FEATURE: PRIVATE SECTOR EMERGES AS KEY POTENTIAL FUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 17 Apr 2013 18:00:01 -0400
Subject: FEATURE: PRIVATE SECTOR EMERGES AS KEY POTENTIAL FUNDER OF
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

FEATURE: PRIVATE SECTOR EMERGES AS KEY POTENTIAL FUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE
FOREST MANAGEMENT
New York, Apr 17 2013 6:00PM
As countries around the world struggle to find the necessary funds to
sustainably manage their forests, the private sector is emerging as a
key source of financing that, if tapped properly, could result in
benefits for the environment along with profits for businesses.

"The private sector is among the new, emerging and innovative sources
of forest financing," Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs Hu Wongbo said during the tenth session of the United Nations
Forum on Forests (UNFF10). "Private sector financing has the potential
to play a major role in the implementation of sustainable forest
management."

The Forum's two-week session in Istanbul is expected to conclude this
Friday with a number of key decisions, including on financing. An
estimated $70 to $160 billion in global funding will be needed for
sustainable forest management, or SFM, according to a 2012 study cited
by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his report to the Forum.

"Most countries are unable to raise adequate public funds for the
forest sector, and reinvestment of revenues in forest management has
been minimal," Mr. Ban says, adding that the private sector, including
forest communities, smallholders, industry and other investors, is a
key source of financing.

While funding continues to be sought from traditional sources such as
government budgets at the national level, and official development
assistance, or ODA, at the international level, Mr. Wu noted that
decision-makers are increasingly aware of the "changing landscape" of
forest financing.

"Large companies are, undoubtedly, one of the least tapped sources of
forest investment and financing. Yet they are also among our most
important partners in the implementation of sustainable forest
management."

Experience on the ground has shown that there are win-win
opportunities for all in sustainable forest management – for private
companies, for local communities and for the environment, he stated,
citing his own country, China, where businesses, farmers and local
governments work together to fight soil erosion, land degradation and
to promote reforestation.

"In many cases, companies have been able to secure returns on their
investments in resource conservation; local farmers have continuously
improved their sustainable livelihoods; and local economies have
flourished," he said.

The private sector can help in many ways, including through
large-scale investments using direct financing or carbon credits;
through public-private partnerships aimed at reliable provision of
health, education and transportation for remote, forest-dwelling
communities; or through government-regulated sustainable practices for
forest management on timber concessions or private lands.

"However, we must also take a hard look at the impediments that
discourage private investment in many countries," Mr. Wu added. "To
attract them to invest, we must all work side by side. It is the only
way forward."

Tuukka Castrén, Senior Forestry Specialist at the World Bank, agreed
that the money needs to come from different sources. "ODA will play a
role, and often it can play a catalytic role.

"But for genuine scaling up, we need to engage the private sector," he
said, adding that businesses, which have a legitimate interest in
making money, can make a profit through sustainable forest management.

The World Bank Group provided close to $490 million in financing for
forests in fiscal year 2012. Forest resources are crucial to the
Bank's mission of eradicating poverty because of their contribution to
the livelihoods of the poor, the potential they offer for sustainable
economic development, and the essential environmental services they
provide.

While the Bank does not have data on the growing interest by the
private sector in investing in sustainable forest management, "we have
the feeling that the wind is blowing in that direction," said Mr.
Castrén.

He added that the largest investor group in sustainable forest
management is the millions and millions of smallholder farmers who
plant two or three trees on their farms to provide shade, fuel wood
and provide watershed management functions.

"They are also investors and play a fundamental role in the whole
system, even though we are not able to capture their contributions in
our statistics."

Another key source of financing for sustainable forest management is
the UN-backed Global Environment Facility (GEF), which announced
during the Forum that its financial support for forest management
programmes recently hit the $500 million mark.

Ian Gray, Senior Forest Specialist at the GEF, noted that there are so
many different demands in sustainable forest management that it is
necessary to have a broader approach to financing.

"I think we've been hearing this week from many of the delegates that
SFM is such a broad topic that you actually need a suite of funding
processes and mechanisms. Some of those will be from national funds.
But there is also a need and a call for the private sector to be able
to contribute to that."

In attracting the private sector, Mr. Gray stressed the need to ensure
that the environment in recipient countries is conducive to investment
and that sound policies are in place to ensure that sustainable forest
management can fulfil its objectives.

The GEF is supporting projects such as one in Burundi that uses a
certification process for coffee to help coffee growers move from
open-grown coffee to more shade-grown production methods that would
allow for reforestation. "By using the power of the market, we're able
to incentivize growers in that region to adopt sustainable practices
for forests but also for growing coffee," said Mr. Gray.

"The ideas are derived from the countries themselves," he added. "Our
key role is to try and make that process of accessing the funding that
the GEF has as simple as possible."

There is a growing interest from private sector investors, as well as
from other public sectors given the multiple benefits and services
provided by forests, said Tim Christophersen, Senior Programme Officer
with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"We see increasing interest from public sectors such as transport,
water, energy to invest in forests as the green infrastructure that
they need for their objectives," he stated.

Among the ways UNEP seeks to make the case for investment in forests
is through the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), which seeks to create
financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives
for developing countries to reduce emissions and invest in low-carbon
technologies to sustainable development.

"A lot more money is needed. There is no doubt about that," said Mr.
Christophersen, adding that large-scale investments by the private
sector have not happened due to factors such as high transaction costs
and associated risks.

"We are helping the private sector to work through those challenges to
be able to invest more into sustainable, productive, resilient
landscapes that can take up more carbon, produce more food, have more
biodiversity, and produce more jobs and livelihoods."

Working with the private sector will be crucial, he stressed, given
the billions of dollars that will be needed to sustainably manage the
world's forests.

"That kind of money is not going to come from ODA," he stated.
Apr 17 2013 6:00PM
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