National REDD+ Committee holds First Meeting

The members of the National REDD+ Committee (appointed by the Ministry of the Environment's Ordinance No. 91/2016 (Portuguese only), convened for their first regular meeting in 7 April.

The agenda included the inauguration and presentation of the members, a presentation on the National REDD+ Strategy and discussions on the Rules of Procedure.

The meeting was considered successful by the members. The Director of the Department of Policies to fight Deforestation and Chair of the Committee, Thelma Krug, said she was pleased with the outcome, particularly because of the consensus reached on the Rules of Procedure. This definition creates the conditions for the effective implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy.

The Rules of Procedure covers issues regarding the nature of the Committee, the powers and duties of its members, the meetings and the decision-making process. The document will be formalized by an Ordinance by the Ministry of the Environment and will be made available on the REDD+ Brazil website shortly after that.

Another important definition made the Committee's meetings open to the public. Anyone interested in attending a meeting should inform, 5 working days in advance, the Committee’s Executive Secretariat.

The National REDD+ Committee meetings require a quorum of at least 5 members of the federal government and three invited members (states, municipalities and civil society). This combined with the decision-making method agreed (which will seek consensus and decide with 75% of approval when unable to reach consensus) implies that every decision will have the approval of at least one of the invited members, in line with the REDD+ safeguard "d" on full and effective participation of stakeholders.

Additional agenda items would address the Thematic Advisory Boards and the process "Dialogues with the Brazilian Society on the National REDD+ Strategy", however, there was no sufficient time for such discussions.

The Committee is scheduled to meet every six months. However, its members indicated the need for another extraordinary session in the coming months, to address, among other things, the establishment of the Thematic Advisory Boards.

More information on the work being conducted by the National REDD+ Committee and on the schedule of meetings will be made available soon.