Media Release: GreenCollar to help tackle global deforestation through the Peoples Forests Partnership
GreenCollar is proud to be a facilitating partner of the Peoples Forests Partnership (PFP), an industry first coalition that aims to mobilise private investment in community-driven forest conservation and restoration projects and set a high standard for equitable, accessible and culturally appropriate mechanisms through which Indigenous Peoples, traditional owners and local communities (IPLC) can engage with climate finance.
With more than 100 world leaders at COP26 promising to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, Peoples Forest Partnership will help rectify the imbalance of Indigenous Peoples managing one-fifth of tropical and subtropical forest carbon and conserving 80 percent of all biodiversity while receiving less than one percent of international climate assistance.
GreenCollar is one of five facilitating partners alongside Forest Trends, RECOFTC, Wildlife Works, and Everland. Together the partners aim to mobilise at least $20billion per year in long-term, private sector investments as well as public funding, channelling it directly to forest communities by 2030 to reward their efforts to successfully stop deforestation.
Robert O’Sullivan, Head of International Projects for GreenCollar outlined the potential of the scheme; “If IPLCs receive direct and equitable access to climate finance there is tremendous potential to rapidly protect and restore international forests at scale and help meet the global pledges to halt deforestation by 2030.
“IPLCs are not limited to small, isolated projects. Indigenous and traditional communities manage global forest carbon stores equal to at least 33 times the worlds’ energy emissions in 2017. This under-represents the amount of stored carbon managed by IPLCs, and these forests are at risk if we do not move quickly to support communities in protecting them.”
PFP estimates that channelling funding directly to IPLCs could reduce CO2 emissions from deforestation each year by at least 2 billion tonnes, protecting at least 500 million hectares of threatened tropical forest and its biodiversity, while supporting IPLC livelihoods.
The initial stage of PFP is an open discussion with interested stakeholders to offer their input on documents of engagement and operating principles, including membership criteria for high-integrity community-based projects, project developers, investors. A draft set of documents has been developed in consultation with select Indigenous Peoples leadership and other stakeholders.
Robert O’Sullivan commented; “GreenCollar works to the highest standards of free, prior and informed consent across Australia and in the Asia Pacific region, engaging with Indigenous Peoples, traditional owners and local communities to understand how its projects can best align with their aspirations.
“This new partnership is an opportunity to establish high operating principles on a global scale and better recognise the important role Indigenous Peoples, traditional owners and local communities play in safeguarding and protecting vast carbon stores worldwide,” he said.
Interested parties can submit an expression of interest to become a member or participate in the public consultation here.
