The Royal Norwegian Embassy has signed a contract worth NOK 41.4 million (nearly six million US dollars per 20.08.09) to help Tanzania prepare for a new international climate change protocol involving forests. Tanzania could benefit from a future international climate change agreement that recognises and rewards countries that reduce the rate of forest loss and resultant greenhouse gas emissions. This project forms part of a portfolio under development to enable Tanzania to realize these opportunities.
‘I am very pleased to sign a contract with the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, which will make important contributions towards the partnership on forest and climate change between our two countries’, said Minister Counsellor Svein Baera during the signing at the Royal Norwegian Embassy. This contract will be the first in a series of contracts with NGOs for REDD pilot activities expected to be signed in the coming months. In addition to this, a number of other climate change programmes will be funded under the partnership. Funding for this partnership is in addition to regular development cooperation.
Climate change and forests
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the global community, and will greatly influence the next generation. The accumulation of greenhouse gases, mostly from human activities, is leading to changes in temperatures, sea levels and weather patterns. In turn, the economy and livelihoods of most countries are vulnerable to the effects of these climatic changes.
International efforts to combat climate change are structured within the Kyoto Protocol, which is in the process of being renegotiated for a post-2012 agreement. One issue to be included in the post-2012 protocol is forests; the loss of forests around the world accounts for around 20% of greenhouse gases as the carbon contained in the trees is released as carbon dioxide.
The concept is known as ‘REDD’ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). It is envisaged that after 2012, an internationally-approved, performance-based system for forest carbon trading will have been negotiated to provide additional incentives to countries that address REDD.
Norway – Tanzania Climate Change Partnership
In response to this challenge, Norway launched an International Climate and Forest Initiative in 2007, with a global commitment of up to NOK three billion annually towards REDD efforts at international and national levels. In April 2008, Norway and Tanzania signed a Letter of Intent on a Climate Change Partnership; with a focus on supporting REDD pilot activities in the field, capacity building, national strategy development and implementation.
‘As a country with a large forest estate, Tanzania could play an important role in mitigating climate change by reducing rates of deforestation, and be rewarded in the process by the international community’, says Ivar Jørgensen, Counsellor for climate change and environment.
Making REDD and carbon markets work for communities and forests
The project to be undertaken by TFCG will form one of Tanzania’s major REDD pilot projects at local level, and will maintain a strong pro-poor approach especially through the generation of equitable financial incentives from the global carbon market.
‘REDD provides opportunities for those rural communities that are sustainably managing or conserving Tanzanian forests to benefit directly from payments’, says TFCG Executive Director Charles Meshack. ‘TFCG and our primary partner, the Tanzania Community Forest Network, MJUMITA, are excited to be part of the national and global effort, and believe REDD has the potential to not only address climate change but also contribute towards rural development and help conserve high biodiversity value forests’.
The project will support the development of a Community Carbon Cooperative hosted within the existing national network of Tanzanian communities engaged in participatory forest management. It will focus on an area covering 50,000 hectares of montane and lowland coastal / miombo forest in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forest biodiversity hotspots. The project will introduce participatory monitoring of forest status, establish baselines of deforestation rates, market carbon credits, test benefit sharing mechanisms, and help to address the drivers of forest loss and degradation. By the end of the five years, the project aims to achieve a 110,000 tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and degradation, and to ensure the livelihoods of 20,000 poor people become beneficiaries from sustainable forest management and carbon financing.
The project will also have developed and shared a methodology for channelling REDD funds to rural communities that can be applied in other parts of Tanzania and the world. Other institutions that will be collaborating in the project include the Sokoine University of Agriculture, the Tanzania Natural Resources Forum and the Valuing the Arc project.
Background to forests and climate change
Climate change is one of the biggest global problems posing challenges to sustainable livelihoods and economic development. The adverse impacts of climate change on the environment, human health, food security, human settlements, economic activities, natural resources and physical infrastructure are already noticeable in many countries, including Tanzania.
Deforestation and forest degradation is the cause of around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. Current global and national efforts to address climate change are therefore looking at measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, including the provision of incentives.
At the 13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2007, it was agreed that REDD should be considered for inclusion in a future protocol after 2012. Important negotiations on the framework for REDD will take place at the 15th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, due to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, during December this year. In the future, Tanzania could become eligible to emission reduction payments from other countries, providing that reduced rates of deforestation or forest degradation can be demonstrated.
REDD is a form of payment for environmental services and has the potential to not only help address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also provide positive impacts on forest management, biodiversity and sustainable development, including poverty reduction.
The Division of the Environment (Vice President’s Office) is responsible for climate change and is the national designated authority for UNFCCC. The Forestry and Beekeeping Division (Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism) is primarily responsible for forestry policy and coordination matters and has started together with VPO the process on developing a national REDD strategy.
The Tanzania Forest Conservation Group is a non governmental organization with 20 years of experience with issues relating to forest conservation in Tanzania (see website www.tfcg.org). The Tanzania Community Forestry Network, MJUMITA, is a non governmental organization that provides a national network of community groups involved in participatory forest management, with members in 22 districts.
The Contract will soon be made available on our website www.norway.go.tz
For further information please contact:
o Mr. Ivar Jorgensen
Counsellor on Environment and Climate Change, Royal Norwegian Embassy
Phone: 022 2113366 E-mail: ivjo@mfa.no
o Mr. Simon Milledge
Consultant on Environment and Climate Change, Royal Norwegian Embassy
Phone: 022 2113366 E-mail: simi@mfa.no