Posted on October, 10 2014

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s (FCPF) Carbon Fund added Peru and Guatemala to the Fund’s “pipeline” this week at meetings held in Washington, DC, after reviewing submitted Program Idea Notes (ER-PINs). Indonesia was also provisionally accepted into the pipeline pending revisions expected before the next meeting of the Fund.

Joining the Carbon Fund’s “pipeline” will make available up to US$650,000 to each country to develop a full programme proposal in the coming one to two years and support the World Bank’s “due diligence” process. These programs are each expected to be worth up to US$50 million or more in results-based finance for interventions that address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation at scale in these countries.

The pipeline is now closed with a total of 11 countries (including Indonesia), of which approximately 6-8 will eventually enter the Carbon Fund portfolio upon negotiation of an Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA).

Participants also discussed potentially extending the termination date of the Carbon Fund from 2020 to as late as 2025 to allow adequate time for pilot programs to deliver results. Most expressed support for some extension, but no decision was taken.

WWF was elected to be the northern country Civil Society Observer (CSO) at FCPF in March, 2014. The two-year term comes at an important time for the FCPF and its efforts to support forest countries to build their capacity to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation, create a portfolio of pilot pay-for-performance conservation programmes, and test ways to enhance livelihoods of local communities and conserve biodiversity.

The FCPF includes more than 40 participant countries and is an important space for advancing and piloting the idea of results-based payments for activities that address the drivers of deforestation while generating essential social and environmental benefits, including to local and indigenous communities most closely tied to the forests.

Lloyd Gamble, who coordinates WWF’s multilateral work on forest and climate issues, is the WWF delegate to the seat. Gamble has been an active contributor to the FCPF for several years. WWF’s alternate representative is Josefina Brana-Varela, WWF’s global REDD+ policy lead and a former UNFCCC negotiator for Mexico.