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With the support of UNDP, FAO and UNEP, the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources of the Government of the Republic of Zambia, along with tremendous support from other contributing partners have produced a national programme document for the new programme UN-REDD that will prepare Zambia to combat climate change through financial initiatives to protect forest areas.
In Zambia, every year forest areas over 30 times the size of Lusaka are destroyed. Worldwide deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20 percent of global greenhouse emissions. If the planet’s temperature is going to be stabilised within 2 degree Celsius limit, one of the major solutions lies within the forests.
To combat this major problem, a new environmental finance concept called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation or commonly known as REDD+ has been specifically developed to provide financial incentives to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from forest lands in developing countries. While the international negotiations on the REDD+ continue, Zambia is already taking steps in readiness for participating in the financial mechanism.
Zambia is one of the nine countries piloting the UN-REDD programme that helps countries to get ready for the REDD+ mechanism. Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, supported by the expertise of UNDP, UNEP and FAO, has developed a national UN-REDD programme in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. UNDP will be supporting the government in building institutional capacity, creating an enabling policy environment and developing a benefit-sharing model that will allow organizations and communities acting to curb deforestation and forest degradation to benefit from the financial mechanism.
A final draft of t  he national programme document has been developed and was discussed by stakeholders today in Lusaka. Zambia aims to present their document to the UN-REDD Policy Board in Nairobi in mid-March 2010. With the Policy Board approval and national approval processes completed, the implementation of the UN-REDD programme is expected to commence in the latter half of 2010.
The following speech was given by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Zambia Dr. Mona Noureddin on behalf of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zambia Mr. Macleod Nyirongo at the Mulungushi Conference Centre, where stakeholders gathered to discuss the national programme document;
"I am delighted to participate in this validation meeting of the Programme document for the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries, known as UN-REDD. The UN-REDD National Joint Programme is a three year programme with a proposed budget of 4.49 million US dollars provided by the donors contributing to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund and channelled through three UN organizations, FAO, UNEP and UNDP. However, UN-REDD is not just another donor project providing funding for short-term activities; the rewards of the programme lie beyond this three-year period.
You may recall the climate negotiations in Copenhagen which, despite some disappointments, succeeded in guiding the way towards establishing a financial mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries; including the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon, now called REDD-plus. REDD-plus is a new environmental finance concept with the primary objective of providing financial incentives to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from forest lands.
By starting preparations now Zambia can have a head start for this substantial and sustainable long-term financing, foreseen to be additional to Official Development Assistance. In future years, REDD-plus can provide the country a fair performance-based compensation for the voluntary efforts to combat climate change and an additional incentive for maintaining and improving the ecosystem services that forests provide to the people.
The road ahead is not easy, as REDD-plus Readiness will require a concerted effort by Zambia on various fronts, including;
- Participating in international Climate Talks and influencing the development of REDD-plus;
- Reliably assessing and monitoring changes in the forest cover and Greenhouse Gas emissions;
- Developing a benefit-sharing mechanism that will provide incentives for all who contribute to reducing emissions, including forest-dependent communities;
- And developing actions that will lead to a measurable reduction in emissions from forest lands;
The drivers of deforestation and forest degradation can be most efficiently tackled at their root causes. Therefore the actions will have to come from multiple sectors and actors in the country. Many encouraging examples exist already;
- Agricultural expansion to forest lands has been curbed by intensified farming techniques like Conservation Agriculture;
- Reliance on charcoal has been reduced by introducing fuel efficient stoves, for example using twigs rather than cutting entire trees;
- And people previously using forests unsustainably have adopted alternative livelihoods such as beekeeping and fisheries;
For Zambia to benefit from REDD-plus, individual successes like these must be supported by policy and legislation that guides the sectors to embrace sustainable development. Especially in agriculture and energy incentives must be created for development that protects forests and the climate. This fundamental shift in thinking and actions cannot be achieved by the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources alone. I would like to encourage the sector ministries, cooperating partners, private sector and civil society to give their full support to the Readiness process and take an active role in the work ahead.
Part of this support for national Readiness is the UN-REDD Programme, lead by the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources and utilizing the expertise of three UN organizations, FAO, UNEP and UNDP. The objectives of the UN-REDD programme are;
- Build institutional and stakeholder capacity to implement REDD-plus;
- Develop an enabling policy environment for REDD-plus;
- Develop REDD-plus benefit-sharing models;
- Develop Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems for REDD-plus;
The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources and the participating UN organizations have spearheaded the development of this programme. However, we could have not reached this point without substantive contributions from other Government bodies, civil society organizations, research community, private sector and cooperating partners. Throughout the year 2009 you have participated in stakeholder consultations and provided valuable information through meetings and written submissions concerning the programme.
I would like to thank you all for these contributions and once more ask you to provide your constructive contributions to the final draft document we are discussing here today. The comments received at this meeting will accompany the Project Document to the UN-REDD Policy Board on 17-19 March 2010 ensuring that Zambia’s submission to the board represents the views of a wide range of stakeholders." For more information, visit the UN-REDD Programme website. |
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