The presentation of Kathleen Edie, of Plan Vivo, to the IIED-hosted Moving ahead with Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) workshop on 9-10 April 2014. The presentation, made in the third session on experiences from the ground and REDD+ financing, focused on community carbon trading, and examined what the market would pay and what intermediaries (sellers) and buyers could gain from REDD+. More information on Plan Vivo's work: http://www.planvivo.org/. Further details of the workshop and IIED's work on REDD+ are available via http://www.iied.org/coverage-moving-ahead-redd-prospects-challenges-workshop.

1. 1
Plan Vivo: Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems
Community carbon trading: does the market pay
and what is in it for intermediaries (sellers) and
buyers?
• Plan Vivo approach
• Voluntary market space for community carbon
• Covering costs and sharing revenue
• Gains for resellers/buyers
• Looking forward for community carbon

2. • Developing institutional capacity
Lessons learned on payment systems, monitoring and reporting frameworks since
1990s, can be built upon without ‘re-inventing the wheel’
• Putting sub-national financial frameworks in place
PES infrastructure developed through Plan Vivo to channel funds transparently to
community level and micro-projects in different contexts
• Directly supporting national level policy and strategy development
Plan Vivo project coordinators involved in REDD+ development in Mozambique,
Mexico, Uganda and Tanzania, feeding in real project experience
Plan Vivo approach to REDD+ development

3. 3
Key lessons for community REDD+
1. Principle of aggregation – programmatic –
interventions take time
2. Integrated objectives (social & ecosystem
safeguards already built-in)
3. Meaningful & continuing incentives
– Up-front and continuing payments
– Revenues from timber, crops, NTFPs
4. Risk management and continuous improvement
5. Pragmatic and simple where possible
― Decentralisation, systems for social
monitoring
Plan Vivo Addresses Key Issues of
Transparency and Local Governance for
Interim REDD+ Actions

4. Ongoing role for Plan Vivo
Short/medium term
• Communicating Plan Vivo
approach to markets
• Accessing current REDD+
Readiness funding streams
• Ensuring Standard is practical
and relevant for REDD+
• Building tools and guidance
based on project experience
Medium/longer term
• Adapting governance
procedures so Plan Vivo
System can be used within
national programmes
4

5. National
govt
International
carbon markets
Global readiness
funds or other
donor funding
Plan Vivo programme
coordinator
(sub-national
implementer)
Plan Vivo
Certificates
used as offsets
Plan Vivo Certificates
as proof of
performance
flow of funds
flow of Plan Vivo
Certificates
Intermediate funding for Plan Vivo projects

6. REDD+ demand & supply
• Projections for REDD+ supply
outstripping demand.
• IFF report quantified large gap between
projected supply and demand in REDD+
sector;
Reductions 3,300 – 9,900 MtCO2e
Demand 253 MtCO2e
• 2012 REDD+ transactions totaled 8.6
MtCO2e / $70 million.
• Plan Vivo REDD+ projects ‘break even
point’ not earlier year 3.
6

7. Covering costs & sharing revenue
• Lower price commanded for REDD+ carbon credits.
• Perceptions that costs of implementing and operating REDD+ and
avoided deforestation lower than other land-use interventions.
• Opportunity costs are often critical in small-holder and
community systems.
• Implementation costs of well-designed projects which address
key drivers often higher in small-holder and community settings.
• Opportunity for MRV costs to be lower, given community-context
specific frameworks.
7

8. Making the numbers balance
when communities are equitably
compensated.
8
Staged
payment to
communities/
producers
$3.60
Admin’
monitoring, etc
$1.40
Verification,
marketing?
$0.60
Certification $0.40
Example
price:
$6 / tCO2

9. Gains and motivations for buyers
Key benefits for buyers of community carbon in voluntary sector
• Environmental sustainability goals
• CSR
• Investment in supply chain security
• Brand value
• Stakeholder engagement
• Social ROI
Other benefits
• Host country influence, case building for investments and
financial capital, specific biodiversity conservation.
9

10. 10
Motivations of buyers
Resale (pre-compliance)
CSR
Demontrating climate
leadership
Direct pre-compliance
Resale (voluntary)
Climate-driven mission
State of the forest carbon market report, 2012. Ecosystems Marketplace.

11. Looking forward for community carbon
• Plugging the gap in demand in
REDD+ markets.
• Communicating social return
on investment.
• Realistic costing of community
systems.
• REDD+ income as a stimulus &
challenge of ensuring
equitable benefit sharing.
11

12. • Currently community REDD+ projects operating in voluntary
market; low recognition of biocarbon standards, low integration
of voluntary and compliance markets, community ownership and
leadership of REDD+ activities not well supported or integrated in
national schemes.
Ideally
• ambitious national carbon targets,
• biocarbon standards integrated into national and sub-national
schemes with recognition of community contribution.
12

13. 13
Thank you
Kathleen Edie
Programmes Manager
kathleen@planvivofoundation.org
www.planvivo.org