Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+
under the Joint Crediting Mechanism
Kosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

Session 2

Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+ under the Joint Crediting Mechanism
Kosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

Although my topic for today is ‘Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+ under the Joint
Crediting Mechanism’, as I was developing my presentation, I had trouble moving ahead with this topic.
The contents I will be talking about will tend to focus more on activities at the international level.
explain why I had difficulty creating a presentation on the assigned topic.

Let me

JCM itself is a Japanesemechanism and initiative that we have promoted over the years, but at present the environment around JCM
including its guidelines need to be considered from various perspectives.

I have been thinking about theperspectives from which we should look at JCM.

Until now, the focus was on implementing JCM projects

in light of the international guidelines and policies.

That was our stance, but now looking at the directionof debate of REDD+, we need to understand the gaps and challenges in the international framework anduse JCM as a tool to contribute.
gaps.
picture.

We want to establish a methodology that will help our projects fill theMy presentation is about the topic at hand, but the actual contents will also include the broader

Session 2
Here is the outline of my presentation.
negotiations on REDD+.

I would like to talk about the history of international

I would like to talk about the progress and implementation of REDD+.

Also,I would like to talk about the basic concepts of REDD+ and especially the results-based payments program.
Furthermore, I would like to think about the overall global structure of the REDD+ programs and funds.
Finally, I would like to talk about how the Forestry Agency intends to promote the JCM projects.
History of REDD+ Negotiations

Let us first look at the history of negotiations.

I think many of you are familiar with this.

In 2005,

the concept of REDD+ was first proposed, and in 2015, REDD+ was concretely supported in the Paris
Agreement.

In October of 2017, not the UNFCCC, but the GCF terms of reference (TOR) for

result-based payments was approved, a very important milestone.

The point that I want to emphasize hereis that this overall sequence of events, which is good to keep in mind when other kinds of negotiations areunderway. After the Paris Agreement was finalized, there has been a lot of negotiation on the rules forimplementation.

REDD+ is based on the Warsaw Framework the and Cancun Agreement1.

Guidelines

for REDD+ have already been established, and REDD+ support has been clearly written in article five.
We are moving on to the implementation stage now, which is very important.
What I would like to say is that the REDD+ negotiations were carried out in a very strategic manner.
It has been two years or so since I have been involved in this process, but my predecessors have been
following the REDD+ concept for more than 10 years.
included in the Paris Agreement.

They were developing it and have gotten it

At the most recent COP, there was a side event where the UNFCCC

secretariat said REDD+ people are tough negotiators.

We are in charge of REDD+, so it is hard tounderstand on our own what kind of people we are. However, seen through the eyes of others, we seemto be viewed as tough negotiators.

That left an impression on me.

Being a tough negotiator means not

only that you assert your opinions strongly and are good at negotiation, but it also means that you consider
the mid- to long-term perspective in order to make REDD+ more effective.

Therefore, the REDD+

negotiations went quite well, and those involved in it were generally considered to be tough negotiators.

1

http://unfccc.int/meetings/cancun_nov_2010/items/6005.php

Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+
under the Joint Crediting MechanismKosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

Session 2

Status of REDD+ Progress

Next, I would like to cover some other basics about REDD+. REDD+ is not the sort of thing you
can decide today and start tomorrow.

It requires a step-wise approach with three phases starting fromreadiness, moving to implementation, and then to results-based payments.

As was explained in session one

today, the most important point is the establishment of a baseline at the readiness stage.
that, so far, 23 countries have released their forest reference emission levels.
sub-national FRELs.

The situation isSome have started by making

An additional 12 countries have come out with their FRELs more recently, so thenumber of countries is increasing.

Let me next explain about the framework.

It started with the FPCF in 2008.

The World Bank’s REDD+ program was the FCPF Carbon Fund and was a program for results-based
payments.

These initiatives are moving ahead quite quickly.

The final step is to get a purchase agreement,

but we are just one step away from establishing one, and there are six countries involved.

There was ameeting in Paris for the FCPF Carbon Fund earlier this month, and two more countries’ plans wereapproved there.

There is some overlap, but you see that there are many countries who have establishedSession 2baselines and are about to move into the implementation phase.

After implementation, a few years fromnow we will be seeing some countries actually getting results-based payments.

The global REDD+ programs are in the situation that I explained here.
the main ones.

Let me talk about some ofUnder the UN framework, there is the UN REDD program, there is FCPF run by theWorld Bank, which is a readiness fund, and there is the results-based payment program for FCPF.
also the FIP Forest Investment Program2 (FIP).

There isThere is also the Bio-carbon Fund3, which covers thelandscapes including agriculture.
The FCPF Carbon Fund would be a phase three initiative.

In Central Africa, there are efforts

underway. As Suzuki-san explained for the DR, Norway has established an initiative there.
the Amazon Fund4 in Brazil.

There is also

There is also an Early Movers 5 program for results-based payment led byGermany. GCF has recently started full-fledged support as well.
international level that support REDD+.

These are the different funds at anJapan has been mainly focusing on bilateral assistance via JICA.

As Suzuki-san said previously, up to now, JICA has supported preparatory activities.

In the overall

structure of support for REDD+, Japan needs to make its bilateral assistance as effective as possible bypositioning it properly.

That is my basic thought.

UN assistance, World Bank, and bilateral assistance area major part of the overall structure, but what is most noteworthy is the results-based payment programthat is going encompass everything.

http://projects.worldbank.org/P162789?lang=en
https://wbcarbonfinance.org/Router.cfm?Page=BioCF&ItemID=9708&FID=9708
4 http://www.amazonfund.gov.br/FundoAmazonia/fam/site_en
5 https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/33356.html
23

Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+
under the Joint Crediting Mechanism
Kosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

Let me try to summarize results-based payments (RBP).
One is the GCF.
government.

Session 2

Basically, there are two programs for RBPs.

The total funding is about ¥1 trillion. ¥150 billion has been expended by Japanese

We are the second largest donor only after the United States.

program, and there is also FCPF Carbon Fund.

GCF has the RBP pilot

There are some conceptual differences, but the majordifference is the scale. GCF focuses on the national level, while the World Bank’s FCPF looks basically at
the sub-national level to achieve RBPs.
As for how emission reduction (ER) REDD+ credits will be handled, the GCF does not allow
international transfers, but World Bank’s FCPF is considering an option to allow international transfers ofERs.

The GCF does not include an option of international transfer, but they do not look at theinternational transfers negatively.
for international transfers.

I was involved in the discussion on the decision not to include an option

They just wanted to move quickly.

To try to do that, they had to simplify thetotal mechanism.

In addition, article six of UNFCCC is now being negotiated, so they did not want toemphasize that.

Due to these facts, GCF decided not to include an option of international transfer. Alot of people tend to misunderstand the reasons why GCF decided not to include international transfers,
but the GCF’s intentions in doing so are not what most people think.
The Main Principles and Current Status of JCM-REDD+

Session 2
As part of JCM efforts, players in the Japanese private sector are receiving Japanese government
support to be involved with REDD+ activities in developing countries through nationally determined
contributions (NDC), and results will be shared.
be given to receive payment in phase three.

That is the total picture, but in phase two, assistance will

That is the concept of JCM.

The Forestry Agency is also

involved with this framework in order to promote JCM-REDD+. You might think this is common sense,
but I want to emphasize three points. First is that sustainable development in recipient countries issomething that we need to contribute to.

Second, we need to follow international agreements.

results that are derived from implementation need to be managed transparently.
Vietnam should be utilized to try to help them achieve reduction targets.

Third,For example, results fromThese results could at the sametime be used to achieve Japan’s reduction targets, so we need to avoiding double counting.

Moving on to the current status, there are three partner countries, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam,
and the Forestry Agency is focusing on these three countries.
For JCM-REDD+, after forming a bilateral agreement about the implementation, they would set theguidelines together, the project design would be completed, the project registered, and then implemented.
The Forestry Agency of Japan especially needs to emphasize the full development of technical guidelines.
In these three countries, we are utilizing the framework of JCM to implement REDD+.
completed the agreements with these countries, and we invited experts to set guidelines.

We haveThat is thecurrent status. February is the end of this fiscal year, so as soon as possible in the next fiscal year wewould like to come to an agreement on the guidelines.

Then there will be multiple projects.

As for the current challenges that we face today, the first is the challenge of scale.
things when I say ‘scale’.

I mean variousFirst scale of JCM itself needs to be expanded, and at the national level, youhave GCF’s RBPs, then there are the World Bank’s FCPF sub-national RBPs, and also the size of
JCM-REDD needs to be adjusted.

The second issue of scale has to do with compliance.

are various REDD+ methodologies such as GCF, FCPF, and the Warsaw Framework.

Currently there
Naturally, JCM istrying to come up with a guideline. We have to make sure that all of these are aligned together, andconsistency must be ensured.

Third, as I mentioned earlier, we have to avoid double counting.

Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+
under the Joint Crediting Mechanism
Kosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

I listed the three challenges that we face today.
some key principles earlier.

Session 2

In order to promote JCM-REDD+, I emphasized

I can see these challenges are nearly the same of what we want to achieve as

listed in those key principles.
What Are the Benefits of REDD+?

Finally, this basically concludes the JCM-REDD+ issue, but I want to expand my viewpoint. Whenyou explore approaches to JCM, you might wonder what advantage of REDD+ is in the first place.

I havebuilt my whole career in this sector of sustainable forest management and forest conservation.

Fromthese perspectives, when I look at REDD+, what are some of the clear advantages that I can find?

It is aforest sector initiative, but participation of the private sector will be the key.

There is great potential ininviting private players.

That is one advantage, so I would like to discuss the potential of REDD+ fromthat specific viewpoint.

This is relevant to this today’s event.

Think of some of the challenges that you

might face and you would understand the advantages and disadvantages.

For the advantages, there areco-benefits, and these are cost-effective initiatives, and I hope that everyone would come to understand thisand then proceed with their efforts.
As I said in the first place, there is sufficient international funding available.
distribute assistance equitably.

This is critical.

It is now necessary to

There are discussions at the UNFCCC level, awarenessSession 2and awareness is increasing with regards to the importance of the multiplicity of programs at the nationallevel. Also, for results-based payments, how is the private sector going to participate in REDD+? How
can we invite them to participate? Results-based payments will hold the key to make that happen.
Lastly, the International Civil Aviation Organization6 (ICAO) has started a market-based mechanism
initiative, Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation 7 (CORSIA).
outside the Paris Agreement or UNFCCC.

This is

It is a voluntary effort to reduce emissions based on themarket, so international transfers of credits will be promoted.
The Agenda Going Forward

As for the agenda going forward, UNFCCC is going to write the rule book.

The GCF, although it isnot well-known, does not see participation of the private sector negatively, so they would like to mobilize
private financing.

ICAO will also be writing its rule book.

ICAO’S CORSIA
For example, I would like to take a look at the latest with regard to GCF REDD+ credits.
very first time, GCF’s REDD+ project funds are being transferred.
at the very end you come across an important sentence.

For theIf you read through the press release,

One of the most recent studies indicates it has

the potential to reduce global emissions by 20% to 30% by 2030, according to my understanding.

I justwant to emphasize that it has a great potential to retain the emission reduction in developing countries’
urban sectors including REDD+.

At a recent FCPF’s Carbon Fund event there was a presentation reporting on ICAO’s initiative.
ICAO is now trying to take climate action.
67

https://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/A39_CORSIA_FAQ2.aspx

Current Progress and Future Plan of REDD+
under the Joint Crediting Mechanism
Kosaku Onaka (Forestry Agency, Japan)

Session 2

ICAO started CORSIA, which the very first market-based mechanism in the industrial sector.

This isa large-scale reduction in emissions that is going to be offset.
The FCPF Carbon Fund views this initiative positively.

They are trying to provide credits that will be

accepted by CORSIA as well.

FCPF credits will be a potential source of airline emission reductions, so it was reported that FCPF’scredits will be increasingly in demand in the future.

This is very important.

In Montreal on this day a workshop is taking place considering whether REDD+ credits including
FCPF credits can be used by the airline industry to offset emissions.

Lastly, this is some additional information.

I would like to conclude my presentation.