May 21, 2012
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global should invest in agricultural land and forests as a hedge against any climate change policies that governments around the world may introduce, according to a report specially prepared by investment consultant Mercer.
The Nkr3.3 trillion ($550bn) fund, the second-largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, according to the SWF Institute, should invest in these commodities “as a ‘hedge’ against climate policy measures that are not...
May 18, 2012
An Indonesian oil palm plantation in which Norway has a financial stake paid Papuan tribal landowners as little as US$0.65 per hectare for their forestland, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) can reveal.
In the new report Clear-Cut Exploitation, EIA and its Indonesian partner Telapak expose woefully low payments by PT Henrison Inti Persada (PT HIP) to marginalised Moi tribe clans for land and timber. Evidence includes a copy of PT HIPs ‘contract’ with a Moi...
May 17, 2012
Two critical determinants of REDD+ success moving forward are: (1) developing and implementing REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS) and (2) fostering effective private sector engagement in the REDD+ value chain.
To explore these issues, an expert meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 2–3, 2012, under the Building REDD+ Policy Capacity for Developing Country Negotiators and Land Managers project. The workshop was delivered by IISD and the ASB Partnership for...
Two critical determinants of REDD+ success moving forward are: (1) developing and implementing REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS) and (2) fostering effective private sector engagement in the REDD+ value chain.
To explore these issues, an expert meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 2–3, 2012, under the Building REDD+ Policy Capacity for Developing Country Negotiators and Land Managers project. The workshop was delivered by IISD and the ASB Partnership for...
While the Norwegian government has been widely commended for its efforts to protect the world’s rainforests through REDD++, the report discloses lesser known facts about the same government’s massive investments in industries that drive forest destruction in developing countries.
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May 15, 2012
THE future of a much-vaunted $30 million Australian project to protect Indonesian forests for their carbon is in doubt after an independent review found it is not the best use of the money. The project on the island of Sumatra was announced by Labor in early 2010 to international fanfare, but so far there has been little detail about the project’s design. It is understood there has been no actual on-ground work in Sumatra and officials to date have done research only.
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Amid the hysteria whipped up over the cuts to its 2012 budget, it may seem trite to state that it is the government which has failed signally to deliver on the steps that would put the designated sums in its hands for the Low Carbon Development Strategy projects. This stark fact has not however deterred the government from making the most outrageous charges over cuts and blaming the opposition for endangering every single project it can think of. In a way, the opposition’s cuts have...
May 2, 2012
Sixteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice under the Convention on Biological Diversity (SBSTTA 16) delegates met in two working groups (WGs) throughout the day. WG I held discussions on biodiversity and climate change, including REDD+ safeguards and geo-engineering; biofuels; incentive measures and collaborative work on forests, agriculture and health. Informal groups met in the evening on several of these issues to draft revised text.
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April 20, 2012
Guyana has received more than a quarter of the US$250 million promised to it by the government of Norway for its part in protecting the Amazon rainforest from degradation and deforestation.
This was shared by Guyana’s prime minister, Sam Hinds, as he addressed the official opening of the 13th Annual Caribbean Conference On Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-13) of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which took place at the Guyana International Conference Centre...
April 16, 2012
The Letter of Intent between Indonesia and Norway has been “the single most significant game changer” for the Indonesian forestry sector in the last 25 years, commented CIFOR Director General, Frances Seymour in a recent interview.
“I would say that the Letter of Intent prompted a tectonic shift in the dialogue about forests, who participates in it, realignment of domestic constituencies among themselves and vis-à-vis international constituencies in a way that I haven’t...