The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire

The report finds that public finance for REDD+ objectives in Côte d’Ivoire is severely insufficient, with 2015 investments of FCFA 16.8 billion representing a small fraction of the estimated FCFA 173 billion annual need for the 2030 forest cover target. A significant amount of public funding (FCFA 84.2 billion) is classified as 'grey finance'—agricultural intensification that lacks safeguards and may drive deforestation. The analysis highlights critical gaps in national planning, underfunding of land-use planning and land tenure, and institutional weaknesses in agencies like SODEFOR. It argues that 'greening' existing agricultural finance and creating a National REDD+ Fund could significantly increase aligned investment.

• Public investment in REDD+ objectives in 2015 was FCFA 16.8 billion (USD 28.1 million), which is far below the estimated annual minimum of FCFA 173 billion (USD 289 million) required to achieve the country's 20% forest cover objective by 2030.
• A substantial volume of public finance is categorized as 'grey finance'—investments in agricultural intensification that do not account for deforestation risks. In 2015, this amounted to at least FCFA 84.2 billion (USD 140.7 million), with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development spending 85% of its investment budget (FCFA 70.5 billion) on such activities.
• International development partners' finance is largely unaligned with REDD+ goals; in 2015, only 13% (FCFA 10.5 billion) was aligned, while 87% (FCFA 80 billion) may have contributed to forest degradation.
• Critical enabling environments for sustainable land use are severely underfunded. In 2015, the Treasury spent only FCFA 447 million (USD 0.7 million) on sustainable land use planning, and FCFA 3.3 billion (USD 5.5 million) was spent on securing land tenure.
• Institutional barriers hinder progress, specifically the lack of financial resources and governance at SODEFOR, unclear responsibilities for domestic energy between three different ministries, and insufficient funding for tackling illegal mining (FCFA 96.6 million spent in 2015).
• There are opportunities to increase REDD+ aligned finance by over five times to FCFA 101 billion (USD 169 million) by 'greening' existing agricultural finance and implementing new fiscal measures, such as taxing deforestation-driving activities or establishing a National REDD+ Fund.

APA

Falconer, A., Dontenville, A., Parker, C., Daubrey, M., & Gnaore, L. (2016). The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Landscape-of-REDD-Aligned-Finance-in-Côte-d’Ivoire-Executive-Summary.pdf

Chicago

Falconer, Angela, Adeline Dontenville, Charlie Parker, Marc Daubrey, and Lewis Gnaore. The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Landscape-of-REDD-Aligned-Finance-in-Côte-d’Ivoire-Executive-Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Falconer |first1=Angela |last2=Dontenville |first2=Adeline |last3=Parker |first3=Charlie |last4=Daubrey |first4=Marc |last5=Gnaore |first5=Lewis |title=The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=3 November 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Landscape-of-REDD-Aligned-Finance-in-Côte-d’Ivoire-Executive-Summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{falconer2016landscape, author = {Falconer, Angela and Dontenville, Adeline and Parker, Charlie and Daubrey, Marc and Gnaore, Lewis}, title = {{The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Landscape-of-REDD-Aligned-Finance-in-Côte-d’Ivoire-Executive-Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }