UN DESA Climate Change Working Group Prepares Policy Briefs on Forests and Climate Change

22 April 2009: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Climate Change Working Group has prepared two policy briefs on forests and climate change. Policy Brief 15 addresses finance for forests and climate change, and Policy Brief 16 addresses reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

Policy Brief 15, titled “Finance for Forests and Climate Change,” concludes that the “global climate change agreement should include actions on deforestation and forest degradation within the wider context of sustainable forest management.” It also suggests that: funding should be provided from various public and private sources including those mobilized through carbon trading; international action is urgently required to support developing countries in building capacity and preparing for forest carbon programmes; and negotiations on REDD and its financing have to be based on the broader and comprehensive framework of sustainable forest management.

Policy Brief 16, titled “Forests: the Green and REDD of Climate Change,” suggests that financial resources expected to be allocated to forests for climate change programmes, including through REDD, should be mutually supportive of financing sustainable forest management. It suggests that extensive capacity building and training activities should be developed “to enhance the capacity of developing countries for transparent, inclusive and accountable forest governance.” It also highlights monitoring, reporting and verification to enable countries to apply methodologies for estimating and monitoring carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation under REDD. [Policy Brief 15] [Policy Brief 16]

Prepared by:

DESA Climate Change Working Group

For further information please contact:

Hossein Moeini-Meybodi

United Nations Forum on Forests

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Rm. DC1-1248

United Nations, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.

Tel: +1 212 963-5949 • Fax: +1 917 367-3186

e-mail: moeini-meybodi@un.org • website: http://www. un.org/esa/policy