Reader Retrospective 2012
A reader-ranked summary of the year’s top stories impacting the forest carbon market
10. Different Tones of REDD: With an evolving voluntary market and the possibility of new markets for REDD+ emerging from California, indigenous views on REDD+ remained divided throughout the year. While some groups strictly opposed projects fearing land grabs and constricting regulations, other communities embraced REDD+ proposals as an opportunity to maintain their traditional way of life and still another faction remained on the fence.
9. Sounding the Alarm: Wildlife Works announced the release of their Code REDD campaign, which aims to create additional voluntary demand and stimulate private sector investment in REDD projects and credits. The initiative has so far secured five corporate champions.
8. Methodologies in Full Bloom Down Under: Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative approved seven methodologies for developing carbon credits and as in the process of reviewing nineteen proposed methodologies, among which are forestry-related proposals. Current methodologies cover activities ranging from landfill gas capture to forest planting.
7. Brazil Codes its Forests: Despite receiving mixed feedback from environmental and industry actors throughout the year, Brazil approved revisions to the country’s Forest Code in late 2012. Revisions include the creation of a registry of land holdings designed to better tracking environmental compliance and the expansion of forest cover parameters to include forests along rivers and hillsides.
6. Brazilian Takeover: A Brazilian tie ensues in our sixth slot with ACR approving its first forest carbon project in Latin America – the Brazilian Boa Vista afforestation/reforestation carbon offset project, and the UNFCCC issuing over 4M tCERs to the Brazil-based Plantar reforestation project – the first forestry-based tCER issuance worldwide.
5. Anything but Standard: An impressive three-way tie pulls in market actors from Acre to VCS to fifth place. The Gold Standard acquired the CarbonFix standard and announced new alliances with the Forest Stewardship Council and Fairtrade, while another partnership was established between Markit and Brazil’s Acre to develop a REDD+ credits registry. Returning to standards, VCS approved its first soil carbon methodology.
4. Back on Track: The Rimba Raya REDD Project, the world’s first project to develop and navigate a REDD methodology through the VCS process, opened for business once more after being interrupted a year earlier when Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry promised half the project’s territory to a palm oil company.
3. Costa Rica Banks the First Funds: Costa Rica became the first country to receive an approval from the World Bank to access performance-based payments through the Carbon Fund under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. The country’s proposal is quasi-national in scope, taking on a mosaic approach across 341,000 ha that represent estimated emission reductions of almost 30 MtCO2.
2. REDD, the New Black: Jurisdictional nested REDD (JNR) takes the second spot, with both VCS and ACR releasing JNR methodologies to help jurisdictions scale up emissions reductions beyond project-level activities. From Brazil to Laos, initial JNR pilots and assessments are testing the waters.
1. Building in Colombia: VCS and Fundacion Natura signed an MOU agreeing to jointly establish the necessary framework for a Colombian voluntary carbon market, and promote the development of this new emerging market and the advantages of carbon neutrality to Colombian companies.
Carbon Crystal Ball 2013
What forest carbon market movers and shakers are saying about 2013.
Gary Gero
Climate Action Reserve
“California will make real progress in developing a framework for including REDD in the California compliance market in the future… California Carbon Offset prices will exceed all other carbon offsets in the market.”
Majella Clarke
SUFORD Project, Indufor
“The UNFCCC will continue to debate financing and MRV for REDD+ throughout 2013 meaning that the voluntary carbon market will remain the only option for land-based offsets. VCS will continue its dominance as a source of generating VERs from REDD+ projects. Increasing interest in the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ is expected as demonstration projects using the methodology get off the ground. The Gold Standard’s new set of rules and procedures to certify land use and forest projects in mid 2013 will be much anticipated. The development of national and regional emission trading schemes will continue throughout 2013 potentially providing new possibilities in the near future for trading verified emission reductions from land based projects.”
Lucas Demuelenaere
Climact
“Initiatives designed to “nest” REDD+ pilot projects within jurisdictional frameworks… are full of promises and should boost the recognition of forestry’s role in mitigating climate change in the near future. Importantly, these actions could bridge together a possible compliance market and the various voluntary initiatives underway, and contribute to raise awareness around the critical need for an efficient REDD+ mechanism. We can expect these nascent initiatives to have a growing recognition and deeply influence the international negotiations on REDD+.”
Chandler Van Voorhis
Green Trees
“REDD+ will continue to be a government to government action moving at a glacial speed. Despite a lake of evidence, that taxes lower emissions, the Carbon Tax will gain momentum in the US as the country searches for more and more revenue. Tax credits that are tradable and tranferable will be the new arena for forestry finance.”
Georg Schattney
Forest Carbon Group
“We expect that demand for small to medium size projects with high social and environmental benefits will continue to grow in voluntary markets – despite agony of compliance markets.”
Raquel Orejas
Nature Services Peru
“Early stage REDD+ projects might pick up from international programs such as FCPF and FIP. Two big stories we will need to follow. First, how the California cap and trade program will boost clean energy projects and how indigenous REDD+ will develop in the region with highest supply of REDD+ carbon credits, Latin America.”
Pieter van Midwoud
The Gold Standard Foundation
“In the voluntary market, The Gold Standard, Fairtrade and FSC cooperations are delivering the trust and track record that corporate buyers are looking for and that was, until now, missing in the land use and forest carbon sectors. National and regional carbon schemes now have the ability to join these ‘best of class’ initiatives to bring credibility to their own markets.”
Anonymous
“Brazil’s 2012/2013 deforestation figures will show a large increase compared with their much lauded 2011/2012 figures, changes that are likely to be attributable at least in part to amendments in their forest code. REDD+ at the UNFCCC will continue to falter without increased financial commitments, but the pace of development outside the negotiations will maintain momentum: new major bilateral agreements for REDD+ will emerge outside traditional donor/recipient relationships, to include countries in central Africa; private and public sector donors will cooperate to deliver a preliminary agreement for the development of an ‘Advanced Market Commitment’ for REDD+ in Indonesia; and a jurisdictional scale REDD+ project will be operational in at least one country before the end of 2013. There will be an increased emphasis on addressing the commodity drivers of deforestation through collaboration with major investors and commodity producers, and FLEGT style carrot and stick initiatives will emerge for major commodities such as palm oil.”
Announcements
Kinship Conservation Fellows 2013
Kinship Conservation Fellows invites conservation professionals with 5+ years of experience to apply to its selective month-long environmental leadership curriculum this summer, delivered by a faculty of global experts who work closely with each carefully selected cohort of Fellows to explore fresh ways to apply market-based approaches to environmental concerns. Applications are due by January 26.
~ Learn more HERE
Jobs
Carbon Program Intern – Ecosystem Marketplace
Ecosystem Marketplace is seeking a paid part-time or full-time intern for our Carbon Program for a four- to six-month commitment. In return for this commitment, the intern will receive invaluable contacts and experience in liaising with international conservation NGOs, for profits and development multilaterals; executing survey research for an international market report; helping to plan/execute an international report launch event; and recommendations as merited.
~ View listing HERE
Program Manager – Rainforest Foundation US
Rainforest Foundation is looking for a program manager to implement natural resource management and community mapping program activities, and provide technical guidance to the Foundation’s partners on issues related to natural resource management, community mapping and climate change.
~ View listing HERE
Two Positions – Terra Global Capital
Terra Global Capital is looking to fill two positions in support of Zambia’s government to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation and strengthen forest management in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist will be responsible for daily M&E activities, monitor program progress, while training and building M&E capacity. The Chief of Party will serve as the principal liaison with USAID/Zambia and other key entities, while providing overall leadership management for the program.
~ View first listing HERE and second listing HERE
Multiple Positions, FCMC – Tetra Tech ARD
Tetra Tech ARD is looking to fill a couple of positions in its Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities program, including a REDD+ Operations and Logistics Assistant and a REDD+ Deputy Social Science and Environmental Specialist Task Lead.
~ View first listing HERE and second listing HERE
Two Positions – World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute is looking to fill two positions in its Washington, DC headquarters. One research intern will assist WRI’s “Climate Finance and the Private Sector” project in drafting two working papers that map climate-relevant investments, while another intern will help WRI’s Governance of Forests Initiative conduct research on governance best practices for forest laws, policies, and processes.
~ View first listing HERE and second listing HERE
Chief of Party, Community-Based Forest Management Program – World Wildlife Fund
WWF is looking for a Chief of Party to assume technical leadership and administrative oversight over the anticipated USAID-funded community based forest management program for REDD+ readiness in Zambia.
~ View listing HERE
Senior Program Officer – The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC)
RECOFTC is looking for a senior program officer to help RECOFTC’s People, Forest and Climate Change thematic area coordinate analysis and capacity building in relation to climate mitigation and adaptation, providing strategic direction, while maintaining and expending strategic networks with other organizations dealing with climate change in Asia and the Pacific regions.
~ View listing HERE
Deputy Chief of Party, LEAF Program – Winrock International
Winrock is looking for a Deputy Chief of Party to help provide operational and technical leadership for its Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) program, which is intended to help target countries build capacity for REDD+.
~ View listing HERE
Brazil Director – Verified Carbon Standard
The Verified Carbon Standard is looking for a director to build the foundation for a long-term VCS presence in Brazil, with an emphasis on engaging Brazilian policymakers and other market stakeholders and learning to advocate on behalf of the VCS on jurisdictional nested REDD+ and other VCS initiatives.
~ View listing HERE
Climate and Forests Intern, Africa Team – ClientEarth
ClientEarth is seeking a voluntary intern to work with its Climate and Forest programme in London. The intern will help with research and analysis of legal and policy matters related to FLEGT and REDD+ processes in Ghana, the Republic of Congo, and Gabon.
~ View listing HERE
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Global Comparative Study on REDD+ – CIFOR
CIFOR is seeking a fellow to contribute to developing policy-relevant conclusions on institutional design for specific country and regional contexts – to be integrated and supported by the Global Comparative Study on REDD+ and attached to the Forests and Governance Programme.
~ View listing HERE
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