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The 2020 NYDF progress assessment finds that deforestation rates have increased since 2014, contrary to the goal of halving them. The report highlights significant risks from accelerating infrastructure development and extractive industries in tropical forests, noting a lack of transparency and accountability among governments, corporations, and financial institutions. While some grassroots movements and community-led management models show promise, systemic barriers—including political instability, power imbalances, and insufficient funding for REDD+ and poverty alleviation—hinder progress toward sustainable development and forest conservation.

The 2020 NYDF progress assessment finds that natural forest loss has increased since 2014, with infrastructure and extractive industries posing growing threats. While some governments and companies have adopted sustainability policies, implementation is slow, transparency is limited, and environmental protections are being reversed in some regions. The report highlights a significant power imbalance that marginalizes indigenous peoples and local communities, and notes that financial flows for poverty reduction and deforestation prevention remain minimal compared to non-forest-aligned investments.

The 2020 NYDF assessment finds that natural forest loss has increased since 2014, failing the goal to halve the rate by 2020. The report highlights growing threats from large-scale infrastructure and extractive industries, noting a significant lack of transparency among companies and governments. While some progress has been made in designating protected areas and developing national forest strategies, implementation remains slow, and environmental protections are often weakened. The document emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in valuing forests and the adoption of four specific strategies to align macroeconomic planning and project implementation with forest conservation and sustainable development.

The report finds that international and domestic public finance for forests is significantly lower than the sector's climate mitigation potential. It highlights a gap where 'grey' finance for agriculture far outweighs 'green' finance for forest protection. Additionally, the document notes that most major financial institutions lack deforestation policies, and private investment in sustainable commodity production remains difficult to quantify and insufficient in scale.

The report finds that progress toward reducing deforestation from infrastructure, extractive industries, and basic-needs activities is slow. While some governments and companies have adopted policies and commitments, implementation is often weak, transparency is limited, and large-scale development projects continue to threaten intact forests. The report emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift toward alternative development pathways and the empowerment of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

The GCF's interim ESS and ESMS are deemed 'not fit for purpose' as they rely on IFC standards that focus on risk mitigation ('do no harm') rather than the GCF's mandate to generate positive climate and social value ('do good'). The evaluation identifies critical gaps in human rights, gender equity, and stakeholder engagement. Operationally, the accreditation process is criticized as a 'desk review exercise' that fails to verify actual implementation capacity, particularly for direct access entities (DAEs). Monitoring is severely limited, relying on AE self-reporting via annual performance reports (APRs) without an operationalized monitoring and accountability framework (MAF). Additionally, the REDD+ pilot programme is found to be inconsistent with the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ due to additional safeguard requirements and a binary 'pass/fail' assessment approach.

The Gender Action Plan for the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project establishes a framework to address gender gaps in forest resource management and the shea industry. It mandates the hiring of a Gender and Safeguards Officer and sets quantitative targets for women's participation in decision-making bodies, training, and employment. Key objectives include ensuring women's rights in Modified Taungya System (MTS) contracts, increasing women's access to shea processing technologies, and integrating gender perspectives into Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA). The plan allocates a total gender-responsive budget of 13,273,339 USD across various activities, including shea parkland restoration and value chain strengthening.

The GAMS project seeks a USD 9.975 million grant from the Green Climate Fund to restore 276,000 hectares of land in North, South, and West Kordofan, Sudan. The initiative focuses on scaling up gum Arabic production through the capacity building of 500 producer associations (GAPAs), linking them to private sector financing and formal markets to incentivize the sequestration of 9.23 million tonnes of CO2e over 20 years. Additionally, the project will rehabilitate 400 km of livestock corridors and 151,000 hectares of rangelands to improve pastoralist mobility and reduce conflict between farmers and herders.

The report analyzes gender inequalities in Indonesia across education, health, politics, and labor, specifically examining how these dynamics affect forest management and REDD+ initiatives. It finds that while legal frameworks for gender equality exist, women remain underrepresented in forest-related decision-making and face barriers to land and financial resources. The document recommends implementing a Gender Action Plan, hiring gender consultants, and ensuring the collection of sex-disaggregated data to improve the inclusivity of REDD+ implementation.

The report assesses gender inequalities in Colombia, specifically within the Amazon biome, to inform a Gender Action Plan for a REDD+ project implemented by FAO and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. It identifies significant gaps in land ownership, labor market participation, and decision-making power for rural and indigenous women. The document outlines a strategy to mainstream gender by promoting women's leadership in forest management, recognizing ancestral knowledge in food security and biodiversity, and implementing differential quotas for participation.

The report argues that the Amazon is approaching a systemic tipping point of ecological and economic collapse due to a 'deforestation economy' that benefits a small elite. It proposes a shift toward an inclusive green economy based on standing forests, utilizing a 'bioeconomy' model that supports micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and indigenous knowledge. To facilitate this, the Fundação Amazonas Sustentável (FAS) and the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) have launched the Amazon Green Economy Hub in Manaus to coordinate policy reform, investment, and sustainable value chains.

The project aims to restore 471,500 hectares of land in Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone to achieve 6.139 million tCO2e in emission reductions over seven years and 25.24 million tCO2e over 20 years. Key interventions include restoring 200,000 hectares of savannah forests under community management (CREMA), restoring 100,000 hectares of shea parklands through public-private partnerships, and establishing 18,500 hectares of Modified Taungya System (MTS) plantations in forest reserves. The project specifically targets the empowerment of 20,000 women collectors by increasing their incomes by 30-50% through improved shea value chain efficiencies. Total financing is 54,546,775 USD, with 30,100,000 USD requested as a grant from the Green Climate Fund.

The Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP) is a medium-sized initiative requesting USD 30.1 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to restore degraded landscapes in Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone (NSZ). The project focuses on four main outputs: restoring 200,000 hectares of off-reserve savannah forests under community management (CREMAs), restoring 100,000 hectares of shea parklands through public-private partnerships, establishing 25,500 hectares of Modified Taungya System (MTS) plantations in forest reserves, and strengthening national REDD+ monitoring and safeguard systems. It targets a total emission reduction of 25.24 million tCO2e over 20 years and aims to benefit 100,200 direct beneficiaries, with a strong emphasis on empowering 20,000 women shea collectors through value chain improvements and cooperative formation.

Natural Justice submitted a series of recommendations to the Kenyan government regarding the Draft Forest Policy 2020. The organization argues that the draft unfairly portrays local communities as the primary drivers of forest degradation while ignoring the impact of multinational corporations and government infrastructure projects. They propose integrating a human-rights based approach, recognizing indigenous land tenure and traditional governance, and ensuring that conservation funding reaches the community level. Additionally, they call for greater transparency in the policy's formulation and the inclusion of independent monitoring to address conflicts of interest within the Kenya Forest Service.

The proposal aims to strengthen Bhutan's capacity for REDD+ and climate change initiatives by improving coordination between the Gross National Happiness Commission, the National Environment Commission, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. Key objectives include developing a GCF REDD+ investment plan to increase private sector engagement, refining the Forest Reference Emission Level through new biomass equations and Permanent Sample Plots, and mainstreaming agroforestry. Additionally, the project focuses on strengthening forest fire management through risk assessments and hazard mapping, and piloting watershed development in three sites to recharge groundwater and revive drying water sources.

The document distinguishes between cap-and-trade systems and offsetting mechanisms, arguing that the latter are often a zero-sum game incompatible with net-zero goals. It critiques the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for lack of additionality and local safeguards, and warns that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement risks repeating these failures through 'hot air' trading and double counting. The guide also assesses the limitations of the CORSIA aviation scheme and the voluntary carbon market, ultimately advocating for a shift from offsetting toward direct climate finance for the zero-carbon transition.

The document distinguishes between cap-and-trade systems (ETS) and offsetting mechanisms, arguing that the latter often fail to provide real climate benefits. It critiques the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for lack of additionality and local safeguards, and warns that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement must avoid 'hot air' and double counting. It also examines the limitations of CORSIA for aviation and the integrity issues surrounding REDD+ and voluntary markets, ultimately advocating for a shift from offsetting toward direct climate action financing.

The document explains the fundamental differences between emissions trading systems and offsetting mechanisms, evaluates the failures of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation, and details the challenges facing the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It specifically addresses risks such as 'hot air' trading, double counting, and the lack of environmental integrity in forest-based offsets (REDD+), while also examining the CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme and the voluntary carbon market.

The document explains the difference between cap-and-trade systems and offsetting mechanisms, detailing the failures of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the risks associated with the Paris Agreement's Article 6. It highlights issues such as 'hot air' credits, double counting, and the lack of local safeguards. It also assesses the CORSIA aviation scheme and the voluntary carbon market, arguing that the global community must move beyond offsetting toward direct climate finance to achieve net-zero emissions.

The report argues that community forest management (MCB) cannot fully develop without the guarantee of specific internal and external rights. It identifies threats to these rights—such as the 'financiarización de la Naturaleza' and industrial extractivism—and details a framework of essential rights, including self-determination, collective land tenure, and the right to free, prior, and informed consent (CPLIP). The document emphasizes that these rights are intrinsic to the peoples and should be protected by states as a fiduciary duty, prioritizing collective rights over individual ones to ensure the survival of cultures and the health of ecosystems.