With support from the UN-REDD Programme, 34 countries have advanced their National REDD+ Strategies or Action Plans (NS/APs), in line with the UNFCCC Warsaw Framework for REDD+. Of these, a total of 24 countries have finalized and adopted these strategic policies for nature-based emissions reductions.
In 2018, UN-REDD provided dedicated advice and support to Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Honduras, Mongolia and Myanmar in their efforts to define, analyse, consult and adopt their national strategies or action plans for REDD+. In addition, UN-REDD helped the Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Viet Nam and Zambia prepare investment plans to enable the financing and implementation of their REDD+ strategies or action plans.
With UN-REDD support, every strategy or action plan is developed following in-depth analysis of deforestation drivers, and using a participatory approach based on stakeholder engagement and the inclusion of the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities, as well as embedded capacity-building for Governments and other key stakeholders for REDD+ action. These strategies or action plans include measures for the consideration of social and environmental safeguards, particularly transparent governance and gender mainstreaming. The UN-REDD Programme also supports the translation and integration of such strategies and actions plans into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for climate change mitigation within the land-use and forest sector, as well as defining clear paths to ensure that they contribute to the SDGs.
Colombia’s National REDD+ Strategy development process is an exemplary case of UN-REDD Programme advisory support in 2018. The UN-REDD Programme, alongside its partners, helped Colombia complete its National REDD+ Strategy, Bosques Territorios de Vida. Extensive participatory processes were used to incorporate the views and experiences of indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples. In parallel, the processes informed the implementation of Colombia’s Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) on REDD+, which the country signed with Norway, the United Kingdom and Germany. UNREDD technical advice also supported the inclusion of selected components of the National REDD+ Strategy into the new national development plan, the policy to combat deforestation and a Green Growth Policy Directive (CONPES).
Additional highlights regarding efforts by UN-REDD Programme partner countries to advance National REDD+ Strategies and Action Plans in 2018 include the following:
- Argentina, with support from the UNREDD Programme, officially published its National Action Plan on Forests and Climate Change (PANByCC). The plan, which was prepared in full consultation and collaboration with stakeholders at the provincial and national levels, has been uploaded to the REDD+ Info Hub.
- Bangladesh further developed its National REDD+ Strategy, due to be published in April 2019, by identifying drivers of deforestation and degradation. Policies and measures (PAMs), including gender-sensitive PAMs, were identified and vetted through stakeholder consultations and are undergoing assessment for implementation benefits, costs and risks.
- Honduras completed keynote assessments on drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and land tenure as part of its National REDD+ Strategy development. The National Programme for the Recovery of Degraded Ecosystem Goods and Services was also finalized.
- Myanmar’s draft National REDD+ Strategy was prepared and posted for a period of public comment in 2018. Consultations on five of the more contentious PAMs have been scheduled, with two already complete, as well as consultations with the various ethnic minorities on the strategy.
- Mongolia’s draft NS/AP was further advanced through an extensive consultation process and active engagement of a core working group throughout 2018.
With many NS/APs already completed and formally endorsed, UN-REDD technical assistance in 2018 continued to focus on developing and supporting complementary investment plans to enable the implementation of REDD+ strategies and to mobilize the corresponding REDD+ financing required (see the section on ‘Progress towards REDD+ implementation’ for more details and country examples).