1. General Description:
ID:CN-23027
Project resulting from this CN: N/A
Note: CNs are developed into project proposals following consultation with donor(s).
1.1 Project Title:
Enhancing Stakeholders’ Capacity of tropical timber producing Member Countries inCarbon Trading

1.2 Submitting Country/ies:
Japan,Malaysia

1.3 Specific Location & Country/ies/regions/areas benefitting from the project:
Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa

1.4 Endorsement from ITTO Focal Point:
No endorsement required.pdf
1.5 Intended Project Duration (in months):
1
1.6 Indicative Budget (in US$):
ITTO

630,200Counterpart

0Total630,200

1.7 Programme Line Focus
Emerging Issues and Innovation
1.8 Project TypeCapacity Building/Training, Workshop/meeting/seminar, Market/product development
1.9 Proposal Summary:
The Market Discussion held during ITTC58 in Yokohama in November 2022, with thetheme “Carbon Trade and Tropical Forests”, invoked much interests and discussions
among participants from ITTO members. The MD speakers were experts working inthis field in Africa, Latin America and Asia. They pointed out that there were very few
carbon projects in ITTO Producers despite the huge potentials offered by carbon
trading. It was estimated that the carbon trading market was worth some US$ 2billion in 2022. The speakers have observed obstacles to participation: no knowledgeof carbon trading, lack of expertise and/or experience to develop a suitable projectfor carbon trading, not knowing where to start for those who wished to participate,etc. These obstacles were confirmed by comments from the floor. It was suggested
that TAG should follow up the MD by organising technical training to prepare
potential and interested participants to enter the carbon market. Working with theITTO Secretariat, TAG proposed to run four-day workshops in Africa, Latin Americaand Asia. The workshop will prepare participants how to choose a methodology todevelop a project; prepare a validation/verification process to register the project; anddevelop a monitoring system prior to issuance of verified carbon units. Experts will beidentified to speak (and teach) the following topics: introduction to the UNFCCC
process, Carbon offsets/credits, and REDD+ preparedness. Workshop participants
will be invited from the private sector though relevant officials from the public sectorwill probably attend for knowledge. Ample budget should be set aside to sponsor
participants so as to reach out to those who will benefit most from such training. Theworkshop in Asia will use English as the working language; in Africa it will be inFrench, and Spanish in Latin America. An excursion is envisaged to visit appropriate
carbon project sites for a real-life exposure and learning experience.

2. Proponent Information:

2.1 Executing Agency Information:
Name of Agency/Organization/Institution:
International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO)

Name of main Contact Person:
Tetra Yanuariadi

Email:
tetra@itto.int
Other E-mail address:
barney.chan@gmail.com

Phone:+81-45-223-1110

Fax:+81-45-223-1111

URL:
http://www.itto.int

2.2 Type of Organization:
International Organization

Type of Organization- other case:
ITTO Trade Advisory Group (TAG) was set up by the International Tropical Timber
Council in 2000, to advise and work with the Council on tropical timber trade andindustry matters. TAG Members (currently about 30 individuals) are all from theprivate sector, representing both the producing and consuming member countries. As
some TAG members are from timber associations or federations, the indirect
outreach of TAG is 4,022 private companies world-wide. TAG members meet
physically once a year and are in contact by email throughout the year. Each May
and September, TAG produces a short bulletin, TAG Alert, on current issues faced by
the trade and industry; it is distributed to all ITTO members and the Secretariat. TAG
members will be able to assist in the organising and running of these threeworkshops as the workshop venues are expected to be in countries with a strong
TAG presence.

2.3 Collaborating Agency/ies:
Name of Agency/Organization/Institution:
Trade Advisory Group (TAG)

Name of main Contact Person:
Barney Chan

Email Address:
barney.chan@gmail.com

Phone:+60 12 886 2357

Fax:
+81-45-223-1111

URL:
http://www.itto.int

2.4 Relevant experience of EA:
ITTO promotes the sustainable management and conservation of tropical forests andthe expansion of international trade in timber from sustainably managed and legally
harvested forests. ITTO develops policy guidelines to encourage SFM and timberindustries. ITTO assists member countries to adapt guidelines to local situations.
ITTO also collects, analyzes and disseminates data on the production and trade oftropical timber.

3. Relevance:
3.1 Conformity with ITTO objectives (ITTA, 2006) and priorities (current SAP):
This Activity project conforms principally with Objective 9(s) Identifying andaddressing relevant new and emerging issues. It also conforms to three otherobjectives, namely: Objective (g) Developing and contributing towards mechanisms
for the provision of new and additional financial resources …; Objective (j)Developing and contributing towards mechanisms for the provision of new andadditional financial resources …; and Objective (m) Encouraging information sharing
for a better understanding of voluntary mechanisms …

3.2 Relevance to the ITTO Programme Lines:
This Activity complies with all four strategic priorities set out in the ITTO StrategicAction Plan 2022 – 2026. These strategic priorities are: (1) Governance andinvestment, (2) Economies and tropical timber trade, (3) Resilience, restoration andconservation, and (4) Statistics and information.

3.3 Relevance to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global
Forest Goals (GFGs) and other forest related global agenda:
This proposed project contributes mainly to SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 12
Sustainable Consumption and Production. This activity is also part of SDG 9
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure as well as SDG 15 Life on Land.

3.4 Relevance to submitting country’s policies:
The proposed project supports the regional and the participating countries’ policies
and strategies on forest resource management identifying a potential new source ofincome for ITTO producer member countries. All ITTO producer member countries
have adopted policies that support a paradigm shift from forest resource exploitation
towards sustainable forest management that balances the social, economic andenvironmental aspects of forestry. And now in addition, the positive move towards
carbon trading will add more value to the forests for the benefits of all stakeholders.

3.5 Linkages to previous/ongoing ITTO and other projects/activities (if any):
Relevance to UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030. This proposed project conforms toall six Global Forest Goals, namely: GFG1, Reverse the loss of forest cover …,GFG2 Enhance forest based economic, social and environmental benefits… , GFG3
Increase significantly the area of protected forests … , GFG4 Mobilize significantly
increased, new and additional financial resources … , GFG5 Promote governanceframework to implement SFM … , and GFG6 Enhanced cooperation, coordination,coherence and synergies on forest-related issues at all levels …

4. Project synopsis:

4.1 Objectives (reflecting reference to elements within all ITTO Guidelines asapplicable):
The Activity aims to increase the economic, environmental and social contributions offorest owners and timber plantations investors in the tropics to facilitate theachievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG 13, Climate
Action and SDG 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production) for a sustainablefuture. Specifically, the Activity is targeted to stimulate more initiatives from theprivate sector in producer countries to manage carbon-related issues so as toincrease revenue to augment SFM efforts. Such carbon projects are aimed at thevoluntary carbon markets. They can range from preserving available forests tocreation of planted forests, and various stages of SFM in between. The Activity is sofar the only project in ITTO history which addresses ITTA Objective 1 (s): Identifyingand addressing relevant new and emerging issues. Further, this Activity develops“pathways and mechanisms for the provision of new and additional financialresources”, as specified under ITTA Objectives 1 (g). This Activity also “[encourages]
members to support and develop tropical timber reforestation as well as rehabilitation
and restoration of degraded forest land”, under ITTA Objective 1(j). It is envisaged
that this Activity will spur Members to ”develop national policies aimed at sustainableutilization and conservation of timber producing forests, and maintaining ecologicalbalance…”, as stated in ITTA Objectives 1 (m).

4.2 Key problem(s) to be addressed:
The key problem to be addressed by this Activity is the severe lack of carbon
capture/offset projects by the private sector in the Producing Member Countries. Thisproblem was highlighted and discussed during the 2022 Market Discussion of ITTC57 which was organized by the Trade Advisory Group (TAG). The key problem ismainly due but not limited to: (1) a lack of understanding of carbon trading benefits
and technical knowledge about the carbon market, (2) how to develop and promotecredible carbon projects, and (3) very limited knowledge sharing and internationalcooperation.

4.3 Main stakeholders and beneficiaries:• Forest and plantation owners/managers. • Forestry authorities in participatingcountries • Local communities and NGOs working in this field • Financial institutions(local, regional and international) • Carbon buyers and investors in carbon projects •Students from universities, technical and vocational training institutes

4.4 Key activities:
The key activity is to organize regional workshops in selected countries in the three
ITTO regions and conduct training to participants from Producing member countries.
The key activity will involve development of training curricula, compiling training
material and producing outputs for knowledge sharing. Selecting host countries andidentifying participants are part of supporting activities. In each workshop, experts willbe identified to lecture and teach in these broad-related areas: • Introduction to theUNFCCC Process • Carbon Offsets, Carbon Credits and Carbon markets • REDD+In addition, a field excursion will be organized for hands on learning experience. Oneworkshop will be organized in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A record of the threeworkshops will be maintained in the Secretariat and made available through the ITTO
website for interested parties. Further, the Secretariat will maintain an online
grouping of all the attendees which will facilitate exchange of information and also
allow monitoring of carbon projects in Producing Countries

4.5 Expected outcomes and impacts, including innovation/transformation:• More carbon offset/credit project will be operational and actively mitigating theclimate change effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. • More options are madeavailable for land use and forest management with the additional incentive offinancial revenue from carbon trading. • Information and knowledge sharing which
will lead to more carbon projects being set up globally. All of which will benefit
humankind in fighting climate change. • Networking under the umbrella of ITTO for all
resources concerning carbon and tropical forestry. This will serve as a driver for
innovation and transformation in land use, especially in Producing Member
Countries.

4.6 Existing funding for (related) initiative(s)/established contacts to potential
donors:Not applicable

4.7 Any other information deemed necessary/important:
This Activity is expected to mobilise the entrepreneurship and drive of the Private
Sector in Producing Member Countries to focus on mitigating Climate Change
through carbon offset/credit projects.

4.8 Risk mitigation measures:
The success of the project depends on the continued shared commitment andpolitical will of the authorities in the countries (hosts for the workshops) and its
stakeholders’ support for carbon offsets. In order to mitigate the risk of being unable
to implement the project and to achieve the project’s objectives, the project will selectqualified personnel with high acceptance by the authorities to manage the project
and to hire (or sub-contract) qualified consultants (to teach) with extensive and indepth knowledge in the required field of expertise. The project will also work withhighly reputable wood industries and local communities/tree growers. The project willclosely collaborate with ITTO and donor(s) for guidance in implementing the project’sactivities.

5. Indicative Budget (in US$):Indicative Budget (in US$):Description

ITTO

Counterpart

Total

Personnel

60,000060,000

Sub-contracts

100,000

0100,000

Travel and DSA

130,000

0130,000

Capital Items

3,000

03,000Consumables

60,000060,000

Publication /30,000

030,000

Miscellaneous

150,000

0150,000

Total

533,000

0533,000

ITTO Project Monitoring

15,000-15,000

Annual/Final Audit

0-0

ITTO Programme

82,200-82,200ITTO Ex-post Evaluation

0-0GRAND TOTAL

630,200

0630,200

Dissemination& Review

Support