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The pulp and paper, timber, and rubber companies in the Lower Mekong Region face a pervasive risk of involvement in deforestation, human rights violations, and other unsustainable practices in their operations and supply chains. To mitigate this risk, companies and the financial sector must be aware of the harm associated with financing activities that negatively impact natural capital and recognize the benefits of preventing such destruction. In August, the UN-REDD programme published a research paper mapping the main companies in these sectors, and their financiers, assessing their policies for mitigating deforestation risks, evaluating the effectiveness of the region's financial sector policy environment, and providing recommendations for collaborating with the financial sector and regulators to protect natural capital while promoting economic development.

In Viet Nam, the policies, laws and regulations related to tenure of land and forests are not consistent across the country and vary considerably between provinces. Furthermore, the process of FA/FLA has not been applied consistently across all provinces in the country. Forest cover and land management contexts differ significantly across provinces as well. The study in six provinces found that the area of forestland that has been allocated to households and communities is considerably smaller than that allocated to State entities. Allocation of forestland to households and communities has been more widespread in Lao Cai, Bac Kan and Ha Tinh provinces (Northern and North Central regions), while less extensive in Lam Dong, Binh Thuan and Ca Mau provinces (Central Highlands, South Coastal, and Mekong regions).

This analysis presents the business case for sustainable Robusta coffee cultivation in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. In recent years, intercropping models involving coffee interspersed with shade or fruit trees have demonstrated their potential to generate multiple benefits to smallholders and the environment. This analysis focuses on the economic benefits of transitioning from an intensive coffee cultivation model to three different intercropping models: avocado, durian and cassia siamea and pepper, and makes recommendations concerning the transition pathway that will be most accessible to smallholders.

This is part of a series of info briefs produced in 2019 on the main lessons learned from Viet Nam's National REDD+ Programme. REDD+ has the potential to deliver social and environmental benefits that go beyond mitigating climate change, but REDD+ actions could also entail some potential risks.In order to minimize these risks, and at the same time enhance the potential benefits, seven safeguards, known as the “Cancun safeguards” (See Box 1) are in place that must be addressed and respected throughout the implementation of REDD+ actions. At the end of 2018, the Government of Viet Nam completed two key United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requirements relating to safeguards: it submitted its first summary of information on safeguards, outlining how the country will address and respect the safeguards throughout REDD+ implementation, and also released an online safeguards information systems (SIS). Viet Nam became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to complete the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ after fulfilling these safeguards requirements, which now make the country eligible to receive REDD+ results-based payments.