Low Emission Development Plans

SNV Pro-Poor REDD+ Low Emission Development Plans Multiple Benefits Participatory Forest Monitoring Agriculture Benefit Distribution Systems Renewable Energy A major challenge to the success of REDD+ is how to balance the goals of rural economic growth through agricultural and infrastructure development with better protection and management of forests With the competition for land there is real potential for conflict and continued deforestation and degradation, unless a balance can be found Introducing more open, integrated and effective planning through the development of Low Emission Development Plans provides a blueprint for this to be achieved Low emissions development plans (LEDPs) have become a central focus of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries The draft decision of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action, agreed at COP 17 in Durban, ‘’encourages developing country Parties to develop low-emissions development strategies, recognising the need for financial and technical support by developed country Parties…’’1 The focus of SNV’s support on LEDPs is in rural areas, looking at the interaction between forest, agriculture and energy sectors Agriculture and forestry activities account for the majority of emissions in most developing countries, and are also important sources of national income and provide livelihoods for the vast majority of the world’s poor SNV’s approach to LEDPs SNV, with partners, has developed an overall framework to help governments to factor GHG emissions into key sectoral and land use plans in order to meet the dual goals of pro-poor economic development and sustainable land and forest use planning within a chosen sub-national jurisdiction This provides the groundwork for the establishment of a performance based finance mechanism Such an approach will help ensure permanence and sustainability Under each step of the LEDP, tools and guidance are provided to allow the multiple stakeholders to better understand, discuss and agree on activities Community engagement and participation is essential The LEDP approach is outlined in Figure These steps are not linear LEDPs are currently being tested through the Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) programme, with a focus on forest plans Case study: The LEAF programme LEAF is a USAID supported programme which began in 2011 and is due to be completed in 2016 It is implemented through a consortium of SNV, Winrock International and Climate Focus, covering six core countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam Part of the LEAF programme aims to demonstrate innovation in sustainable land management In Vietnam, Provincial REDD+ Action Plans are being developed with the National REDD+ Office while in Lao PDR LEAF is considering working at the village level and moving through a bottomup approach The ‘top-down’, spatially explicit, work in Vietnam and the ‘bottom-up’ field based approach in Lao PDR provide two opportunities to evaluate both the development and outcomes of LEDPs on balancing social, economic and environmental needs (as measured through carbon emissions) at a sub-national level SNV REDD+ Figure Generic framework for LEDPs Scoping The scoping will require compilation of current socio-economic development/ sectoral and land use plans, as well as tenure arrangements, to identify key intervention opportunities for the integration of emissions This could be at the level of the district, province, forest management unit, community etc A stakeholder analysis will need to be carried out to assess stakeholder’s rights in land use planning, their responsibilities and their returns (or incentives) and capacity for incorporating carbon into sub-national land use planning processes Baseline The baseline is produced by examining historical landscape change Jurisdictional Reference Emission Levels (REL/RLs) are established using historical data to project future forest and land use change, incorporating threat analysis and forward looking land use and sector plans The drivers and those responsible (the ‘actors’) for deforestation and forest degradation must be clearly identified Consideration must be made of how this sub-national REL can be nested both vertically, into national emission reduction targets, and horizontally, with other sectors LEDP Plans Design of Low Emission Development Plans to ensure ‘Business As Usual’ is not followed Different scenarios which meet socio-economic development and environmental (including emission reduction) targets will be examined There needs to be wide stakeholder consultation Appropriate environmental and social safeguards need to be integrated and benefit distribution systems designed Implementation LEDP implementation could include a range of activities such as better land and forest use zoning, forest protection and reforestation development, agricultural intensification and production Efforts will focus on introducing activities that satisfy the needs of the multiple stakeholders across the landscape in a low GHG emissions pathway MRV A robust MRV system must be in place to measure changes in GHG emissions, ultimately to be able to link to a performance-based finance mechanism Any MRV system must be compatible with UNFCCC requirements SNV is examining the use of different measuring options, as well as the use of non-carbon performance measures and the role of communities in data collection Finance REDD+ implementation needs to be linked to secure and long term financing Different funding options need to be examined in collaboration with stakeholders, in particular through the various REDD+ carbon funds being introduced While LEDP development is still relatively immature, a number of important principles are emerging (see Box 1) Box Guiding principles for LEDPs It is critical to integrate emissions reductions into on-going national and sub-national plans and programmes; preferably cross sectoral plans, such as socio-economic development plans, land use plans and sectoral plans This is important in order to achieve permanence and sustainability of any intervention Alternative options are available and economically feasible which meet the goal of rural development in a lower emissions pathway There are sufficient incentives for stakeholders to invest in the development of LEDPs These incentives are likely to be economic, through carbon finance and/or as a result of legal requirements, be it national and/or subnational policies Without a carrot or stick, or preferably both, there will not be genuine incentives to make LEDPs work LEDPs must be context specific Land use and sectoral planning processes across the region differ and so the LEDP model must differ to accommodate country context Some countries already have strong planning systems in place, while others will require the gradual building up and introduction of activities Also different countries have different capacities, systems and structures in place to measure and report changes in the forest landscape There is a need to understand and be inclusive of the multiple objectives and interests to be met across the landscape, as well as understanding the potential trade-offs This requires horizontal coordination across different ministries and agencies and inclusion of relevant stakeholders in the process The LEDP process will help better understand and show the changes within the landscape; sharing this information across stakeholders will be key www.snvworld.org/redd SNV activities with LEDPs Development of the LEDP Framework It is expected that the LEDP framework will be dynamic and evolve as it responds to the needs of partners and requirements under future international REDD+ agreements In order to further develop and refine this framework, SNV is carrying out the following activities: • Lesson learning: Across Asia there are various initiatives underway which are exploring emission reductions in land use planning; for example, the land use planning for low emissions development strategy (LUWES) model developed by CIFOR in Indonesia Through the LEAF programme’s regional learning platform, experiences are being shared; • Testing different approaches: As highlighted in Box 1, LEDPs are being tested under different local contexts Although the general steps may be the same the approach will differ across countries; • Innovation: SNV is further exploring some of the key challenges to ensuring a robust and pro-poor LEDP framework, such as the use of near-term MRV options; integration of safeguards into sub-national planning; defining non-carbon performance indicators; and access to different financing options2 Figure Tools/approaches used at different stages of the LEDPs process Scoping Baseline Low emissions development plan Implementation Carry out multi-stakeholder analysis Reference emissions level development tool Developing pro-poor benefit distribution system Value chain analysis (integrating REDD+) Compilation and assessment of planning documents Terrestrial carbon stock and sampling design stand operating procedure Assessment of drivers of deforestation Participatory carbon monitoring: operational guidance Scenario planning exercises Assessment of renewable energy technologies Integration of environmental and social safeguards and co-benefits Decision making support tool to determine REDD+ compatible agriculture systems Holding multi-stakeholder platforms and analysis See paragraph 38 Available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2011/cop17/eng/09a01_02cp17.pdf Ogonowski, M (2012), SNV Internal Strategy Papers on: (i) MRV near term options; (ii) financing; (iii) integration of agriculture; and (iv) scenario planning SNV Vietnam Walker, S., T Pearson, F Casarim, N Harris, A Grais & S Brown (2011) Standard Operating Procedures for Terrestrial Carbon Measurement Version 1.0 Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) programme, Bangkok Building up on utilising the World Agroforestry Centre Abacus software Swan, S and McNally, R.H.G (2011) High Biodiversity REDD+: Operationalising Safeguards and Delivering Environmental Co-benefits SNV Vietnam SNV (2008) Using the Value Chain Approach for Pro Poor Development: Experiences from SNV in Asia SNV Vietnam 2 Producing tools, guidelines and standard operating procedures to support the LEDP process Tools/approaches used at different stages of the LEDPs process are shown in Figure • Baseline development: Various manuals and standard operating procedures to support the measurement of forest based carbon emissions and the development of baselines can be used This includes the Terrestrial Carbon Stock and Overall Sampling Design Standard Operating Procedure3 produced by Winrock International under the LEAF project Different guidance will be relevant depending on the type and scale of intervention Participatory methods of data collection are encouraged through participatory carbon monitoring (see SNV briefing paper on REDD+ and Participatory Forest Monitoring) • LEDP design: During this phase there is a need to hold multi-stakeholder assessments and carry out inclusive scenario planning exercises that include carbon emissions In order to examine trade-offs, opportunity cost assessments4 can be carried out At this design stage there is also the need to integrate environment and social safeguards5, promote multiple benefits and design a propoor benefit distribution system in order to maximise social and environmental benefits (See SNV REDD+ briefing papers on REDD+ and Benefit Distribution Systems and REDD+ and Multiple Benefits) • During LEDP implementation SNV can draw on existing expertise in the agriculture and renewable energy sectors by applying a number of tools and technologies that can be adapted to integrate REDD+ For example, integrating REDD+ into the agriculture value chain tool6 Under the new SNV REDD+ and Energy and Agriculture Programme (REAP) new tools will be developed (See SNV REDD+ briefing papers on REDD+ and Agriculture and REDD+ and Renewable Energy) As well as helping develop and apply the tools there is a large training and capacity building component to ensure our government partners and local community partners are able to understand, apply and adopt such tools Supported by: Contacts: Richard McNally SNV REDD+ Global Coordinator rmcnally@snvworld.org Peter Stephen LEAF Forest Management and Climate Change Technical Advisor pstephen@snvworld.org For more information on the SNV REDD+ Programme go to www.snvworld.org/redd and follow us on twitter: @SNVREDD If you are interested in receiving our bimonthly newsletter then please contact Nga: nnguyendaotuyet@snvworld.org SNV REDD+ www.snvworld.org/redd ld / dd ... vertically, into national emission reduction targets, and horizontally, with other sectors LEDP Plans Design of Low Emission Development Plans to ensure ‘Business As Usual’ is not followed Different scenarios... on-going national and sub-national plans and programmes; preferably cross sectoral plans, such as socio-economic development plans, land use plans and sectoral plans This is important in order.. .Low emissions development plans (LEDPs) have become a central focus of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries The draft