Norway commits USD 50 million to forest carbon fund

Today, Norwegian Minister of the Environment and Development Cooperation, Mr. Erik Solheim and the World Bank’s Special Envoy for Climate Change Mr. Andrew Steer signed an agreement worth USD 50 million with the newly launched Carbon Fund of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).

- With this contribution, we want to demonstrate that the persistent efforts by forest countries to reduce their emissions from deforestation will pay off. We need to start rewarding the best performers. That will lead the way for other countries, Mr. Solheim said.

The agreement was signed in conjunction with the meeting of the governing board of the FCPF taking place in Oslo this week.

- Norway's generous support to the pioneering FCPF Carbon Fund will help ensure forests are more valued alive than dead. It will help address climate change, help local people and benefit biodiversity, said Andrew Steer, World Bank Special Envoy for Climate Change.

During the meeting, Germany also announced support of 30 million additional dollars to the FCPF. The contribution from Norway brings the total capitalization of the Carbon Fund close to USD 200 million. Norway has already initiated results-based payments through partnerships with Brazil, Guyana and Indonesia. With the launch of the Carbon Fund, about five countries will access results-based payments through the fund.

- USD 200 million is only the beginning. We need to mobilize the private sector to scale up further - they should contribute with payments for reduced emissions. How this can be done will be piloted through the Carbon Fund. This will provide an invaluable learning experience for large-scale implementation under the emerging global REDD+ mechanism, Mr. Solheim said.

At the last UN Climate meeting in Cancun, forests were firmly established as key for addressing climate change. By partnering with some 37 forested developing countries, 14 donor countries, civil society groups, indigenous peoples, private sector and international organisations, the FCPF is helping turn this ambition into action on the ground.

- The FCPF Carbon Fund is the first multilateral initiative that will provide payments to forest countries that can show that they have reduced greenhouse emissions by not cutting or degrading their forests, Steer said. - Performance-based payments are the game changer in the global efforts to reduce tropical deforestation and forest degradation, he said.