South-South Exchange on REDD+ in the GCF

The Ministry of the Environment's Climate Change and Forests Unit sent two representatives to the Workshop of the Latin American Working Group on REDD+ Results-Based Finance. The event took place in Panama City, from 29 to 30 March, and was promoted by the UN-REDD Programme. Representatives from Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru attended the event, staff from the United Nations Development and Environment Programmes (UNDP and UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provided valuable support to the workshop,these entities make up the UN-REDD Programme.

The aim of the Workshop was to discuss the experience of countries in the implementation of REDD+ results-based payment schemes, focusing on lessons learned that could provide guidance for the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) process of operationalizing REDD+ results-based payments .Based on what the discussinos that took place and on the common understandings found, the Group will prepare a declaration with its recommendations to the GCF, which will be available on our website when finalized. The declaration will present contributions with the goal of ensuring that the operationalization is effective and consistent with the results-based payments logic , which entails greater autonomy to countries in defining how to invest the funds received.

The countries discussed their views on the different models and agreements for results-based payments in which they are involved.Bilateral agreements such as the Brazilian Fund Amazon , and multilateral funds such as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility , which has agreements with Costa Rica, Chile and Mexico.The insights on the existing agreements should also help to facilitate adjustments to improve the arrangements and terms of existing agreements.

According to the Ministry of the Environment's Project Manager, Leticia Guimarães, "Exchanges with the Latin American countries involved in the implementation of REDD+ are always rich experiences. The lessons learned and the points of convergence found strengthen the debate on REDD+ finance and can definitely offer important contributions to the Green Climate Fund regarding the operationalization of REDD+ results-based payments window."

REDD+ results-based payments and the GCF

According to decisions agreed under the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the GCF should play a central role in mobilizing resources for REDD+ results-based payments.During its most recent meeting in March, the GCF's Board defined that the procedures to operationalize REDD+ results-based payments should be completed by next October.