FCMC Hosts AGRC Competencies Framework Technical Review Workshop
The Framework is being developed by the Alliance for Global REDD+ Capacity (AGRC), a collaboration of 16 leading conservation organizations across the world that focus on capacity building for REDD+. The document is intended to be a tool for organizations and individuals who provide trainings to stakeholder groups, such as governments at various levels, communities, Indigenous Peoples, and private sector project developers.
The July workshop was led by lead authors Steven Panfil, Mario Chacon, and Luis Barquin of CI. Stephen Kelleher, FCMC Senior Director, Cross-Cutting Issues and Coordination, and Arjun Khosa, FCMC Operations and Logistics Assistant, provided additional support onsite. The workshop objectives were: to provide an opportunity to share about ongoing capacity building initiatives for REDD+; to collect technical inputs from experts on a draft of the REDD+ Competencies Framework to be incorporated in the final version of the document; and to identify ways and opportunities to apply the Competencies Framework and other high priority capacity building actions for REDD+. Over the three days, a total of 24 participants from around the world attended, including representatives from IUCN, CATIE, RECOFTC, Rainforest Alliance, and UN-REDD; as well as individuals from WWF, FONAFIFO, Winrock International, USAID, and the National Council on Climate Change-Indonesia.
During the workshop, participants provided feedback on the 10 REDD+ themes covered by the Framework. Paula Williams, FCMC Senior Director of Social and Environmental Soundness (SES) activities, was a key member of the group concentrating on Stakeholder Engagement and Social and Environmental Safeguards. Rishi Das, FCMC Senior Analyst, Climate Change Mitigation and MRV, and Stephen Kelleher contributed to working groups focused on reference levels and MRV and scope and scale of REDD+. Erik Streed, USAID Contract Officer’s Representative for FCMC, and Diane Russell, USAID SES Activity Manager for FCMC, provided technical expertise on international policy and finance, safeguards and climate science. On the final day of the workshop, the authors received input on the layout and design of the Framework, along with targets and strategies for effective distribution. Participants also discussed how to maximize the use of the case studies developed for the document and the possibility of developing an online platform. The finalized version of the document is due later this year, tentatively before the 19th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in November.
