Forest Finance and Trade
Overview
Forests are central to climate action, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. Yet, forest finance remains significantly underfunded and fragmented. And despite their strong interconnection and proximity to forests, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have limited access to international public finance flows for forests. Only US$ 362 million of international public finance flows to forests was directed to Indigenous Peoples and local community-related projects in 2023. Direct access to finance was even more limited. This situation is often worse for women and youth from indigenous and rural communities. While their roles and knowledge are pivotal in forest conservation, they face disproportionate impacts from forest degradation and structural barriers to land tenure, participation, and access to forest finance.
This side event brings together key stakeholders to explore the current landscape and future pathways for forest finance, with a focus on unlocking results-based payments, enhancing private sector engagement, and supporting Indigenous-led bioeconomy solutions, including by women and youth.
Objectives
- Present and discuss the findings of two global reports on the state and pathways to scale forest finance
- Distill lessons from REDD+ RBPS and PES as enablers of socially inclusive and gender-responsive forest finance
- Explore partnerships between private sector and Indigenous led forests and bioeconomy solutions
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Time |
Sessions |
Description |
|
10:00 – 10:40 |
Session 1: Status and Pathways Forward for Forest Finance |
Discussions on how to triple forest investments, reform sovereign finance systems, and align private capital with integrity and equity. Indigenous perspectives emphasize |
|
10:45 – 11:20 |
Session 2: Lessons and Future of REDD+ Results-Based Payments (RBPs) |
Discussion on how RBPs can anchor broader forest finance strategies and attract private investment. |
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11:25 – 12:00 |
Session 3: Linking Private-Sector Finance to Indigenous-Led Forest and Bioeconomy Solutions |
Discussion on connecting private and blended finance to Indigenous-led forest enterprises and bioeconomy ventures. |
Speakers
- Mr. Felipe Guntin, Senior Advisor on Forests and Climate, UNEP/UN-REDD
- Ms. Jillian Gladstone, Climate Focus
- Mr. Bob Kazungu, Assistant Commissioner Forestry Assessment & Monitoring National REDD+ Focal Point for Uganda
- Mr. Tony Lent, Co-Founder, Capital for Climate
- Ms. Jennifer Lasiumbang, Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund
- Mr. Dirk Nemitz, REDD+ Manager, UNFCCC
- Prof. Haruni Krisnawati , Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Indonesia
- Gilmar Navarrete ,Costa Rica
- Andre Lima , Ministry of Environment, Brazil
- Christina Coc, Maya Leaders Alliance
- Nina Kantcheva, UNDP
- Rukka Sombolinggi , AMAN, Indonesia
- Kawtar Zerouali, UNCDF