Project promotes workshops aimed at adapting Amazonas to the carbon market

Manaus (AM) – The Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS) held, between the 26th and 28th of September, a workshop for technicians from the Government of the State of Amazonas to promote an in-depth understanding of socio-environmental safeguards in Amazonas, essential for the construction of the state policy for REDD+.

The REDD+ mechanism (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) was developed within the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to financially reward developing countries for their results related to the recovery and conservation of their forests.

Safeguards are part of the system that aims to ensure that REDD+ projects do not cause negative effects on local communities, indigenous peoples and traditional populations.

“This advisory project to the state government aims to encourage the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation, respecting socio-environmental safeguards so that the benefits of these projects actually reach local populations”,

comments the coordinator of Public Policies and International Cooperation at FAS, Giovana Figueiredo.

To this end, explains the expert, the identification of evidence, policies and mechanisms that the State of Amazonas already has to guarantee safeguards was carried out, in addition to identifying gaps.

“As a result of the workshop, a report will be generated that will also undergo consultations in other spheres so that it is possible to access more climate financing for the state of Amazonas”,

complements.

Milena Terra, climate finance specialist at UNDP, reports that the mechanisms that guarantee the functioning of the safeguards addressed by the workshop vary.

“It is necessary to align policies, the existence of collegiate bodies and the participation of traditional and indigenous populations. And Amazonas is one of the states that has advanced in this”,

he said.

The forestry engineer and head of the Environmental Management and Territorial Planning department of the Amazonas State Secretariat for the Environment (Sema/AM), Alex-Sandra Almeida, informed the workshop that the recently published State Plan for Preventing and Combating Deforestation and Queimadas (PPCDQ/AM) foresees a target of 10% reduction in deforestation in the state for the next three years.

“Through the project [Destravando e Alavancando o Desenvolvimento de Baixas Emissões], we look for mechanisms to increase strategies to achieve this”, he said. She informs that the State works with the jurisdictional REDD+ that seeks to implement proposals to work in the State’s conservation units with respect for local populations. “That’s why this workshop is so important. The safeguards aim to respect the opinions of communities,” she comments.

The workshop served as a leveling-up of technical teams directly involved in the process of building state REDD+ policy and state eligibility for the ART-TREES Standard, a global voluntary high-quality carbon program created to register, verify and issue carbon reduction credits. REDD+ emissions.

The standard enables access to the LEAF coalition, an international investment fund that aims to boost negotiations on carbon credits with high added value.

As part of the workshop, the legislation in force in the state that meets the socio-environmental safeguards of REDD+ was mapped for qualification in the mentioned standard.

The program, which included experts from FAS, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), specialized consultants from Rotta and Moro Assessoria Jurídica and technical consultant Carolina Ramirez, integrates a series of project trainings with the objective increase technical capabilities in the states of the Legal Amazon to enable access to climate financing.

At the end of 2020, the states of Amapá, Maranhão and Tocantins were the first to register their concept notes in TREES, the so-called ‘TREES Concept Notes’based on its performance in reducing emissions since 2016.

About Janela B

The project ‘Unlocking and Leveraging the Development of Low Emissions’, known as Janela B, is implemented by the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS) in conjunction with a network of non-governmental organizations supporting state governments and aims to contribute to the development , implementation and adaptation of subnational and national plans to combat deforestation, fires and forest degradation, through the qualification of Legal Amazon states for the ART/TREES Standard, a voluntary global high-quality carbon program created to record, verify and issuing REDD+ emission reduction credits in countries and, consequently, enabling access to the LEAF coalition, an international investment fund that aims to boost negotiations of carbon credits with high added value.

About FAS

The Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS) is a non-profit civil society organization that works for the sustainable development of the Amazon through programs and projects in the areas of education and citizenship, health, empowerment, research and innovation, environmental conservation, community infrastructure, entrepreneurship and income generation.

FAS’s mission is to contribute to the conservation of the biome by valuing the standing forest and its biodiversity and improving the quality of life of the populations of the Amazon. In 2023, the institution completes 15 years of operation with outstanding numbers, such as the 202% increase in the average income of thousands of benefited families and the 40% drop in deforestation in areas served between 2008 and 2021.

*With information from consultancy

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