Raymond Landveld – Closing Keynote: Financing sustainable landscapes

This article posts during GLF 2014. See in English | Espanol

Co-facilitator of the UNFCC Standing Committee on Finance, Raymond Landveld, delivers a keynote speech at the closing plenary on the second day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2014, in Lima, Peru, during COP20.

Sunday, 7 December 2014

Global Landscapes Forum, Lima, Peru

#COP20GLF #ThinkLandscape

Raymond Landveld – Closing Keynote- Financing sustainable landscapes (Transcript)

RL:                      [0:14] Thank you, madam moderator. The mic works well, I see… Behalf of the Standing Committee of Finance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to thank the Center for International Forestry Research for organizing this meeting and for inviting us to be here. You know, to devote the plenary closing activity on the issue of forest financing, or financing landscapes, that coincides with the thoughts and ideas also within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That the issue of forest financing, and in this case broader landscapes, is becoming more and more important. And therefore also invited these eminent speakers, who have all spoken before me.

[1:32] What I’m actually here for is to in fact invite you to continue this discussion on a broader base. Because now we’re devoting one and a half hours, but the standing committee – and maybe I should use this opportunity now to introduce you more a bit to the Standing Committee on Finance. In fact, our job is to assist the Conference of the Parties in regard to its functions on the financial mechanism. And to improve the coherence and coordination in the delivery of climate finance. And last year, in Warsaw, the COP mandated the standing committee to consider in its work on the coherence and coordination the issue of financing for forests – taking into account the different policy approaches.

[2:35] A second mandate to the standing committee is to focus the soonest possible forum on issues related to financing for forests. Now, those of you that know the standing committee know that we already have organized two forums. The first one was together with the Carbon Expo to introduce the standing committee. And this year we devoted the forum on the issue of adaptation, because we felt that the issue of adaptation needed more attention. So, what has been done so far with the mandate that we cot from the COP? First of all, we have produced a working paper on financing for forests, which is still a work in progress. It is on the website of the UNFCCC, the standing committee website. And we are inviting you to also contribute to that paper. We need to finish producing this paper by next month, the 31st of January. So you have ample time to also help us think through how the issue of coordination and coherence on forest financing should be done to scale up climate finance for the issue of financing for forests.

[4:03] Now, in that paper, we are looking at the landscape of forests finance. We also work on the issue of resources and the transfer of payments for results based approaches. I understand you don’t hear me well through the mic that I have. Do you hear me now? Okay, thank you very much. And also we work on the provision of financial resources for alternative approaches. Now, in regard to the forum that we are organizing next year – now you hear me. You see, that’s why I need to have this mic, so you can hear me clear. Now, the forum that we are organizing next year, 2015,  as we did with the two forums that we already organized, we are also planning to have it jointly with another organization. And I must say that CIFOR is very high up there in the list, but we are still talking. And the idea is that before we leave Lima we should have clarity who and which organization we’re going to partner with to organize this forum. And this forum should bring together all forest finance stakeholders, the REDD+, and forest experts as well financial institutions.

[5:39] We’re in the landscape of the forests finance. We are thinking of for instance the [Unclear 5:45] are going to participate. But we are also thinking of other multilateral and international financing institutions. So, clearly, what I’m here for, ladies and gentlemen, is to invite you to be part of this discussion, but also to be part in the planning and the thinking and the brainstorming to it. I’m going to give you some of the questions that we are trying to ask, and that we are asking you to help us get the answer, so that we can make the forum successful. First of all, we’re looking at the whole of the landscape of forest financing, and who the important actors are – when it comes to finance that drives deforestation and forest degradation. But also, what drives investment in sustainable forest management? We need you to help us with case studies in this regard. Also, case studies where it didn’t work, so that we all can learn from that. We want you to help us think about what the incentives can be for activities that drive sustainable forest management.

[7:11] In short, we are inviting you – and that’s what I came here to do – to be part of this discussion, and to help us make the forum successful. But also so that we can have good recommendations going to the COP in the work team of forest financing. Thank you.