The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is helping REDD+ gain a stronger foothold in Africa by joining the first initiative to promote a regional approach to using payments to keep forests standing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
GCF staff joined more than 60 REDD+ experts and country representatives from 22 African countries at a workshop in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on 13 to 15 August to explore challenges and opportunities in boosting African REDD+ action at local, national and regional levels.
Nassere Kaba, deputy chief of cabinet with Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, told the workshop, jointly organised by GCF, that “REDD+ presents a pragmatic solution to fight climate change.”
A recently published GCF policy paper finds considerable interest in REDD+ among African nations, with 16 percent of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Africa specifically addressing REDD+. GCF aims to increase its support of these efforts in close coordination with GCF Accredited Entities and other sources of finance supporting forest conservation and restoration in Africa.