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The document outlines a request for US 337,740 from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to prepare a full funding proposal for the 'Climate Resilient Sustainable Coastal Forestry in Bangladesh' project. The proposed project aims to establish a continuous coastal greenbelt by planting 20,000 hectares of mangroves and associated species across 37 upazilas in 9 coastal districts. The project seeks to sequester 79.16 million tonnes of CO2eq over a 30-year lifespan and benefit approximately 9.9 million people. Key components include forestry activities for mitigation and adaptation, integrated zone management planning, and knowledge sharing. To ensure sustainability, the project proposes diversifying livelihoods for 20,000 people to reduce dependency on forest resources. The total indicative project cost is USD 80 million, with USD 60 million requested as a GCF senior loan and USD 20 million in government co-financing.

The GCF Secretariat report for early 2019 details progress across six strategic goals. Key achievements include the launch of the first formal replenishment process, the development of a Theory of Change to drive paradigm shifts, and the expansion of the Readiness Programme. While the number of projects under implementation rose to 51 by 30 April 2019, the Secretariat noted bottlenecks in signing agreements due to the immediate effectiveness of new Board policies. The report also highlights the operationalization of a 'community of practice' with 28 expert organizations and the refinement of second-level due diligence processes.

The document evaluates forest governance in nine tropical countries, noting improvements in legal frameworks and multi-stakeholder engagement driven by Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) and REDD+. However, it highlights critical failures in cross-sectoral policy coherence, the rule of law, and the implementation of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). While transparency has increased through digital tools, accountability remains limited by corruption and insufficient resources for law enforcement.

The briefing argues that empowering forest-linked communities is essential for forest protection and is most effectively achieved through tiered organizational structures that aggregate strength-in-numbers. While some progress has been made in recognizing indigenous and local community rights, overall empowerment in rural areas remains constrained by land fragmentation, gender inequality, and insufficient access to finance. The document highlights successful innovations in business development and policy advocacy from the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) and warns that while digital technologies offer new market opportunities, they may also facilitate commercial land acquisition that threatens community assets.

The report assesses gender inequalities in Brazil, specifically within the context of forest conservation and REDD+ implementation. It identifies significant gaps in women's political representation, land ownership, and decision-making power in forest management, despite advances in education and health. The document recommends a gender-responsive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), the establishment of quotas for the Floresta+ Pilot Program, and the hiring of a gender specialist to ensure equitable benefit-sharing and participation in climate funding activities.

The report explores the use of impact tokens—blockchain-based digital representations of social and environmental impacts—to overcome five primary barriers in the impact investing industry: lack of appropriate capital, market segmentation, limited exit options, unsophisticated measurement practices, and a shortage of high-quality opportunities. Through ten case studies across sectors like agriculture, energy, and forestry, the document demonstrates how these tokens can increase trust, promote financial inclusion, accelerate monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) processes, and incentivize sustainable behaviors.

The authors examine the 'financialization of nature,' arguing that securitizing ecosystem services creates incentives to maximize a narrow set of commodifiable outputs at the expense of overall ecosystem health. They contend that the fungibility required for financial markets ignores the complex, location-specific nature of ecosystems. While they identify limited exceptions—such as tradable permits for widely-dispersed gases (e.g., CO2 and SOx) and socially responsible investing (SRI) for already-managed lands—they warn that most environmental credits and offsets fail to protect biodiversity or ensure genuine additionality.

The Bio-CLIMA project aims to transform extensive cattle ranching and agriculture in Nicaragua's Caribbean Region into sustainable, deforestation-free production. The project targets the buffer zones of the BOSAWÁS and Rio San Juan Biosphere Reserves, focusing on 66,223 hectares and approximately 26,260 direct beneficiaries. It employs a three-pronged strategy: providing technical assistance and financial incentives for climate-smart production modules (silvo-pastural, agroforestry, and sustainable forest management), strengthening local governance and law enforcement, and developing adaptive capacity through training and early warning systems. The project is estimated to cost USD 110.4 million, with USD 79.8 million requested from the Green Climate Fund as a mix of grants and loans.

The report details a series of Swedish-led dialogue forums in five countries aimed at integrating climate policies (NDCs) with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Common findings across the forums include a critical need for capacity building at local levels, the challenge of translating national policies into regional implementation, and the necessity of securing both international and domestic financing. While stakeholders generally recognized the synergies between NDCs and SDGs, concerns persisted regarding trade-offs between rapid industrialization and environmental sustainability. Country-specific insights highlight Vietnam's focus on integrated water management, Tanzania's debate on the economic costs of environmental degradation, Zambia's emphasis on research and solar potential, Cambodia's focus on inter-ministerial policy coherence, and Uganda's concerns over institutional silos and external financing dependencies.

The document examines the reciprocal relationship between climate and land in Africa, highlighting how desertification and land degradation exacerbate food insecurity and poverty. It identifies specific risks for arid zones, the disproportionate impact on women and marginalized groups, and proposes integrated governance and sustainable land management practices to build resilience.

The document examines how climate change and unsustainable land management drive desertification and food insecurity in Africa, while highlighting sustainable land management practices and the necessity of integrated governance and gender-inclusive policies to build resilience.

The document critiques carbon markets, specifically cap-and-trade and offsetting, asserting they fail to reduce global emissions and instead facilitate corporate power and human rights abuses. It highlights the failures of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and REDD, and warns that the negotiation of Article 6 at COP25 could lock in these flawed mechanisms, further delaying urgent emissions cuts at the source.

The project aims to promote integrated landscape management (ILM) to conserve globally significant forests and wildlife in Nepal's Terai Arc Landscape (TAL). It addresses barriers such as inadequate cross-sectoral coordination, lack of technical capacity for forest and land management, and increasing human-wildlife conflict. The strategy involves four components: strengthening national and state-level coordination, improving participatory planning for buffer zones and corridors, implementing sustainable forest management and HWC mitigation in the Banke-Bardia complex, and establishing knowledge management and monitoring systems. The project targets the restoration of 4,050 hectares of land and the mitigation of 1,270,919 metric tons of CO2e.

The report finds that while some progress has been made in forest transparency and law enforcement, governance improvements are too slow to significantly reduce deforestation. It highlights critical failures in securing indigenous land rights, persistent corruption, and increasing violence against land defenders. While some Asian economies have adopted demand-side regulations against illegal logging, systemic weaknesses in enforcement and transparency continue to hinder forest protection.

The report finds that improvements in forest governance are too slow to measurably reduce deforestation, with significant gaps remaining in the legal recognition of indigenous land rights and the enforcement of forest laws. While some progress has been made in transparency and demand-side regulations in emerging economies, corruption remains rampant and violence against land defenders is increasing. The assessment highlights that secure tenure for local communities is more effective for forest protection than legally protected areas, yet a substantial portion of occupied lands remains unrecognized by governments.

The report finds that improvements in forest governance are too slow to quantifiably reduce deforestation, with significant gaps remaining in the legal recognition of indigenous land rights and the enforcement of laws against illegal logging. While some progress has been made in transparency and demand-side regulations in emerging Asian economies, corruption and violence against land defenders continue to undermine forest conservation efforts.

The report finds that while some progress has been made in forest transparency and the adoption of demand-side regulations, overall improvements in forest governance are too slow to effectively reduce deforestation. It highlights critical failures in granting land rights to indigenous peoples and local communities, rising violence against land defenders, and endemic corruption. The document emphasizes that strong governance is a necessary condition for forest protection, noting that illegal deforestation remains prevalent in major producers of palm oil, soy, and beef.

The report finds that improvements in forest governance are too slow to measurably reduce deforestation, with natural forest loss increasing by 42% between 2014 and 2017 compared to the previous decade. While some progress exists in transparency and international cooperation to combat illegal logging, significant challenges remain, including widespread corruption, inadequate implementation of existing laws, and increasing violence against land defenders. The report emphasizes that securing legal land rights for indigenous peoples and local communities is more effective for forest protection than legally protected areas, yet a substantial portion of their lands remain unrecognized by governments.

The report finds that improvements in forest governance are too slow to measurably reduce deforestation, with rampant corruption and illegal land conversion persisting. While some progress has been made in transparency and demand-side timber regulations, significant gaps remain in recognizing the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). The document highlights a dangerous increase in violence and criminalization of land defenders and argues that secure tenure for IPLCs is more effective for forest protection than state-managed protected areas.

The document finds that while some countries have improved their legal frameworks to combat deforestation, implementation remains weak due to corruption, lack of resources, and a failure to recognize the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). It highlights a strong correlation between high corruption and forest loss, and notes that illegal conversion for commercial agriculture—specifically palm oil, soy, paper/timber, and cattle—drives much tropical deforestation. While demand-side measures for timber are increasing in the EU, US, and Asia, similar measures for other commodities remain largely voluntary. The report also emphasizes the critical role of IPLCs in carbon storage, noting they manage 17% of total carbon in 64 assessed countries, yet face increasing violence and land grabbing due to insecure tenure.