Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC) Program

1. Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC) Program Program Background December 2013

2. U.S. Government REDD+ Initiatives • The USG pledged $1 billion in “fast start financing” for 2010-2012 to assist countries to develop and implement REDD+ • Resources should contribute to sustainable livelihoods, protect biodiversity and respect the rights of indigenous peoples, women, the poor and vulnerable populations • USAID leads USG’s implementation of REDD+ activities, funded through the Sustainable Landscapes pillar of its global climate change program • USAID launched the Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC) Program to assist missions, partner governments and international stakeholders in developing and implementing integrated REDD+ initiatives

3. USAID Climate Change & Development Strategy • USAID developed a climate change strategy which was released in January 2012.

4. FCMC Program • FCMC builds technical capacity by developing tools and training that support USG contributions to the international REDD+ architecture, and supports country-level readiness • FCMC encompasses four technical task areas: • Social and Environmental Soundness (SES) • Forest Carbon Markets (FCM) • Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) • Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) • FCMC later added a fifth task area Cross-cutting and Coordination to assist with activities that do not fall specifically within a particular task area • FCMC is implemented by Tetra Tech, with core partners including: Conservation International, Terra Global Capital, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, and World Resources Institute

5. Core Services • Analysis and evaluation • Tools and guidance for program design support • Meeting and workshop facilitation at local, national and international levels • Regional trainings and training materials Photo credit: Bruce Cabarle, WWF

6. Social and Environmental Soundness (SES) Task • Goal: promote policies, tools and best practices that ensure feasibility and compatibility of REDD+ developments with local cultural, socio-economic and environmental conditions • Key elements include: • Social and environmental safeguards, standards and safeguard information systems • Social and environmental impact assessments, benefits and costs • Stakeholder engagement, rights and benefit-sharing • Information sharing, transparency and governance • Support to both biological and social diversity issues (including indigenous people and gender issues) • SES supports participation of various stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, women, the poor, vulnerable groups, and other key stakeholders, such as the private sector

7. SES: Key Achievements and Upcoming Activities • Recently released reports including reviews of stakeholder engagement experiences for REDD+ and social assessment and evaluation methods; upcoming reports include lessons learned from community forestry in Latin America, Africa and Asia and issues in legal literacy and advocacy related to REDD+ • SES training held in Bangkok, Thailand in November, 2012; two more regional trainings planned for 2014 in Latin America and Africa • Supported government of Honduras in preparing their national REDD+ safeguards

8. Finance and Carbon Markets (FCM) Task • Goal: support public and private finance for REDD+, with a focus on markets • Key elements include: • Development of international architecture for REDD+ finance, including carbon markets, other market mechanisms, access to and deployment of public and private finance • Countries’ financial readiness for REDD+, including access to market mechanisms and other options to engage public and private finance • Other financial products that support finance for REDD+ activities • REDD+ needs both public and private sources of finance to support REDD+ readiness, implementation, and results-based payments – this includes use of market mechanisms to engage private capital

9. FCM : Key Achievements and Upcoming Activities • Analysis of Colombia’s REDD+ finance and carbon markets readiness released in Spanish and English; follow-on work is currently underway • Support for USAID’s Development Credit Authority in the development of a loan guarantee product for carbon offset projects • Technical support to the FCPF’s Carbon Fund to advance their framework used to quantify emission reductions and removals • Development of a guidance document for jurisdictional and nested REDD+ accounting for the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) • Upcoming support to Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 on deforestation-free commodity supply chains • Assistance for the REDD Desk to expand their website to include new information on REDD+ markets and standards

10. Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) Task • Goal: enhance shared understanding and technical capacity to design and implement sustainable MRV systems for both forest and land use GHG emissions • Key elements include: • Increase knowledge at the international level and among USAID staff and partners • Direct contributions to development of MRV systems in select countries • Coordination with other existing USG efforts (mainly via SilvaCarbon) • Workshops on information exchange and capacity building • Development of a manual on MRV guidance and online MRV training resources

11. MRV: Key Achievements and Upcoming Activities • Completion of first version of a MRV Manual that provides detailed guidance to national governments on technical and organizational needs for developing a national MRV system; planning underway for second version • MRV technical capacity workshop series hosted by SilvaCarbon, FCMC and other partners in South and Central America • Capacity building and co-implementation of a forest-monitoring system in Peru • Capacity building and support for establishing emissions reference level scenarios and building a community-based MRV program in Colombia • Spanish translation of online training materials from the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute

12. Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) Task • Goal: develop tools and methodologies that support and engage stakeholders in cross-sector planning and decision-making, ensuring that land use sectors integrate concepts of mitigation and adaption in national LEDS strategies

13. LEDS: Key Achievements and Upcoming Activities • Two main LEDS activities in Colombia and Guatemala • Support to region of Huila, Colombia to develop a Climate Change Action Plan; workshops held to catalyze stakeholder involvement • An assessment of Guatemala’s technical and planning capacity to implement LEDS completed as part of Phase 1 of the activity; next steps include capacity building for developing a greenhouse gas inventory

14. Cross-Cutting Issues and Coordination Task • Goal: foster collaboration across technical fields of REDD+ to ensure integration and value addition among the focal areas of FCMC

15. Cross Cutting Issues: Key Achievements and Upcoming Activities • Support for the Alliance for Global REDD+ Capacity (AGRC); upcoming REDD+ competencies framework • Advancement of a regreening analysis for agro-forestry/tree planting projects in East Africa • Study on shifting cultivation, gender, and REDD+ in West and Central Africa ongoing • Planning underway for workshop on mangroves and REDD+ in West Africa

16. Communications • Evolution of FCMC’s communications efforts • Communications strategy • FCMC logo and website • Branding/USAID standards • USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) • Supporting documents/Warsaw example

17. For more information, visit our website at: www.fcmcglobal.org