Technical & networking sessions slot 1

The Gold Standard Foundation; Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); Fairtrade International

Landscapes are complex puzzles that consist of forests, plantations, farmland and human settlements. One of the largest challenges of a landscape approach is the necessity to balance economic needs such as improving agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods with addressing the threats posed to forests, farmland, water and biodiversity. The Gold Standard Foundation together with FSC, Fairtrade International and WWF, have joined forces, pooling their extensive expertise, to develop a set of comprehensive schemes that will help effectively address this challenge. By ensuring thorough safeguards, community engagement and fairness, rigorous MRV of both emission reductions and wider social & environmental benefits, a landscape approach can be truly achieved.

This interactive session will present the vision, approach and on-the-ground experiences. It will explore the development of MRV systems, result-based financing mechanisms, the combination of multiple activities, scalability, longevity and the value of non-carbon attributes for certifying ecosystem services in different types of land use.

The key issues that will be addressed in the session are:

1. A pioneering approach: The provision of user–‐friendly MRV frameworks that certify social and environmental integrity at a landscape level (FSC ForCES, Gold Standard Water Benefit Partners Programme, Fairtrade Carbon Credits)
2. Ensuring genuine impact: Using a ‘results based finance’ approach to fund land use & forests initiatives at a landscape level
3. Strategic synergies: Working with the best in class standards to deliver landscape level solutions

Background reading:

1. The Gold Standard Land Use and Forests Framework
2. ForCES factsheets

Contact details: info@cdmgoldstandard.org; p.vanmidwoud@cdmgoldstandard.org

Speakers

• Moriz Vohrer

  Technical Director for Land Use & Forests, Gold Standard Foundation

• Alison von Ketteler

  Consultant, Environment and Strategy, and global project manager, ForCES (Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services

• Harry Clemens

  Programme officer, Carbon Finance and Renwable Energy, for the Green Enterpreneurship Programme of Hivos, the Netherlands

• Andreas Kratz

  Director - Strategy and Standards Fairtrade International

• Carlos Canales

  Policy Manager - Climate Change and Sustainable Development Fairtrade International

• Adrian Rimmer

  CEO, Goldstandard Foundation

Moderator

• Pieter van Midwoud

  Director Business Development for Land Use & Forests at the Gold Standard Foundation

Rapporteur

• Moriz Vohrer

  Technical Director for Land Use & Forests, Gold Standard Foundation