FAO.org

The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system developed by FAO providing estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The carbon-balance is defined as the net balance from all greenhouse gases (GHGs) expressed in CO2 equivalent that were emitted or sequestered due to project implementation as compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

Integrated landscape management and large-scale landscape restoration should be in every company’s business strategy because in order to reach the Sustainable Development Goal on Land Degradation Neutrality (SDG Number 15.3) scaling up and acceleration of business-driven landscape restoration is urgently needed. This requires business professionals with a vision, the right knowledge and skills. This MOOC aims to train the next generation of business professionals and developers to acknowledge business’ interdependency with healthy landscapes and understand the value of ecosystem resources. This MOOC is developed by the ENABLE partnership, which is co-funded by the ERASMUS+ programme of the European Commission and involves a diverse, international group of organizations including Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Commonland, United Nations University Land Restoration Training Programme, the Spanish National Research Council and Estoril Global Conferences.

Public policy makers from developed and developing countries, at all levels (national, regional, local), have the opportunity to take leadership as FLR financing champions. Even without controlling private capital, they can support resource mobilization in a number of ways. This publication shares the experiences of some initiatives from around the world which public policy makers can learn from and adapt. It provides recommendations to help them improve their support to FLR financing by: - Mainstreaming FLR in State budgets - Setting up appropriate financing mechanisms - Engaging the private sector - Building alliances and partnerships

FAO and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD have joined efforts to prepare this discussion paper on sustainable financing for FLR. It provides an overview of existing funding sources and financial instruments that could be used and adapted specifically for the implementation of FLR efforts at the national, regional and global levels. It identifies innovative financing mechanisms to support the achievement of these global targets and discusses the main challenges for enhanced FLR financing. Based on lessons learned through many related initiatives, it also proposes solutions to support the enabling conditions needed for sound FLR investments. This discussion paper will help FLR stakeholders better understand the financial architecture related to FLR and identify areas that need further action to unlock the potential of sustainable financing mechanisms for FLR.

This discussion paper assembles information related to both conventional afforestation and more recently applied afforestation approaches having an ecological restoration focus, and to organize it in a format that will facilitate considerations related to methodologies, expected short-term and long-term results and relevant costs.