Papua New Guinea puts REDD cards on the table

Below and in the link is the text for a new REDD+ mechanism. Coming from PNG, this is the lead REDD text to watch.

Some key synthesis points:
1) It establishes a new mechanism for fund and full market REDD+ support
2) The mechanism will among other things, produce Verified Emission Reductions and Removals Enhancements
3) The proposed REDD mechanism would be under guidance of the COP, and therefore within the Convention as opposed to the Kyoto Protocol
4) National reference levels (of deforestation, over a period of at least 5 years) would be submitted by developing countries to the COP.
5) Developed countries would also submit projections of how many REDD credits they expect to generate over a time period
6) Early action language would allow REDD credits from 2005.
7) Correction factors would be allowed (which are presumably to allow for different national circumstances but could also introduce substantial uncertainty into the establishment of credible baselines)
8) COP would establish a REDD+ Contact Group to consider submissions by Parties.
9) The UNFCCC secretariat would register information provided by Parties and create a independent settlement account to, essentially, hold the projected REDD credits.
10) Calls for use of IPCC guidelines (without being specific as to which ones)
11) Countries could identify areas that they are not able to govern or are remote and would be excluded from the proposed REDD mechanism.
12) Actual REDD credits would be "reviewed' by a new REDD Expert Team.
13) Public and private participation in the mechanism would be allowed, subject to guidance by the Parties (not the COP necessarily)
14) The new mechanism would not compete with or limit access to the CDM
15) The new mechanism would "recognize the rights and roles of indigenous peoples and local communities.
16) Additional REDD credits would be transferred to a "subsequent international agreement on climate change".
17) The mechanism could be expanded in the future to take into account bio-fuel and food production issues
18) COP would have to develop rules for the mechanism within one year after a decision is made on the new REDD mechanism.

More analysis will follow, but for now, here is the actual text.


PAPER NO. 3: PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Article for the REDD+ Mechanism
The following represents a synthesis undertaken by Papua New Guinea of related joint submissions from the following Parties:
Belize, Bolivia, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana,
Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Thailand, Uganda, and Vanuatu.

May 2009
A REDD+ Mechanism
1. A mechanism is hereby defined to support the voluntary efforts of developing country Parties to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, promoting conservation and the sustainable management of forests, and to enhancing forest carbon stocks.
2. The purpose of this Mechanism shall be to assist developing country Parties in achieving sustainable development while contributing to the ultimate objective of the Convention by achieving additional, measurable, reportable and verifiable emissions reductions and removals enhancements, and as determined by the Parties, may assist relevant Parties in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.
3. This Mechanism shall be subject to the authority and guidance of the Conference of the Parties.
4. By giving notice to the Conference of the Parties, a developing country may participate in this
Mechanism’s voluntary and stepwise instruments to:
a) build related analytical, technical, and institutional capacity;
b) facilitate the up-scaling of non-compliance forest mitigation and conservation policies
and measures; and,
c) achieve measurable, reportable and verifiable emissions reductions and removals
enhancements under a national reference level and national inventory system, that shall
be reported and independently reviewed.
5. This Mechanism shall assist in mobilizing financial and technical support and providing access to adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources for relevant mitigation action by developing country Parties, underpinning the instruments described in Paragraph 4 though, inter alia, new and additional official and concessional funding, market-linked sources, and full access to global carbon markets.
6. A developing country Party may notify the Conference of the Parties, related to activities under
Paragraph 4(c), of their intention to contribute to compliance with part of the quantified emission
limitation and reduction commitments of the relevant Parties, including in such notice the following information:
a) national reference level(s) taking into account historical data and national circumstances,
including low rates of historical deforestation and forest degradation, and assessed over a
period of at least five years;
b) total projected emissions reduction or removal enhancements to be achieved compared to
the relevant reference level(s) during an agreed timeframe, including the supporting
policies and measures;
c) emissions reductions or removal enhancements achieved under paragraph 10;
d) correction factor to the relevant reference level(s), either lower or higher, taking into
account national circumstances, historically low rates of deforestation and forest
degradation, developmental divergence and respective capabilities and capacities.

Upon receipt of this information, the Conference of the Parties will request the Subsidiary Bodies to convene a Contact Group to consider the information provided and make recommendations to the next Conference of the Parties.
7. On a periodic or annual basis, the Secretariat would register the information agreed by the Parties under Paragraph [5], and if achieved, any subsequent emissions reductions or removals
enhancements. Based on the total projected emissions reductions and removals enhancements, the
Secretariat would deduct an equivalent number of assigned amount units from the respective allocations to relevant Parties. Deductions would be equitable and held by the Secretariat in an independent settlement account. As emissions reductions or removals enhancements are reported to the Secretariat and independently verified, they would be exchanged by the Secretariat on an equal basis for the assigned amount units held within the settlement account. If the supply of verified emissions reductions or removals enhancements is less than the total deductions, then the
Parties may agree that they be auctioned with the proceeds used for the general purposes outlined in Paragraph 4; while if supply of verified emissions reductions or removals enhancements is greater than the total deductions, then the surplus may be made available under relevant flexibility mechanisms, as agreed by the Parties.
8. In order to ensure consistency between mitigation efforts, Parties shall apply the relevant IPCC guidelines when reporting, also considering:
a. Parties wishing to report on forest degradation should be guided by the most recent methodologies developed by the IPCC and approved by the Parties;
b. Based upon national circumstances, Parties may identify unmanaged or ungovernable geographic areas within their national borders that will not be included under this Mechanism due to such factors as war, rebellion, geographic remoteness;
c. Parties that do not account for carbon stock increases by re-growth after natural disturbances should not account for carbon stock decreases associated with natural disturbance events.
9. Additional, real, measurable, and verifiable emissions reductions and removals enhancements
resulting from this Mechanism shall be independently reviewed by an ‘Expert Team’ supported by the Secretariat and on the basis of voluntary participation by each Party.
10. Additional emissions reductions or removals enhancements obtained during the period from the year 2005 up to the date a Party gives notice under Paragraph 4 can be used to assist relevant Parties in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.
11. Participation under this Mechanism may involve public and/or private entities, and is subject to any guidance provided by the Parties.
12. This Mechanism must be complementary and additional to, and cannot simply compete with or limit market access for, actions taken under the Clean Development Mechanism.
13. Recognizing the rights and roles of indigenous peoples and local communities, all activities under this Mechanism should respect and support related social, environmental and economic objectives.
14. To maintain the environmental integrity within and between international agreements on climate change, at the end of an agreement period, any final surplus in accounted emissions reductions and removals enhancements compared to the reported quantity should be transferred to a subsequent international agreement on climate change.
15. Given the linkage between the loss of forest carbon due to bio-energy and food production needs, this Mechanism may be expanded in the future to include other emissions intensive activities or sectors, such as rural energy and food production, consistent with modalities, rules and guidelines approved by the Conference of the Parties.
16. Conference of the Parties shall, by its next session, elaborate modalities, rules and guidelines for implementing this Mechanism.

Found in: FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/MISC.4/Add.1