The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is joining forces with the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) to strengthen the accessibility and accuracy of forest monitoring systems in developing countries around the world. With combined funding of almost USD$1 million, FAO and the FCPF will work together to make FAO’s SEPAL 2.1 more accessible than ever through the creation of professional training and guidance material. SEPAL is an innovative cloud-based super computing platform with more than 4,000 active users in 160 countries. The latest version, SEPAL 2.1, launched at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in...

Chile will receive USD 63 million from the Green Climate Fund for having successfully reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from forests. Emissions were reduced by 18.4 million tCO2eq between 2014 and 2016 by the implementation of REDD+ activities. REDD+ is a mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which assigns a financial value to results per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent of reduced emissions or enhanced removals in forests. It also offers incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions while investing in low-carbon, sustainable development. The funds will support an ambitious project designed to implement Chile’s National...

The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) today approved $161 million in funding to support climate resilient projects in Chile, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal benefitting 1.5 million people. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been supporting the formulation of the projects that will build resilience and mitigate the effects of climate change in the three countries. "FAO and GCF have forged a strong and strategic partnership to bring transformational climate solutions and help countries build resilience in response to climate change impacts," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources. Addressing climate change is a cornerstone of FAO's work...

FAO today launched a new $7.1 million project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to make forest data more accessible, transparent and available, and, in particular, help developing countries to meet the Paris Climate Agreement's enhanced transparency requirements. Efficient monitoring of and reporting on forests and land-use change is essential for tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and as countries adopt climate change-mitigation and adaptation measures. The project is co-funded by GEF ($1.9 million) and FAO ($5.2 million). It is one of only four global projects approved under the GEF's Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) - a new trust fund aimed at supporting...

Although forests are physically located within the territories of sovereign states, their environmental role extends far beyond these borders. For example, the mismanagement of riparian forests has transboundary implications in terms of soil and water conservation and biodiversity for neighbouring countries. Likewise, airborne pollutants generated in one country may be transported across borders, causing forest decline in others. The role of forests in global ecological cycles highlights the environmental significance of forests beyond the boundaries of the nations. In this context, they are being viewed as global or regional commons, as is the case in West Africa. West Africa is a...