Presentation by Melaku Bekele on April 5, 2019 at Workshop in Ethiopia ("Forests and climate change: research results and implications for REDD+ and forest governance in Ethiopia")

1. The Context of REDD+ in
Ethiopia (2015)
Bekele, M.; Tesfaye, Y.; Mohammed,
Z.; Zewdie, S.; Tebikew, Y.; Brockhaus,
M.; Kassa, H. 2015.
The REDD+ Context: in Ethiopia,
Drivers, agents and institutions. CIFOR
Occasional Paper no. 127, CIFOR,
Bogor, Indonesia. ISBN: 978-602-387-
003-5 DOI: 10.17528/cifor/005654
https://www.cifor.org/library/5654/

2. Study Background

3. GCS: Country profile (2013-2015)
Global Comparative Study (GCS) of the REDD+ policy
was about:
- Agents and factors of D&D in Ethiopia
- Forest governance, rights, etc..
- Political-economy of D&D
- Policy context/environment, and,
- Implication of all the above on the
3Es effectiveness, efficiency and equity
of REDD+ in fulfilling the global and national
requirements
 The assessment used common methods in 15
countries
 Three countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam)
done more than one update

4. The Context of REDD+ in Ethiopia
Country Profile Update
(2015-2018)
Presented: Forests and climate change: Research results
and implications for REDD+ and forest governance in
Ethiopia. Nexus Hotel, Addis Ababa, 5 April 2019Nexus

5. Presentation objective: Look at the changes
that took place b/n 2015 and 2018 in areas of:
• Forest conditions (REDD+ MRV)
• Governance,
• Political economy of deforestation and forest
degradation (D&D)
• REDD+ policy events
• Reflection on 3Es in REDD+: Effectiveness,
Efficiency, Equity
• REDD+ success: What is needed?

6. Methods
 Focus period: 2015 – 2018
 Document review (from
2015)
 Discussion groups with
informed facilitators
 Participants filled pre-
prepared indicators
independently and groups
produced one consensus
 Each group was also asked to
respond to:
• REDD+ performance in light
of the 3Es, and,
• Limitations in REDD+
performance
2018 Country Profile Update

7. Findings

8. Indicator 2013-2015 2015-2018
Forest area estimate 13.4 million
Ha
17.7 million ha
Most relevant sector driving
deforestation and degradation?
Small scale agriculture
Indirect causes of deforestation
and degradation
Demographic
pressure
+ Conflicting
dev’t strategy
Forest sector contribution to GDP No data 5.2%
Assessment of carbon stock and
MRV capacity
Little Improved
I. Forest conditions

9. Indicator 2013-2015 2015-2018
Carbon emission from
deforestation
17.98 MtCO2e
based on Tier2 C.
accounting method
Predictions for business as usual
projects on CO2 emissions
Increase Increase
Total area affected by fires
(average 2000–2008)
Medium >0% Medium >0%
Forest conditions..

10. Indicator 2013-2015 2015-2018
Country accounting system
and the MRV capacity
improved as a result of
-MRV Directorate ets.
-Capacity training at WGCF-
-REDD+MRV Units at
regions
-- Forest inventory capacity
enhanced (FAO /WGCF-
NRs).
Forest conditions..

11. Indicators 2013-2015 2015-2018
International treaties: CBD, CITES, Ratified, partly implemented
Governance in the forest margins:
Monitoring of sustainable logging
No
Laws that specify rights of local
users to make own decisions in
forested areas
None 2018 forest
law, but
needs clear
regulation
Governance in land use planning
(LUP)
None road map for
national LUP
formulation
II. Institutional, environmental,
distributional aspect

12. Indicators 2013-2015 2015-2018
Law that delegates forest
management decisions to local
government
None PFM?
Laws/regulations delegating FM
decisions directly to local forest users
PFM? PFM, Private,
Association,
Community
Elite capture High
Indigenous* legal rights over forest None
Carbon rights None Recognized
II. Institutional, environmental,
distributional aspects
*The term “Indigenous” is confused with settlers under the
generic name of COMMUNITY

13. II. Institutional, cont. ….
Political decentralisation (2015-2018)
» Regional autonomy law?: (Yes)
» Applied in practice?: (Partly)
» Government elected (Yes) ???
Financial decentralization
» Regional States collect some taxes for their own use
an receive subsidy from Federal state
» Regions distribute and woreda allocate budget to tasks

14. III. Political-economy of D & D
Condition
 Revolutionary democracy is the Political orientation: it was
neither revolutionary nor democratic
PLUS
 “free market” which was not really free! is the economic
guiding principle
Outcome
 Growth policy damaging to forests &wildlife resources
 Ignored community/individual rights (state & private
projects)
 Huge corruption in the name of growth
 Incompatible with REDD+ Safeguards (national & global)
 Impact of the Current political opening???

15. IV.REDD+ Policy events (2015-2018)
Policy Event Month/Yr
New Forest Definition communicated to the UNFCCC Jan’16
REDD+ coordinating units established in four regional states 2016
Final FREL is released following the UNFCCC technical team
approval
Mar’17
MRV directorate established in CEFCC Jun’17
The REDD+ Ethiopia R-Package formally endorsed by the Forest
Carbon Partnership Facility Participants Committee (FCPF) in Laos
PDR
Sep’17
New forest law issued with improvement in areas of community,
private participation; carbon rights
Jan’18
National Forest Inventory findings released in a dissemination
workshop
Mar’18

16. REDD+ Policy events …
 REDD+ Strategy prepared in consultation with
REDD+ actors
 Four safeguard instruments developed to reduce
potential environmental and social risks and enhance
benefits
• Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment
(SESA)
• Environmental and Social Management Framework
(ESMF),
• Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) and
• Process Framework (PF)

17. Effectiveness, Efficiency, Equity
(from group discussion)
REDD+ assessed how the 3Es stand in light of
 REDD+MRV activities
 Institutional issues
 Coordination and commitment
 Benefit sharing
Result
 Org. and technical limitations for effective of REDD+
MRV
 Institutional gaps (unsustainable policies and legal gaps)
 Poor coordination and political commitment (failure in
the realization of existing laws like EIA
 Benefit sharing: mechanism (decision) pending!

18. Conclusion
 The REDD+ has made progress in establishing itself at
national and 4 regional states
 The REDD+ has made good progress in putting in
place the REDD+ Safeguard frameworks
 REDD+ is serving as a link b/n national & global
partners in forestry
 The coming of REDD+ brought about the creation of
CEFCC after 20 years of org. vacuum at federal level
 REDD+ has improved

19. What is needed for REDD+ success?
 No forested land for agriculture
 Extend forestry structure &
develop F. extension package
 Recognize and legalize customary
rights over forests
 Scale-up autonomous PFM, with
better economic incentives
 Tax & other incentive to forest
developers,; certification (as in
2018 forest law)
 Act immediately on charcoal and
gum-resin production & marketing
 keep forest records
 Land use policy and plan
 Value addition of forest products
 Fight corruption
 Improve cross sectoral coordination
 Create charcoal & gum and resin
regulatory agency
 Enhance participation of civil
society
(Most of the above can be
done with some political will
& input)
Transformational change entails broader policy reform
in & outside the forest sector

20. Thank You
Thank you