Papua New Guinea Continues Building Capacity For REDD+ Stakeholders

Port Moresby, 10 November 2017 – Papua New Guinea’s Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) with the support from World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a week-long REDD+ Expert Training form the 6-10 of November in Central Province.

The expert training workshop aimed at enhancing the knowledge capacity of National REDD+ stakeholders to identify linkages and actions to be undertaken by relevant sectors in the implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy. Over sixty participants from key sectors from the Government, Civil Society and the Private Sectors undertook the training.

Photo: Participants posing for a photo session after completing the REDD+ Expert Training session (picture courtesy of UNDP FCPF)

The training was facilitated by CCDA, PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) with the FCPF REDD+ Project Management Unit in PNG and advisors from UNDP Regional Hub in Bangkok. Participants described the training as useful in broadening their understanding and knowledge of actions and linkages in the development and implementation stages of REDD+ in the country. They also shared what they had understood and learnt during the training. Key lessons learnt include:

• Deeper understanding of REDD+,
• Understanding the global context of REDD+ and how PNG’s actions link with international REDD+ financing,
• Understanding policies and measures proposed in the National Strategy and next steps of development,
• Sources of financial and technical support to support the National REDD+ Strategy
• Stages of discussions and consultations on the development of the REDD+ Finance and Investment Plan,
• Understanding requirements, financial sources particularly the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to successfully apply for funding,
• How to contribute to the development of the Green Climate Fund proposal.
• How to contribute to REDD+ financial flows specifically identifying the different financial sources to support REDD+ Implementation.

An evaluation from the training indicated improved participants’ understanding around REDD+. Certificates of Participation were awarded to participants for successfully completing the REDD+ expert training.

Mrs. Gwen Sissiau, CCDA’s General Manager for REDD+ and Mitigation Division said, “the REDD+ expert training is a key platform to equip national stakeholders from relevant sectors with relevant knowledge on REDD+ in planning and implementation of REDD+ activities”. In her closing remarks, Mrs. Sissiau thanked UNDP, FCPF and the facilitators for their continued support in ensuring the needed capacity needs are improved.PNG has been a leading proponent of REDD+ at the international level and has made significant progress towards developing its capacity to engage in an international mechanism on REDD+. This progress has initially been supported by the UN-REDD Programme and is now being aided by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility REDD+ Readiness Project and will run until the end of 2018.