Using targeted programs that include technical guidance, training workshops and community engagement, CI and our partners build knowledge and capacity in-country while using site-based demonstration activities to inform and guide longer-term national policies and development discussions.
Developing country examples
Guyana
CI has been working closely with the government of Guyana on national climate and development plans, including serving on the Presidential Steering Committee for Low-Carbon Development, advising President Bharrat Jagdeo, contributing technical information for the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy and providing technical advice on the country’s national Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) System.
Thanks in part to this effort, Norway has committed to pay $250 million – the first agreement of this size – to Guyana for meeting certain emissions-reductions targets through forest conservation and by pursuing other low-carbon development activities. CI also worked with local partners Iwokrama and indigenous organizations to develop, test and pilot the “Train the Trainer” program on the role of forests in climate change mitigation. This program has been translated into six languages so that local organizations and communities can use it around the world.
Liberia
Despite a wealth of natural resources, Liberia’s national government has the formidable challenge of stimulating economic growth and sustainable resource management after years of civil conflict. CI is working with the government and other partners to plan for national economic growth and poverty reduction, aligning multilateral aid with demand for carbon offsets.
Suriname
In Suriname, CI provided technical support for the national government’s “Suriname Green” low-carbon development strategy. Launched in October 2009, this strategy recommends green economic development alternatives for forestry, mining, agriculture and infrastructure sectors. The government has started to develop a national carbon readiness plan which will explore the potential to provide revenue for maintaining the country’s high forest cover and low deforestation rate and invest in low carbon development.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, CI is a key advisor to Papua and Aceh provinces on their low-carbon development programs and REDD+ initiatives. Recently, Norway announced a $1 billion pledge to help Indonesia reduce its deforestation, and CI is working closely with government agencies at all levels to help them achieve their ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets (a 41 percent reduction by 2050).
Peru
CI is investing heavily in Peru to ensure that the country’s development aspirations are balanced with the ecosystem services provided by the second largest forest area in South America. By working closely with government agencies and local stakeholders, CI is helping to implement leading innovative policies that will serve as a model for other national governments around the world.
Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, CI has been providing overall technical advice to the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications on several issues, including direct support during the international UNFCCC negotiations (particularly on REDD+), supporting national planning efforts to become a carbon-neutral economy and helping design the framework to fully integrate the national climate change strategy actions into the national planning system in order to guarantee long-term sustainability.
Ecuador
In the past, extractive-dependent development models have caused Ecuador to have some of the highest rates of deforestation in Latin America, yet poverty levels remain alarmingly high. To help forge a new development path for the country, CI is providing direct technical support and implementing field models that will be used to guide Ecuador’s low-carbon development efforts and can be drawn upon by other tropical forest countries. We have helped develop Socio Bosque, the Ecuadorian government’s innovative system of economic incentives for forest conservation, which is now receiving interest from a number of other countries for replication and results in direct payments to forest-dependent communities for conservation activities.
Developed country examples
CI also conducts policy outreach to developed nations – including the United States, Norway, Denmark, Singapore, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, U.K., Netherlands and other EU members, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland – on their international policies regarding REDD+ and adaptation. We have provided technical materials as well as direct interaction at UNFCCC negotiations and other important meetings. Climate policy is also a major focus of CI’s policy hub offices in Japan and Belgium. Another area of strategic engagement by CI is within the emergent global funds for REDD+ projects, like the World Bank Forest Investment Program (FIP).
U.S. policy
CI is conducting policy outreach within the United States with the goal of building domestic support for an international climate change agreement. Our strategy focuses on two key elements:
- U.S. engagement in the international climate change negotiations; and
- passage of U.S. domestic climate change legislation, which forms the basis for a U.S. position during international negotiations.
CI is specifically working to ensure that international climate change adaptation and proper structuring of REDD+ incentives are adequately addressed in U.S. legislation.