USD 351 million in fund capital
The ISFL is a multilateral facility that promotes and rewards reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased sequestration through better land management, including reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), climate-smart agriculture, and smarter land-use planning and policies.
The ISFL aims to catalyze the development of a low-carbon rural economy in each of its program areas that will simultaneously result in livelihood opportunities for communities and an overall reduction in land-based emissions.
Four design pillars guide the ISFL’s overall objective to reduce GHG emissions, while addressing poverty and unsustainable land use.
Germany, Norway, Switzerland, UK, US
The ISFL Contributors make-up the ISFL's governance structure as its main decision-making body. The ISFL Contributors meet at least once a year to approve budgets. They also make decisions, either at these meetings or on an ad hoc basis, related to the selection of programs, rules of procedures, methodologies, as well as approve funding allocations, budgets and rules of procedure.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, acting as Trustee of the BioCF T3 provides secretariat services through a Fund Management Team. BioCF ISFL Fund Management Team administers the ISFL. The FMT oversees the Validation and Verification process to ensure that all ISFL operations comply with applicable World Bank Group Policies and the ISFL requirements. The FMT has several functions, inter alia: a) Proposals for approval by the governance structure; b) VVB selection; c) Completeness check and posting of the final ER-PD and ER Monitoring Report; d) Communication between the VVB and the ISFL ER Program; e) Review of the Validation and Verification Reports; f) Management of the Carbon Asset Trading System, i.e. ISFL Transaction Registry.
Validation and Verification are conducted by Independent Validation and Verification Body (VVB) who, according to the Validation and Verification Requirements, “shall be accredited under ISO 14065 for scope ISO 14064-2, specifically for Land Use and Forestry by an Accreditation Body that is a signatory of the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) for ISO 14065. The ISFL will submit a request for proposals from accredited VVBs to conduct country-specific Validation and Verification engagements”. Other requirements for Validation and Verifications under the ISFL may be found in the Validation and Verification Requirements.
Accreditation of any Validation and Verification Body is given by an Accreditation Body acceptable to the ISFL.
COUNTRY SELECTION
ISFL countries are selected on the basis of criteria that provide the best foundation for ISFL programs to achieve the greatest possible impact. These criteria ensure that countries are prepared to undertake a complex land-use program that will be governed and monitored effectively. They also assess the global community’s commitment to working collectively toward in-country solutions so that countries have the necessary support to achieve results.
ISFL PROGRAM CRITERIA
Engagement and capacity for large-scale programs: The ISFL assesses the degree of readiness for a large-scale emission reductions program. This is based on a preliminary assessment of a country’s engagement in and capacity for a results-based or REDD+ program and its potential to reduce carbon emissions. In particular, links between national efforts for sustainable forestry use and other land uses are considered, as well as the institutional arrangements in place and the capacity of local stakeholders to implement such a program.
Enabling environment and governance: The ISFL assesses the current quality of the enabling environment and its potential to improve, considering the strength of governance, private sector engagement, and in-country green growth initiatives.
Agricultural drivers of land use change: The ISFL analyzes the agricultural factors behind land-use change to understand which commodities, if any, are key drivers and whether the pressure on forests could be considered historically high or likely to increase significantly. This analysis allows the ISFL to understand the potential of climate-smart agriculture practices to reduce GHG emissions in potential program countries.
Forest countries around the world. ISFL programs will cover a variety of geographies. It is currently supporting projects in Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico and Zambia.
To access the BioCarbon Fund, forest countries propose projects that can certify their emission reductions under a variety of standards such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
For selection of ISFL jurisdictions, a series of high-level quantitative and qualitative indicators across three areas are considered, including REDD readiness, general factors not related specifically to REDD+ or agriculture (such as private sector engagement in the country and potential co-benefits) and agricultural drivers.
Projects are only considered if they sequester or conserve greenhouse gases in forests, agro- and other ecosystems.