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EDITORIAL With the inclusion of the State of Oaxaca at the last Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force annual meeting held from September 25-29, 2017 in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, the GCF now has 7 member states in Mexico. Globally the GCF Task Force is now comprised of 38 subnational states and provinces from 10 countries, collaborating to protect tropical forests from deforestation and degradation and establish low-emission rural development strategies. The jurisdictional approach offers important opportunities for the sustainable management of the territory, with public policies and models of novel governance and according to the needs of traditional communities, indigenous peoples, and the local population.
Pronatura Sur, as the coordinator for Mexico, is now developing the GCF Task Force’s Mexico newsletter, which aims to strengthen the communication and distribution of relevant information for the jurisdictions that make up the network in Mexico, for its partners and counterparts, as well as for for the general public that is interested in the REDD + jurisdictional approach and low-emission rural development.
OLSO TROPICAL FORUM FORUM – REDD + EXCHANGE 2018 The Forum on Tropical Forests organized by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Norwegian International Initiative for Climate and Forest (NICFI) was held on June 27 and 28 in Oslo, Norway. Both organizations held the fourth Oslo REDD+ Exchange, this year called The Oslo Forum on Tropical Forests, where more than 500 experts in REDD +, decision makers, practitioners, and local actors participated. The discussion focused on key topics including:
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Policies on development
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Climate change
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Role of forests at the global, national, and subnational levels
Along the sidelines of the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, the GCF Task Force hosted the first in-person meeting of the Global Committee on Agricultural Production and Tropical Deforestation and a meeting of the Global Committee of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP/LC). During the IP/LC Committee meeting, Principles of Collaboration and Partnership were discussed among Subnational, Tribal Governments, Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities. The Secretary of Environment and Natural History of the State of Chiapas, Ricardo Hernández, in his speech on the Criteria panel for REDD + Transactions, stressed that international cooperation is very important as is the investment of the States to achieve the results. He explained that we have to work in both ways, both in international markets, as well as in domestic ones, establishing baselines, risks of leaks and reforming sectoral programs. Among the conclusions:
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To reduce illegal logging it is important to have solid legal frameworks, it is necessary to reinforce actions for effective compliance with the law.
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The commitments of companies and politicians to reduce deforestation are strategic; monitoring, reporting, and verification mechanisms, including supply chains, must also be strengthened.
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Through jurisdictional approaches governments play a fundamental role at different scales, their plans must be realistic, inclusive, and transparent, recognizing risks and limits.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE GCF: THE STRENGTH OF ALLIANCES.
Subnational governments increasingly recognize the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in implementing commitments to stop deforestation. The Global Working Group of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities of the GCF Task Force was formed in 2016 with the primary objective of strengthening partnerships between subnational governments, indigenous peoples, and local communities to help implement the Rio Branco Declaration. This group is composed of government members of the GCF, leaders of indigenous and local communities, representatives of civil society organizations, and the donor community. When it was formed, the members of the Working Group, made up of experts and indigenous leaders, felt that it was important to have a document that included the commitments of subnational governments to work with indigenous peoples and local communities. After a year and a half of work, the Guiding Principles for Collaboration and Partnerships between Subnational, Tribal, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have been elaborated, which recognize that indigenous peoples are key to successful efforts to conserve forests and promote low-emission rural development. These Principles will be discussed more at the GCF Annual Meeting.
REDD + STATE STRATEGY IN JALISCO The Government of the State of Jalisco, through the Interinstitutional Commission for Action on Climate Change and its Technical Secretary, the head of the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development (SEMADET), launched the call to participate in the public consultation of the State Strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) of Jalisco. The call is addressed to the owners of properties, residents, local communities, indigenous peoples, and the population in general, as a way to promote and guarantee participation and the right to information of the aforementioned actors. The process of drafting the Strategy began in 2016 through a series of planning workshops to consider the participation of a multidisciplinary group made up of different sectors of governments and civil society.
The objective of the strategy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation in forest ecosystems, helping to conserve and increase carbon reservoirs, biodiversity, and improve the quality of life of communities through forest management.
The strategy establishes clear goals by 2030:
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Achieve a zero percent rate of net deforestation in forest ecosystems in Jalisco.
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Increase the area under sustainable forest management by 10% and promote forest certification at the state level.
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Increase forest conservation areas and their biodiversity by 10%.
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Promote the restoration of forest ecosystems.
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Articulate the instruments of public policy.
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Reduce greenhouse gas emissions derived from forest degradation and deforestation by 90%.
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Decrease the social backwardness of the localities of Jalisco where REDD + is implemented.
The participation modalities of this call will be through consultation workshops that will be held in different locations in the State of Jalisco, as well as digitally through the SEMADET website. For more information consult: http://app.semadet.jalisco.gob.mx/redd/
JURISDICTIONAL PROFILES IN PROGRESS Jurisdictional approaches to sustainable development have enormous potential to promote comprehensive and lasting solutions to the problems arising from tropical deforestation, rural livelihoods, and food security. Earth Innovation Institute (EII), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the GCF Task Force (GCF-TF) are collaborating on a comprehensive study of these profiles in all of the tropics to take advantage of the first lessons. This study evaluates progress towards sustainable development with low emissions, including goals and commitments, monitoring and reporting systems, multi-stakeholder governance platforms, and innovative policies and initiatives that are central elements of jurisdictional sustainability.
The report focuses on 39 top-level political and administrative divisions in 12 tropical countries and includes a general synthesis of jurisdictional sustainability in the tropics, as well as analytical summaries on deforestation and emissions from each jurisdiction. The report will be launched on the first day of the GCF-TF Annual Meeting (September 10) and will be available along with the state profiles on EII’s website.