Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP) Design ...

INTERNATIONAL FOREST
CARBON INITIATIVE
ATTACHMENT 3. IFCI FACT SHEET
The case for action
Global deforestation of about 13 million hectares per year results in approximately 20 per cent of
global greenhouse gas emissions.
Momentum has been building for increased international action on reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD). At the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Bali in December 2007,
countries agreed to work toward including REDD in a post-2012 global climate change agreement.
REDD is one of the most cost-effective opportunities for reducing emissions in the short-term. While
financing from developed countries will play a role, ultimately carbon markets are the only
mechanism capable of mobilising investment on the scale needed to support and provide incentives
for REDD.
The international community agreed in Bali that action must be taken now on REDD and to establish
the necessary systems and financial mechanisms to ensure long term emission reductions. The
International Forest Carbon Initiative is Australia’s contribution to this global effort.
International Forest Carbon Initiative
Australia’s $200 million International Forest Carbon Initiative is a key part of Australia’s international
leadership on REDD. The Initiative supports international efforts on REDD through the UNFCCC. It
is jointly administered by the Australian Department of Climate Change and AusAID.
The Initiative aims to demonstrate that REDD can be part of an equitable and effective post-2012
global climate change agreement. A central element of the Initiative is taking practical action on
REDD through collaborative Forest Carbon Partnerships with Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
These partnerships demonstrate how the technical and policy hurdles to REDD might be addressed
and provide lessons learned for input to REDD negotiations under the UNFCCC.
Through the International Forest Carbon Initiative, Australia is:
Increasing international forest carbon monitoring and accounting capacity.
By demonstrating that forests can be monitored effectively through advanced remote sensing,
Australia will show that there can be certainty in measuring emission reductions from REDD
activities. Activities include:
directly assisting developing countries, in particular Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, to
develop their own national forest carbon accounting systems; and
partnering with a consortium led by the Clinton Climate Initiative to use Australia’s National
Carbon Accounting System as a platform for a global forest carbon monitoring system.
Undertaking practical demonstration activities to show how REDD can be included in a post
2012 global climate change agreement.
This includes:
trialling a range of approaches, particularly in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, to
demonstrate how investment in REDD can achieve emission reductions while providing forestdependent
communities with livelihoods and promoting sustainable resource management;
and
assisting with the development of necessary underpinnings for sustainable forest management,
governance, law enforcement and regulatory frameworks in these countries.