FCMC advances work on nested REDD+ safeguards in Peru
The Region of San Martin is currently implementing the REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards (SES) Initiative. This initiative provides an important framework to work through social and environmental issues for REDD+ and makes San Martin a pioneer on REDD+ safeguards in Peru.
Since early 2013, FCMC has been supporting work on REDD+ safeguards in Peru through its core partner Conservation International (CI).This includes establishing important links and cooperation between Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) and the Regional Government of San Martin on institutional arrangements for REDD+ in Peru. Over the past few months, a number of important milestones took place as part of FCMC’s work with CI on these issues.
In November, the safeguards work taking place in Peru was featured as part of a side event at the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Warsaw, Poland. The side event was organized by CI and other partners, and featured presentations about ways REDD+ can contribute to broader sustainable development goals.
FCMC and CI supported two major workshops in October 2013 that were organized under the leadership of MINAM. The first workshop was held in Puerto Maldonado in the Madre de Dios region on October 22-23, with the objective to build capacity of regional and national government officials on REDD+ safeguards. The Regional Environmental Authority of San Martin used a 10 step framework developed by the REDD+ SES Initiative to share progress in the region, including stakeholder engagement, coordination with other regional governments and working with indigenous groups. Another important topic discussed at the workshop was the need for enhanced funding for REDD+ implementation, including voluntary markets, public and private funds and other sources of financing.
The second workshop, held in Lima on October 24-25, aimed to share information and lessons learned from safeguard information systems (SIS) in various Latin American countries. Representatives from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the State of Acre in Brazil, Honduras, Mexico and Peru were in attendance. Patricia Porras, the safeguards specialist of the San Martin Regional Government, shared lessons learned with national government representatives.
A priority for FCMC’s work on safeguards in Peru is support to MINAM to coordinate on REDD+ issues for the upcoming 20th COP of the UNFCCC, to take place in Lima in December 2014.
