking on the green headers below. You can download the audio streams and listen to them as podcasts by right-clicking on them.
Be sure to check both here and on the dedicated conference page throughout the day, as we will be updating both. The conference page will update with content as it becomes available, and this page will update shortly thereafter, with more structure and explanatory text.
Katoomba XVII: Day One
Opening Remarks
Click the headers below to hear streaming audio from Katoomba XVII without video, or right-click on the headers to download the mp3s and listen at your convenience. And, of course, there’s always the video.
Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister,Vietnam
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan makes the welcome address to open Katoomba XVII. In his speech the Deputy PM outlines the current legislative state of play and explains current moves to put a national policy framework in place.
Cao Duc Phat, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)
Stí¥le Torstein Risa, Ambassador to Vietnam and Laos, Embassy of Norway
As part of the opening address the Norwegian Ambassador, Stí¥le Torstein Risa, calls for strengthened combined efforts between COP15 and COP16 to advance climate change reduction and not to lose momentum. He commends the Vietnamese government on their efforts int he field of PES and proposes the establishment of a transparent, equitable and fair efforts to etablish PES systems globally.
Virginia Palmer, Deputy Mission Chief, USAID Vietnam
In her contribution to the opening address US Deputy Mission Chief Virginia Palmer takes us through the oft-forgotten benefits of Ecosystem Services. She goes on to outline some of these benefits and explains the challenge of ensuring PES is successful as a new field.
Michael Jenkins, President, Forest Trends
Forest Trends President Michael Jenkins closed the opening session with a call for stronger representation in the development of REDD from local communities. In his speech he acknowledges Vietnam as being a regional and global leader in the development of legislation.
Michael goes on to outline the purpose of this Katoomba meeting: to share information and experience and to provide a promotional platform for the range of pilot and demonstration projects underway in the region.
Keynote Introduction: Climate and Landuse Looking Forward
Vietnamese National Programs on Climate Change
Keynote Introduction: Nguyen Khac Hieu on Climate and Landuse looking forward
Click here to hear Nguyen Khc Hieu in audio only
This mornings introduction was on Climate and Landuse in Vietnam looking forward. It was delivered by Nguyen Khac Hieu, Vice Director General, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of Vietnam. Amongst other topics his talk looked at the Vietnamese national programs on climate change.
Apologies if it’s a problem to view. The length of the presentation necessitated using Vimeo which can be problematic when downloading in areas with slow Internet connections.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
State of Emerging Environmental Markets
Overview, Kate Hamilton from Forest Trends
Click here for audio only of Kate’s presentation
Kate Hamilton gives a brief overview and history of Ecosystem Marketplace and explores the basics of various environmental services. She goes on to explain the concept of PES while providing a short introduction to the Regulated Carbon Markets and Forest Carbon Markets. In addition, Kate touches on the State of Watershed Payments Report and presents some of its key findings as well as the challenges.
501 1454 from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Payments for Ecosystem Services as Financial Vehicles for Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Poverty Reduction and Rural Development
James Peter, Chief Technical Advisor, Asian Development Bank EOC
James Peter stresses the importance of PES in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region and explores the benefits and challenges faced in implementing PES. He goes on to explain the ideas behind the Core Environment Program and its various phases, while providing insight on what will make the CEP successful and beneficial to the GMS countries. He closes by providing an example of how the program’s methodology was tested by Vietnam’s government and is considered to be a success by the Mekong people.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Roles of Multilaterals in Forest and Ecosystem Investments
Richard Caines, Principal Specialist, East Asia and Pacific Environment and Social Development Department, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Richard Caines describes the role the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has in REDD and forestry by providing IFC’s three core areas of activity. He explains IFC’s current annual investment in forestry in relation to other annual investments while explaining the struggles and challenges IFC has faced in investing in forestry. Richard provides four core areas IFC plans to focus on, including increasing forest access to the carbon market and promoting global standards, and concludes by stressing the importance of private sector participation in ecosystem services.
Forest Carbon and REDD Architecture
Post Copenhagen is a period of “interim financing” and the challenges of ensuring that investments flow efficiently to produce mechanisms for carbon emissions reductions, accountability, and equitable benefits distributions.
UN REDD Program
Tim Boyle, Asia Regional Coordinator, UNREDD
Tim Boyle gives a brief overview of the purpose and history of the UN REDD program in Asia specific regions and explains the importance of the various partnerships the UN REDD program has. He describes lessons learned from UN REDD programs and provides six different components of REDD readiness, which include stakeholder participation and capacity for national monitoring and reporting. Tim ends his presentation by explaining the importance of the experiences in Vietnam in relation to REDD.
You can find out more about UN REDD on their website here
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Voices from the Markets: Panel Discussion
This is the panel discussion, chaired by Michael Jenkins, that followed Walter and David’s presentations. The first video is the introduction to the Q&A and the second is the Q&A itself.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Comparative Analysis: Policy and Implementation, Approaches Across Southeast Asia Region
Kurt McLeod, Vice President, Asia and Eurasia, PACT
Kurt McLeod stresses the importance of peat landscapes in terms of REDD and Indonesia. By explaining the amount of carbon storage peat can potentially have, he describes how conserving and protecting peat land is an essential REDD project. Kurt goes on to make direct linkages between poverty, climate change, REDD and carbon while underscoring the importance of maintaining natural resources, and by extension, sustaining the livelihoods of millions.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Experiences from Aceh Province, Indonesia
Mr. Yakob Ishdamy, Head of Aceh Green Secretariat, Aceh Province, Indonesia (tbc)
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
PNG Forest Authority Perspective
Goodwill Amos, Forest Authority, Papua New Guinea presents the work of his organization and its perspective on REDD
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Designing National REDD Programs from the Bottom-Up
Eveline Trines, Silvestrum
Eveline Trines, from Silvestrum, takes us through her work in designing national REDD programs from the bottom up. Apologies for the initial blank screen. The video is fine after the first second or two.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Keynote Speeches: Voices from the Markets
Enabling policy environments which encourage public-private investment partnerships, catalyzing flows of private capital into local climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives .
Moderator: Michael Jenkins, Forest Trends
Public-Private Investment Partnerships
David Brand, Managing Director, New Forests Pty Limited
David Brand describes New Forest’s investment strategies and various developing programs around REDD in Asia and Indonesia. He stresses the importance of pricing ecosystems and highlights different struggles in legislation and leadership in the United States. David goes on to describe the private sector’s role in financing REDD projects and finishes up by exploring different funding options in order to maintain momentum.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
How Payments for Carbon Sequestration Create New Forests of High Biodiversity and Social Welfare in Vietnam
Dirk Walterspacher, Forest Finance Group
Dirk Walterspacher explores Forest Finance Group’s main goals, which include investment, carbon storage, and green energy. He explains that by offering different services, the reduction of carbon emission is possible. To illustrate this, he describes the reforestation project in Vietnam last year while putting a strong emphasis on the role that national and regional stakeholders played in the project.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Projects, Products and Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) Strategies
Identifying key roadblocks, priority action areas and research/capacity building needs, and generating a provisional road-map to measuring carbon .
REDD Carbon Measurement, National Inventories, Nested and Sectoral Approaches
Joerg Seifert-Granzin , Forest Carbon Consultant, Forest Trends
Joerg Seifert-Granzin explains how future REDD implementation framework should look like while providing insight on how to share benefits from REDD with different stakeholders. In addition to giving examples of various measurement approaches in different countries, Joerg also describes 6 categories for dealing with inconsistencies between project based approaches, national approaches and sub-national activities.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
How Projects Measure Up: Key Successes of REDD+ Projects and Lessons Learned for Design and Evaluation of REDD+ Activities
Adam Gibbon, Initiative Technical Specialist, Rainforest Alliance
Regional REDD, Governance and Leakage Issues
Gary Bull, Professor, University of British Columbia
Gary Bull explains the problems of leakages and proposes solutions on how to tackle the issue while stressing that international leakage should be the main focus. He presents two types of trade models, and explains that engaging key stakeholders from government, industries, and NGOs is key to solving the problem.
Optional Side Panel and Interactive Discussion: Demystifying the Verification Process
The panelists, who each have experience with a different aspect of forest carbon project validation or verification, will share their perspectives on standards, preparing for an audit, the audit process and how to share the results of your verification/validation. The session aims to create a dialogue for maximal exchange.
Moderator, Adam Gibbon, Rainforest Alliance
Overview of the Validation and Verification Process for Voluntary Standards
Indu Sapkota , Forest Management and Verification Services Coordinator, Rainforest Alliance Asia Pacific
Experiences with the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
Eveline Trines , Silvestrum
Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) Validation of the Philippines Penablanca Sustainable Reforestation Project
Yoji Natori , Conservation International
Experiences with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Phuong Vu Tan , Director, Research Centre for Forest Ecology and Government
Katoomba XVII: Day Two
Welcome and Recap
Kerstin Canby, Director, Forest Trade and Finance, Forest Trends
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
The Vietnam Experience
Vietnam’s Pilot Policy for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES): Government Perspective
Nguyen Tuan Phíº , Office of the Government and Pham Xuan Phuong, Legal Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam
This presentation is in Vietnamese.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Part Two
Contributions of Winrock International and GTZ to the Formulation and Implementation of Policy on Payment for Forest Environmental Services in Viet Nam
Nguyen Chi Thanh , Senior Policy Advisor, Winrock International, Vietnam; Juergen Hess, GTZ Vietnam
This presentation is in Vietnamese.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Experience with REDD Pilot Projects in Vietnam
Pham Minh Thoa
Pham Minh Thoa gives a detailed presentation about the current status of REDD implementation in Vietnam while presenting the concept of sustainagility. She goes on to provide different paradigms of Payments for Ecosystem Services and concludes by presenting various pointers on how to facilitate different actors working in PES.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Richard McNally, SNV and REDD working group in Vietnam
Richard McNally describes in detail the three different projects his organization is currently working on in Vietnam. After explaining the roles illegal logging and agriculture expansion play in Vietnam, he emphasizes the importance of trying to balance agricultural reduction and forest conversion. He finishes his presentation by explaining the need for an integrated approach in which governments, businesses, and small holders all take part in trying to solve the problems.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Forest law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT), and Potential Implications of REDD for Local People: Impacts of Small-Scaled Illegal Logging Operations
Rene Boot, Tropenbos International.
Rene Boot explores the impacts of small-scale illegal logging operations while using Ghana’s forest degradation and dwindling forest resources as a prime example. He addresses the issue of chainsaw milling in Ghana , describes how it links rural livelihoods with REDD+, and identifies the low prices and high employment rates as the fundamental drivers behind it.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Payments for Watershed Ecosystem Services
Understanding how to maximize ability of market mechanisms to increase watershed services while also providing incentives for improved land use in catchment areas .
Overview of China’s Eco-Compensation Programs
Jin Leshan, China Agricultural University
Jin Leshan describes ecocompensation in China in comparison to PES and gives examples of several significant programs occurring in the late 1990s, including natural forest protection programs and natural slope conversion programs. She explains how these programs are voluntary, conditional, and based on negotiation and illustrates how government is central in China’s ecocompensation programs.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Lessons Learned Facilitating Linkages between ES Providers and Sellers
Dr. Delia Catacutan, from ICRAF/RUPES, takes us through the lessons learned through facilitating linkages between Ecosystem Service providers and sellers.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Emerging Markets and Market-like Approaches to Watershed Quality
Mark Kieser, Senior Scientist,Kieser & Associates
Mark Kieser gives his presentation from a practical perspective on what it takes for watershed programs to be successful. He explains the basics of ecosystem market framework and discusses the differences between regulated markets and voluntary markets, giving examples of both. Mark concludes by presenting key opportunities in Payment for Watershed Services in the United States, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay and Ohio River bank.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo.
Biodiversity Markets and Market-Like Instruments
How to get beyond public finance for biodiversity conservation and how markets can be used to achieve more and better cost effective conservation outcomes from infrastructure development.
State of Biodiversity Offsets and Biodiversity Market Instruments
Kerry ten Kate, Director, Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program (BBOP), Forest Trends
Kerry ten Kate discusses potential payments for biodiversity payments and gives basic information on the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program (BBOP). She emphasizes that various steps need to be taken to avoid biodiversity impacts as much as possible and makes the distinction between biodiversity offsets and PES. Kerry concludes by presenting numerous principles of biodiversity offsets, including no net loss and additionality.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
REDD+ and Biodiversity Conservation
Terry Sunderland, Forests and Livelihoods Programme, CIFOR
Terry Sunderland breaks down the relationship between biodiversity and REDD while giving the history and evolution of REDD itself. He describes how REDD+ works, explaining the co benefits it can provide as well as the potential risks and challenges related to biodiversity. Terry discusses the governments’ role in REDD and explains the various challenges governments face when financing REDD projects.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Basics of Biodiversity Offsets and Conservation Banking: Lessons from the State of Victoria and Ideas for the South-East Asia Region
Michael Crowe, Government of Victoria, Australia
Michael Crowe goes over policy approaches to biodiversity offsetting while taking a look at three main levels of biodiversity policy. He explains setting standards for biodiversity and stresses the importance of establishing marketplaces where buyers and sellers can come together. Michael ends his presentation by presenting biodiversity in the State of Victoria as a case study.
from Katoomba Group on Vimeo
Coastal and Marine Markets (Including Mangrove Ecosyste
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