Emissions guideline set

The National Weekender
ENVIRONMENT

By JAMIE HARO
PAPUA New Guinea is now able to address climate change issues and reduce greenhouse gas emissions using a new guideline.
The newly established guideline known as the National Safeguard Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, plus conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks or (REDD+) is a critical initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving and sustainably managing forests worldwide.
Presenting the aspects and the vital use of the guidelines during its launch on Aug 3, Climate Change and Development Authority’s Redd+ and Mitigation Manager Terence Barambi said: “These guidelines consisting of four important sections are accessible to the country’s under-developed groups, prioritising, addressing and respecting our people’s rights as custodians, landowners’ rights ensuring economic prosperity.”
He said the country’s guidelines development process started from a relationship between the European Union, one of the parties involved in proposing the concept back in 2005.
“Since this establishment the country has indeed been pivotal in developing the necessary technical modalities required for the country to be able to achieve REDD+ for years.”
He said that in order to have a guideline in place for PNG, there were lots of technical modalities and guidance required to be able to achieve REDD+.
“So to have these four essential elements as articulated within the promotional framework under the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) consisting of; REDD+ Development Guideline, the National REDD+ Free, Prior, Informed and Consent Guidelines, National REDD+ Prevention and Redress Guidelines and National REDD+ Cross Benefit Sharing and Distribution Guidelines.”
“Their strategies include a land and forest monitoring system, forest reference level and the ability to report on safeguards and hearings, basically on adherence to the fundamental requirements of the UNFCCC.”
This guideline strategy defines REDD+ in forestation and forest degradation while acknowledging the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and resources in developing the strategy. It is identified as a financing tool for countries to support their efforts in addressing the negative effects of climate change, particularly within the forestry sector.
It can also be perceived as a tool to facilitate transformational change ensuring that countries are able to establish and support an economy that is reliant on forests as opposed to one that relies on forestation and forest degradation.
So within PNG’s new guideline, it is requirement to have funds to achieve REDD+ and therefore be able to claim for the results of its payments as articulated.
Implementing these policies and measures within the country justify the rationale for PNG to be able to claim for results-based payments for REDD+ implementation at the national level. When this implementation occurs, the country needs to ensure that its safeguards are addressed and respected.
Barambi said the country has been trying to pursue this for several years which finally paid with the launch signifying the hard work and determination by those involved.
“REDD+ is at the national level, which is what the country has been pursuing for several years now. These are basically requirements that have been established under the UNCRC and will be implemented at the national level.
“It’s important to acknowledge that we have the voluntary government market which was still running way before the current compliance market under the UNCCC was established.”
“Given the existence of this voluntary government market, the country’s national REDD+ strategy generally recognises the existence of these voluntary government market initiatives and therefore requires any projects within the country which are part of the voluntary government market to follow guidelines that are linked to the national development processes,” he explained.
This has been taken into consideration in the land tenure system because land-owning communities hold 97 per cent of land rights.
“Going back before 2020, the country was pursuing requirements under the UNCCC for a national approach. But we had a lot of feedback from our stakeholders which basically ensured that we go ahead and start to ensure that we have in-country guidance, particularly to ensure that we’re able to embed these project-level activities, particularly within the voluntary government market and our national approach,” Barambi said.
“So the safeguards simply refer to them as those measures which basically work to protect all the workers and also promote benefits during the implementation of any offset or REDD+ initiative within the country.”
He said there were some requirements by the UNCCC in order to have these guidelines safeguarded, addressed and respected.
“They can be addressed in terms of a country having the appropriate and necessary policies, laws, and regulations and respected in terms of a country or a party’s capacity to implement these policies, laws, and regulations.
“UNCCC requires that there is a safeguards information system established within the country and that there are subsequent or periodical reports made to the Government.”
“We have our core requirements for the country to claim for these REDD+ results since these guidelines came out back in 2012.
“They had to be reviewed, refined, and we came to a point where there was a big need for them to be used given the existence of our public level activities and that’s where the drafting and engagement began.
“There were lots of consultations, which spans all the way from 2021 and 2022 until the subsequent approval of these guidelines.”
He said with the National Executive Council’s approval these guidelines should be utilised as guidance for any project activities and anything pertaining to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which has to do with monetary capital market initiatives.

Four guidelines explained

  1. National REDD+, Development Guidelines
    This basically provides the mandatory requirements for REDD+ executive activities at the national, subnational, and particularly at the project level. The arrangements are embedded within the REDD+, Development guidelines provided for the country to be able to accommodate these monetary capital market initiatives.
  2. National REDD+ Free, Prior, Informed Consent Guidelines
    These present institutional arrangements for effective free, prior, iInformed consent applications for respective jurisdictions. It is a step-wise approach towards free, prior, informed consent from certain parties involved, whether at the national, subnational, or project level.
  3. National REDD+ Cross Benefit Sharing and Distribution Guidelines
    These are aimed at identifying benefits, beneficiaries, and the flow of benefits from the different identified financial sources and an established threshold. This enables the Government to know when one is able to come in and provide the regulatory facility, particularly for interaction between landowner communities and proponents.
  4. The National REDD+ Prevention and Redress Guidelines
    This is a document that provides a structured approach to identify both the internal and institutional mechanisms for conflict resolution. It is designed in a way that one does not reinvent the wheel, point the parties involved to the established measures to have their grievances addressed.

All in all, these documents have been developed in a consolidated manner and have been approved for use.
“The development of these guidelines ensures the appropriate alignment, adherence, monitoring, and reporting of the most fundamental guidelines and requirements under the Union Treaty 16,” Barambi said.
“The guidelines, importantly, will serve to protect our customary landholding communities. Again, as I mentioned, they will provide an avenue for governance interaction in the process.”
The National REDD+ Safeguard Guidelines work towards strengthening PNG’s safeguard report to the UNCCC. The guidelines now provide the PNG Government with the required regulatory oversight guidance for any forthcoming marketing initiative.