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By MAGGIE I. JARUZEL

Currently, an estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide depend upon forests for their livelihoods to some degree. Consequently, the staff of World Resources Institute (WRI) analyzed joint documents from the World Bank and the United Nations related to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to deforestation and degradation (known as REDD), and has generated a working paper that provides recommendations on how to best address basic governance issues in the forest sector.

Ready or Not: A Review of the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership R-Plans and the UN REDD Joint Program Documents is a WRI-authored paper that reviews national REDD initiatives and assesses their effectiveness.

The World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the United Nations’ Collaborative Programme on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) are the top multilateral programs currently helping developing countries implement their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas by preserving forests.

Based on WRI’s analysis of documents from the FCPF and the UN-REDD -- and also the Readiness Plan developed by Panama, Indonesia and Guyana to participate in the FCPF, and the UN-REDD Joint Program Documents for Vietnam, Indonesia, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -– staff determined that broader governance-related activities have not received enough attention. They were especially concerned that issues such as combating corruption, and strengthening policies to be more inclusive and transparent, were lacking.

WRI’s review provides specific recommendations for strengthening several areas, including:

• the quality of pilot country documents with regard to their treatment of forest governance issues;
• the design of the FCPF and UN-REDD initiatives to better support and encourage pilot countries in addressing governance challenges; and
• the links between the FCPF and UN-REDD initiatives so they systematically address governance and other issues vital to the success of REDD.

Since 1984, first through Mott’s Reform of International Finance and Trade interest area and more recently through its International Finance for Sustainability interest area, the Foundation’s Environment program has provided grant support to WRI, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. Its mission is to “move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.”