Climate Governance for Rondonia project concludes with a significant socio-environmental legacy

In November, the project ‘Unlocking and leveraging low-emission development’, which established climate governance for the state of Rondônia, concluded with the achievement of many the expected results. BVRio acted as the implementing partner of the Environmental Development Secretariat in designing and executing the instruments and participation mechanisms outlined in State Law 4437. 

Throughout the project, BVRio supported the structuring of the state’s Climate Governance Board, holding three meetings of the State Climate Change Forum, consolidating fundamental spaces for climate-related discussions and decisions in the state, and holding consultation workshops with traditional peoples and communities. Another result was the installation of the thematic chambers for Payments for Environmental Services (PES), Socio-environmental Safeguards and Indigenous Affairs, through which government and civil society engage in dialogue and cooperation, generating guidelines and proposals that the Forum’s plenary will consider. 

Among the project’s achievements are several outcomes that are awaiting implementation by the government of Rondônia. These include the appointment and establishment of the Steering Committee, the governing body of the state’s Climate Governance System, guidelines for incorporating private projects into the jurisdictional REDD+ strategy, and the protocol for benefit-sharing. Regarding the State Climate Change Fund, initiated during the project’s early phase and already receiving contributions from an ongoing private REDD+ initiative in the state, no investments have been made to date due to the non-establishment of the Steering Committee, which according to legal provisions, it holds the authority to make decisions regarding the use of the fund’s resources.

The project received financial backing from Norad, Norway’s international cooperation agency, in collaboration with the UNDP and the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS). Alongside the resources managed by BVRio, FAS played a crucial role by offering dedicated full-time expertise to the Rondônia State Environmental Development Secretariat (SEDAM). Working with teams from BVRio and SEDAM/RO’s Climate Governance Directorate, the FAS consultancy is concluding a technical note addressing gaps in the ART/TREES standard. This note will be essential if the state government adopts this standard.

For Beto Mesquita, BVRio Director of Forests and Public Policies, “state climate governance systems and jurisdictional REDD+ strategies are essential instruments for leveraging the funding that will create the necessary conditions for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, promoting the recovery of deforested areas, inducing the conversion of degraded areas to low-carbon production systems and fostering the sustainable use of standing forests.”

“Brazilian states have a fundamental role in implementing the mechanisms established by the Forest Code (Federal Law No. 12,651 of 2012). For this reason, the states must have concrete public policies, always counting on the participation of civil society in their actions. For BVRio, collaborating with the establishment of climate governance for the state of Rondônia succeeds in helping the country as a whole and, in particular, the states of the Amazon, to strengthen their environmental public policies, to combat deforestation and reduce pollutant emissions.” said Daniela Pires e Albuquerque, BVRio’s Legal Manager.

Legacy:

Policies: Presentation and approval of the State Policy on Climate Governance and Environmental Services – Law 4437/2018. Guidelines for the nesting/integration of private projects in Jurisdictional REDD+.

Governance: Restructuring and holding three meetings of the State Climate Change Forum, the proposal to regulate the Steering Committee and the Climate Change Fund, and installation of the Thematic Chambers on Payment for Environmental Services, Socio-environmental Safeguards and Indigenous Peoples;

Engagement: Strengthening the capacities of hundreds of people, including members of civil society, companies and communities. Workshops on socio-environmental safeguards with indigenous people and quilombolas;

Social Inclusion: Creation of the AmazoniAtiva platform, an online platform for offering environmental products and assets from Rondônia, expanded to nine Amazonian states.