Forest Carbon Partnership Facility - Forest Carbon Fund

Carbon Fund payments will be complementary to financing from other sources, e.g., the government’s own budget, World Bank financing, loans or grants from the Forest Investment Program, the Global Environment Facility, bilateral donors, or the private sector.

The FCPF utilised the Readiness Fund Dashboard to monitor and provide detailed overviews of the implementation status and related issues of its programmes until its closure in 2022. The FCPF continues to use the Carbon Fund Dashboard to regularly update stakeholders on the progress of its emission reduction programmes, offering detailed insights into implementation statuses and any pertinent issues.
In May 2019, the FCPF adopted an updated programme-level Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework. This framework includes:

1. a revised FCPF results framework (revised impact, outcome and output statements, and revised indicators)
2. an indicator-by-indicator overview and reporting guidance (rationale for indicators, data sources, measurement approaches, reporting responsibilities)
3. a revised progress reporting templates
4. an outline of options for future FCPF evaluations.

Independent Evaluations
FCPF programmes have been evaluated in 2011, 2016 and 2023. The first independent programme evaluation was commissioned by the Participants Committee of the FPCF and was conducted by the Nordic Agency for Development and Ecology in 2011. They found that “since its inception in 2008, FCPF has made significant progress in meeting the first and last objectives (building in-country capacity and disseminating lessons learned in readiness), but less progress has been made on the two other objectives as would be expected at this early stage (piloting a performance-based system of payments; enhancing livelihoods & conserving biodiversity)”.
The second independent evaluation was led by Indufor Team in 2016. The main findings on relevance were:

• “The FCPF continued to add value to REDD Countries through its common readiness framework and structured approach to REDD Readiness,
• In some countries, the FCPF Delivery Partners had not integrated REDD+ agenda into their country engagement strategies even if they supported REDD+ through the FCPF,
• Most Financial Contributors had common strategic priorities to which the FCPF had responded appropriately”.

In April 2023, the FCPF commissioned its third independent evaluation to assess the programme’s achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. The findings from this evaluation were published in June 2024 and highlighted the following:

• While the FCPF has contributed to biodiversity conservation and improved livelihoods in participating countries, the evaluation highlighted the need for more robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms for these non-carbon benefits
• By developing readiness capacities and piloting results-based payments, the programme has facilitated countries’ entry into carbon markets, thereby promoting sustainable forest management practices
• The establishment of 68 partnerships with the private sector has been instrumental in advancing REDD+ initiatives.

Complaint mechanisms
The World Bank’s applicable policies and procedures on grievance and accountability mechanisms apply through the ‘Common Approach’ for FCPF Readiness Fund delivery partners and regulate the establishment of FCPF related grievance and redress mechanisms. FCPF has a country/programme feedback and grievance redress mechanism. Stakeholders (including geographically, culturally or economically-isolated or excluded groups) can use this mechanism during the preparation phase and the operation stage to address their grievances.

In addition, affected communities can file complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel when they feel that FCPF programmes cause harm to people or the environment.

The World Bank provides secretariat services through a Facility Management Team. The team has three core functions:

1. Administering the Funds: The World Bank, as the trustee of the FCPF’s Readiness Fund and Carbon Fund, manages day-to-day operations, including fund management and administration
2. Supporting Governance Bodies: The FMT prepares proposals for approval by the FCPF’s governing bodies, such as the Participants Committee and the Carbon Fund governance, facilitating decision-making processes
3. Providing Technical and Methodological Support: The FMT offers technical assistance to REDD+ countries, including overseeing validation and verification processes to ensure compliance with World Bank Group policies and Carbon Fund requirements.

Additionally, the FMT manages the Carbon Asset Trading System (CATS), the FCPF’s transaction registry, and ensures that all operations comply with applicable policies in areas such as safeguards, procurement, and financial management.

Only developing countries that are members of the World Bank can participate in the FCPF. Eligibility for accessing the FCPF is not restricted to ODA countries. Currently, the FCPF has 47 country participants.

Conditions for participation in the Readiness Fund

• REDD+ Country eligibility
  • An eligible REDD+ country is:
    • A borrowing member state of the IBRD or IDA; and
    • Located in the tropical area or sub-tropical area
• Relevance of Country in the REDD+ context
  • Priority should be given to countries with the following characteristics:
    • Significant forest area and carbon stock;
    • High importance of forests in the national economy; and
    • High current or projected deforestation or forest degradation
• Conditions for participation in the Carbon Fund
  Countries that successfully participated in the Readiness Fund could then be selected, on a voluntary basis, to participate in the Carbon Fund.

The FCPF is open to REDD+ Country Participants. REDD+ Country Participants are defined as developing countries located in a subtropical or tropical area that has signed a Participation Agreement to participate in the Readiness Fund. Forty-seven developing countries have been selected to join the FCPF (18 in Africa, 18 in Latin America, and 11 in the Asia-Pacific region).

The Carbon Fund is only open to those countries that have prepared a Readiness Preparation Proposal, and have had their Readiness Package (R-Package) endorsed by the PC under the Readiness Fund of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).