In just a few days, the world will focus its attention on Lima as international negotiators continue to work towards a robust international agreement on climate change. The location of this year’s COP in Peru, home to one of the most biologically diverse and threatened ecosystems on Earth, should serve to underscore the importance of large-scale REDD+ programs, and the role REDD+ can and should play in any future agreement.

To that end, the VCS will take part in several events that we hope will help advance these and other conversations. I would encourage you to attend any or all of them if you are able:

Aviation and ICAO: Analyzing the Market Based Mechanism Process
Date:                Tuesday 2 December, 12:00-14:00
Location:          IETA Pavilion
Host:                Air Transport Action Group (ATAG)
VCS Speaker:  David Antonioli
Description:      This event will focus on the current state of play of the ICAO discussions surrounding the establishment of a market-based mechanism to cover international aviation. Key questions will include: will offsets be allowed? what standards will be used?

Jurisdictional-Scale Carbon Accounting: Evaluating Options
Date:                Wednesday 3 December, 17:00 (cocktails) 17:30 (program start)
Location:          Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Center
Av. Paseo de la República N° 170, Lima 1, Perú
Host:                The Nature Conservancy
VCS Speaker:  Naomi Swickard
Description:      This event will focus on the role of global datasets in jurisdictional forest carbon  accounting. Panelists will include leading scientists, practitioners and policy advisors to consider how the latest generation of global datasets (forest gain/loss and forest biomass) could play a role in jurisdictional accounting of forest carbon.

Scaling Up REDD+: Catalyzing Jurisdictional Leadership with New Finance Sources and Mechanisms
Date:                Friday 5 December, 16:45-18:15
Location:          Side Event room Paracas (300)
Hosts:               VCS and Fauna and Flora International (FFI)
VCS Speaker:  Toby Janson-Smith
Description:      This side event will showcase jurisdictional REDD+ leadership in key countries, demonstrate the urgent need to, and opportunities for, stimulating demand for REDD+ (with a focus on Indonesia and Brazil), and highlight how successful REDD+ negotiations in Lima and Paris could support such efforts.

Jurisdictional REDD+: Developments and Lessons from the Field
Date:                 Monday 8 December, 14:00-16:00
Location:           Forest Pavilion at Voices for the Climate
(Jockey Club Del Perú, El Derby, Santiago de Surco 15023)
Hosts:                VCS and USAID’s Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC)
VCS Speaker:   Toby Janson-Smith & Naomi Swickard
Description:       This event will provide an overview of the latest developments in jurisdictional REDD+ design and implementation, including lessons from leading pilot jurisdictions and nested projects.
Food and drinks provided after the event.

Incentivizing Large-Scale Investment in REDD+
Date:                Tuesday 9 December, 8:00-10:00
Location:          Peru Pavilion (main COP venue)
Hosts:               VCS, Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) and Forest Trends
VCS Speaker:  David Antonioli
Description:      This event will highlight progress on jurisdictional REDD+ by leading
governments and identify innovative solutions and opportunities for targeting and scaling up new sources of finance and investment, especially from the private sector, to support such efforts in the near term.
Coffee and light breakfast provided.

Lessons Learned from the Oddar Meanchy REDD+ Project for the Forestry Administration of Cambodia
Date:                Wednesday 10 December, 8:45-9:45
Location:          IETA Pavilion
Host:                Dentons
VCS Speaker:  David Antonioli
Description:      Public private partnerships must play a role in future REDD+ development, but how can these two occasionally divergent actors work together? This event will take a closer look at the state of play in Cambodia as a best practice example, and further explore how other governments can embrace these practices in the hopes of reaching the broader world.