Animation of a workshop “forest and post-2012 climate regime” for diplomats France

Context of the service

The share of French official development assistance (ODA) going to forests is about €26 million/year, mainly implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM). 75% of this amount goes to Africa, mainly on small projects (less than €5 million). The share of forest-related ODA represents only 0.6% of global ODA and 5.5% of climate-related ODA. If we compare it to the countries active on forests (500 M€/year for Norway, 125 M€/year for Germany, 74 M€/year for Great Britain), France is a small donor... However, French diplomacy seeks to defend certain specificities of actions in the field: (i) The promotion of forest management, particularly in the Congo Basin (10 Mha managed in 2009), (ii) Its pioneering commitment to forest carbon finance: AFD was one of the first contributors to the World Bank's Biocarbon Fund (BioCF), then one of the first contributors to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), (iii) As one of the only developed countries, along with Australia, to possess a large portion of tropical forest, France has developed recognized scientific and technical expertise in the knowledge and management of tropical forest ecosystems.
For these reasons, the Environment Advisors of French diplomacy, based in France embassies around the world, were asking for precise information on new forestry issues, particularly in connection with climate change and the fight against deforestation. The expert therefore gave a presentation at the annual day of the Environmental Advisors.

Services provided

As the presentation took place a few months before the Copenhagen Climate Conference, which was supposed to give birth to an agreement on the post-2012 climate regime, the presentation naturally focused on this issue and was entitled "What place for the forest in the Copenhagen Accord?". It enlightened participants on the following points: (i) The challenges of the REDD+ negotiations for developing countries and the Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) negotiations for developed countries, (ii) Latest scientific advances on the likely impacts of climate change: Stern Report of 2006 and 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, (iii) Reminder of the political balance of power existing at the time of the Kyoto negotiations and explanation of the marginal role left to forests, (iv) Prospects for climate negotiations in general: more science, more public opinion more aware of the stakes, but the United States and the governments of developed countries in general are still slow to commit, (v) Current progress and challenges of the LULUCF negotiations: taking into account the risks associated with extreme weather events, expansion of the LULUCF activities recorded, harmonization and simplification of accounting rules, etc., (vi) Current progress and challenges of REDD+ negotiations: progressive development of strategies, clarification of the scope of activities covered, guidelines for establishing reference scenarios, financing by the carbon market vs. funds, etc. This was followed by a debate on the values and positions to be defended by French diplomacy on the issue of forests, temperate or tropical.

Summary of the service

Animation of a workshop "forest and post-2012 climate regime" for diplomats: Presentation of key issues (REDD+ negotiations for developing countries and LULUCF negotiations for developed countries; Advances in science on the likely impacts of climate change; Political power relations existing at the time of the Kyoto negotiations and explanation of the marginal role left to forests; Prospects for climate negotiations in general; Current progress and challenges of the LULUCF and REDD+ negotiations); Animation of a debate on the values and positions to be defended by French diplomacy on the issue of forests, temperate or tropical.