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Policy Paper: Assessing prerequisites for market-based REDD+ activities 12
emissions will evolve in the future. FCPF is further supporting countries in establishing a (measuring) monitoring,
reporting and verification (MRV) system for forestry emissions.
These technical components are among the challenging aspects for FCPF countries when formulating their
Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP), a document which provides a framework for the activities countries
need to implement for achieving REDD-Readiness. FCPF comprises thirty-seven REDD countries, of which
thirteen have so far submitted R-PPs. Most countries needed external support for example to ensure that requirements
such as the IPCC Good Practice Guidance are met from the start on. Currently, only a few countries,
for example Mexico, have the adequate data and the internal capacity to develop historical deforestation
and forest degradation reference levels. In their RPPs, most countries propose to use historical data and
to undertake projections into the future on how drivers of deforestation and forest degradation might change
over time. With regard to a national MRV-system, most countries are in the early stages of determining its
design and still rely heavily on external technical expertise. Data accuracy is still limited and a Tier 3 system
may only be achieved over time (FCPF 2010).
UN-REDD
The UN-REDD programme was launched in 2008 with the aim to assist and support REDD+ countries to
prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies. The programme has 42 partner countries of which 13 are
receiving direct support for national programmes provided through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). UN-REDD does also provide readiness support in the development of reference
levels and monitoring. First experiences from the Asian-Pacific region show that it is important to strike
the right balance between the number of parameters to be measured, time available for measurement and
cost-effectiveness. In Pacific Island Countries, a regional approach is needed to address capacity gaps since
for most small countries costs would by far exceed potential REDD+ benefits (FAO et al. 2011).
3.1.4 Dealing with capacity gaps for reference level setting and MRV
As the experiences from ongoing readiness initiatives show, most developing countries still need external
support in dealing with the requirements for establishing reference levels and setting an MRV-system. A
report prepared by GOFC-Gold assessing national forest monitoring capabilities in 99 tropical non-Annex I
countries draws a similar picture (Herold 2009). With a focus on the capacities for the monitoring of forest
area change and the role of remote sensing technology, the study analysed international reporting and communications
to the FAO, UNFCCC and the World Bank along with information from global data products,
inter alia reflecting availability of data, current carbon stocks and technical challenges for implementing
annual forest area change monitoring. The study’s results indicate that further investments are needed in
almost all countries to bridge the capacity gap in developing national measurement and monitoring systems
in the long term. While almost all 99 countries could provide estimates of forest area and changes in forest
area, the majority of countries were not able to meet the IPCC reporting principles accuracy and completeness
when estimating their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and forest loss. Less than 20% of the countries
studied have submitted complete GHG inventories and only three countries are considered to have very good
capacities for monitoring forest area change and for establishing forest inventories (Herold 2009).
Countries have different possibilities in dealing with these data and capacity gaps when developing their
national forest inventories. While using default data does not result in the data (Tier 3) needed for participat-
Nicolas Kreibich, Christof Arens and Wolfgang Sterk
Wuppertal Institute