Organization of the international conference “REDD+ in the Congo Basin” Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon

Context of the service

The Congo Basin countries met within the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), following the 1999 Declaration of Heads of State, known as the "Yaoundé Declaration", on the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Central Africa. COMIFAC has adopted a "Convergence Plan" which includes ten strategic axes and is supported, for the implementation of this plan, by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). The latter was launched in 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and brings together 34 members (Congo Basin countries, international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral development partners).
The France chaired the CBFP facilitation until September 2007. In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), through a network of technical assistants and a consortium of experts, provided support to the "climate" focal points of the COMIFAC countries, in order to prepare the negotiations on the consideration of forests in a future regime to combat climate change post-2012 (after the end of the 1st commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol). The MFA requested support from the Ministry of Agriculture (in charge of monitoring the climate/forest negotiations), in order to co-facilitate this international workshop on REDD+ issues for the Congo Basin.

Services provided

The expert prepared and facilitated the exchanges between participants and synthesized the discussions and debates in a concept note. Speakers presented the key issues of REDD+ for the Congo Basin and then the exchanges focused on five key points debated in the REDD+ negotiations and on which the COMIFAC countries wished to insist: 1/ Promotion of the fight against degradation in the REDD+ mechanism, 2/ National approach vs. Project approach, 3/ Reference scenario, 4/ Carbon market financing of REDD+, 5/ Fund for the conservation of intact forests. At the end of the workshop, COMIFAC Member States updated their positions on REDD+ and developed a joint statement on the subject.

Summary of the service

Organization of the international conference "REDD+ in the Congo Basin": Preparation and facilitation of exchanges between participants (five key points on which COMIFAC countries wished to emphasize: 1/ Promotion of the fight against degradation in the REDD+ mechanism, 2/ National approach vs. Project approach, 3/ Reference scenario, 4/ Financing of REDD+ by the carbon market, 5/ Fund for the Conservation of Intact Forests); Summary of discussions and debates in a note; Support from COMIFAC Member States to update their positions on REDD+.