Norway extends $2.5bn forest conservation scheme

Norway has extended its 17 billion krone ($2.5 billion) international forest protection programme, according to a government announcement at the COP21 UN climate summit in Paris on Friday.

Addressing the UN Climate Change Conference in the French capital, Norwegian Minister of Environment and Climate Tine Sundtoft said the International Climate and Forest Initiative will be extended through 2030.

Norway has used the programme to support forest conservation initiatives including multilateral development REDD+ schemes, national deforestation reduction schemes and small-scale local projects, and is one of the biggest funders of international forest conservation.

In a statement Ms Sundtoft said: “Protecting and restoring tropical forests is essential to climate change mitigation. It also yields numerous other benefits, including for biodiversity, various water related ecosystem services, indigenous peoples’ livelihoods and rights, and climate change adaptation.”

Ms Sundtoft added: “A number of tropical forest countries have demonstrated international leadership and ambition in their desire to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest and peat degradation.”

The spending will be targeted “towards paying for verified emissions reductions, in line with relevant UNFCCC decisions” according to the government announcement.

Norway has performance-based agreements for reducing deforestation with Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guyana, Indonesia, Liberia, and Ethiopia and Sundtoft confirmed that the government’s programme for supporting civil society groups would also continue.