COLOMBIA

PROGRESS AGAINST THE WARSAW FRAMEWORK

NS/AP: Colombia increased the ambition of its NDC and committed to reducing emissions from deforestation from more than 170,000 hectares in 2020 to less than 100,000 hectares per year by 2025 and to less than 50,000 hectares per year in 2030. Through the use of cooperative approaches of Art. 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, the country could increase its ambition to zero net deforestation by 2030.

FREL/FRL: Colombia finalized the assessment process of the second FREL during 2021, moving forward from the sub-national to the national level. The draft assessment report was prepared and will be published in the Lima REDD+ Information Hub in the first quarter of 2022.

NFMS: During the last quarter of 2021, work was carried out on the formulation of the project, “Management of natural resources through the analysis of information and environmental knowledge.” Legal and administrative work sets the stage for the beginning of the forest inventory for the Andean and Caribbean regions in Colombia. Similarly, the stage was set for progress on hydrological issues to improve the quality of the monitoring network in the Middle Valley of the Magdalene. A report was produced on the use of Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) for monitoring restoration in the country and collaboration with GGGI on a report on restoration monitoring.

SIS: Colombia submitted its fifth summary of information (SOI) to the UNFCCC, which reports on the period from September, 2019 to October, 2020, with in-country resources and collaboration with REM Vision Amazonia Programme. Recommendations from UN-REDD were shared for the elaboration of the sixth SOI. Progress has been achieved on the development of the self-assessment for the community forestry model, the systematization of the model and the inclusion of the food security component, as well as on actions carried out by the project team on the ground. Capacities of the Cocomasur Afro-descendent community on tenure rights, demarcating and registering local community land were enhanced via implementation of Open Tenure and strengthening of IT resources. The community field teams are continuing work on recording tenure rights to improve governance of natural resources.

REDD+ IMPLEMENTATION

Forest solutions realized:Technical assistance was provided to support Finagro (Agricultural Development Bank) in the implementation of its Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) to advance its accreditation process with the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In support of this process, the technical assistance team prepared an E&S Environmental and Social policy proposal, which was approved by Finagro’s Board of Directors. Significant progress in the implementation of the ESMS was achieved in this reporting period.

Three meetings for the regional REDD+ Roundtable, convened by the government, were facilitated. These spaces contributed to the participatory construction of the Roundtable’s roadmap and the previously identified community initiatives. In addition, to optimize the development of indigenous, Afro and local communities’ agendas in 2022, an evaluation process of the participation around REDD+ was started.

Challenges, lessons learned and recommendations for the construction of the National Restoration Program in Indigenous Reserves were identified and integrated into the final document, “Inputs for the Construction of a National Restoration Program in Indigenous Reserves.” This document reviews the institutional efforts to promote ecological restoration in indigenous territories over the last 10 years, as well as the projects and agreements derived from different spaces such as the Indigenous Minga.

In 2021, the Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris (CNAI) process was delayed, as it was pending a Presidential signature of the Decree. In 2022, this process will be promoted as a space to build indigenous environmental policy and address issues related to forests, climate change and indigenous peoples at national level.

Forest solutions rewarded: Colombia submitted the TREES Concept Note to the ART Secretariat, with support of the UN-REDD Programme. The Concept Note identifies technical gaps, some of which are expected to be included within the 2022 UN-REDD workplan.

The NaturalPaz Project (PBF) was approved and is planned to begin in early 2022, which will allow the generation and extraction of lessons from the field to inform the national agenda in promoting high-integrity voluntary market projects in collective territories.

Forest solutions enhanced: A methodology is being developed to assess the impact of actions to reduce deforestation with actions around conservation agreements and sustainable forest management based on communities. One of the main bottlenecks faced is obtaining information from the different entities that have been working on the actions described above. During the month of January, 2022, the proposed methodology for the development of this evaluation is expected to be complete, allowing for it to be appropriated and mplemented by IDEAM.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on the provision of technical assistance. In-person meetings were affected in both technical and consultative fora. Virtual platforms were used to deliver activities.

As Colombia advances with multiple carbon market and PPR schemes, the challenges associated with ensuring integrity, avoiding potential conflicts and maintaining the incentives for action at all scales increased. The program has responded to this challenge by supporting the active engagement with government, support for the coordination across platforms and strengthening of participation fora. In addition, the program will address the gaps related to effective nesting of initiatives and related institutional arrangements which will enhance the environmental integrity of results. Long term sustainability of REDD related processes has also been identified as a challenge, with the program responding by adding specific activities to explore options for the financial support of MRV elements. In 2022, efforts will continue to explore options to ensure sufficient funding for the monitoring system and deepen the engagement with the future government in light of the upcoming elections.

GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION

UN-REDD technical assistance supported the execution of resources directed at the women in the REM Amazon Vision Program through the Women Caregivers of the Amazon Program. Sixty-nine projects, led by women, were approved with an overall investment of $1.5 million, aimed at the protection of traditional knowledge, conservation, community enterprises and the strengthening of organizational capacities in the departments of Caquetá, Guaviare, Guainía, Putumayo, Amazonas and Vaupés. This contributed to the strengthening of the governance of indigenous peoples from a gender perspective. For the commemoration of the International Women’s Day on March 8, UN-REDD assisted in the development of a podcast, featuring the testimonies of rural women, including their role in the protection of forests and natural resources.