This event discussed the role of women in successful implementation of REDD+ initiatives. Noting that gender has been overlooked in global climate policymaking, Audun Rosland, Norway, stressed that gender aspects must not be forgotten in the design of REDD+.

Carole Saint-Laurent, IUCN, said, despite the significant expansion in REDD+ initiatives, there are major gaps in how policy is unfolding, particularly with respect to women’s issues. She stated that immediate and long-term benefits can be achieved by involving women in strategy, decision-making, the distribution of benefits, and capacity building. Raja Jarrah, CARE International, emphasized that gender mainstreaming is “just good development,” and that attaching gender mainstreaming to REDD+ provides a good entry point to re-emphasize gender issues.

Manohara Khadka, Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (HIMWANTI) discussed gender equality and community access to forest resources and benefits in Nepal. She emphasized that a persistent challenge is elevating women from their traditional roles in using and managing forest resources to having a voice in policy and decision-making.

Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Asian Indigenous Women’s Network, said traditional knowledge of indigenous people must be protected and integrated into REDD+ policymaking. She highlighted the important role of indigenous women in forest management. Jeannette Gurung, WOCAN, underscored the problem of women’s exclusion from global forest policy, saying that many existing REDD+ funding mechanisms have not formally recognized women as stakeholders.

Lorena Aguilar, IUCN, announced the launch of the Global Initiative on Women and REDD+. She said the Initiative aims to ensure that REDD+ efforts are more responsive to women and poverty alleviation at global and national levels. She said the Initiative will mainstream gender into global REDD+ policy and work with national ministries.

Panelists discussed various issues related to integrating gender issues into REDD+ policymaking.

This event discussed the evolution of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and how reform efforts could help increase low-income countries’ access to the CDM.

Sarah Love, UK, introduced the event, saying that reform is important for efficiency, environmental integrity, and equal access to the CDM. She pointed out that CDM reform was discussed under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

Pedro Martins Barata, CDM Executive Board, said CDM reform is important to improve issues related to accreditation, project registration, certified emission reductions (CERs) and validation. He stressed the need to address concerns related to additionality and offsetting. He noted that the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 14) negotiations left the CDM Executive Board with “incomplete guidance” on reform, which delayed the Executive Board’s activities. He concluded by summarizing the Executive Board’s recent efforts to, inter alia: improve transparency; develop new standards for accreditation; set new registration procedures; focus on top-down methodologies; and enhance stakeholder engagement. He emphasized that in order for the CDM to meet the two degree Celsius target, significant up-scaling is necessary on additionality and baseline calculations.

Steven Gray, Carbon Markets and Investors Association, discussed the industry perspective on standardized approaches. He said standardized baselines will make the CDM more widespread and effective in the short term, and will enable it to be scaled-up in the future. He stressed the importance of defining baselines, and he differentiated between baselines, benchmarks and emission factors. He said a baseline should include: a qualified description of the baseline; conservatively quantified baseline emissions; and a positive list of technologies or activities that are additional. He described that a number of sectors are suitable for standardization, including: household biomass; off-grid renewable energy; biodiesel; industry switching fossil fuel to biomass; and methane capture. He cited China’s use of standardization baselines as a reason for its successful CDM activities, but said that acquisition of emission factor data can be a barrier to standardization in some countries.

Stefan Wehner, Perspectives GmbH, underscored existing problems with the CDM including uneven geographic and sectoral distribution of projects, and untapped mitigation potential in the building and transportation sectors. He highlighted ways to standardize approaches, including by extending the use of default factors and including a positive list for additionality. He introduced a new pilot project entitled “Piloting Greater Use of Standardized Approaches in the CDM,” which will aim to develop practical examples of performance standards and default factors that could be applied to the CDM. He emphasized the need to develop these approaches in a way that is suited to national circumstances in the implementing country.

Panelists discussed, inter alia: limitations of and finance for small-scale projects; the potential use of international monetary standards; whether the CDM is “fit for the future”; and China’s future involvement in the CDM.