Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force

The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF) is a collaborative initiative
of 16 states and provinces from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United
States that aims to advance and influence the integration of Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) into climate policy regimes
worldwide.

GCF Member States and Provinces

As the early movers in this field, GCF members shape the REDD+ opportunity by
working to prove the viability of REDD+ programs and providing practical, informed
policy recommendations. With jurisdictions encompassing more than 20% of the
world’s tropical forests, GCF members will be critical partners in programs that
protect the world’s tropical forests and the climate.

Representatives of GCF member states and provinces meet annually to review

the work of the GCF working groups and to decide on the actions and
recommendations of the GCF. Such decisions are made by consensus, and all
members have equal representation. The chairmanship of the GCF rotates annually;
the 2011 GCF Secretariat is Aceh.

Figure 1. The International Distribution of GCF Membership

Source: Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force (2011)

Impact
Since its formal establishment in 2009, the GCF has grown to become the de
facto focal point for resources, discussion, and recommendations on subnational
REDD+ efforts. Internally, it has made significant progress on building the capacity
of its members to implement high-quality REDD+ programs through, for example,
developing subnational REDD+ frameworks, exploring financing opportunities, and
engaging stakeholders to design practical and equitable solutions for protecting
tropical forests. In doing so, the GCF has creative an iterative, learning-by-doing
process that is demonstrating the potential of REDD+ to deliver on its
environmental, social, and economic potential.

The GCF’s impact is, furthermore, evident in recent developments in regional,

federal, and international climate policy. In Brazil, for example, the GCF process has
served as a forum for information-sharing and cooperation between Brazilian GCF
members and the Brazilian federal government; as a result, they have now formed
a federal-state REDD task force that will be integral in developing that country’s
national REDD strategy. Additionally, California’s recently-released draft regulations
for its cap-and-trade program includes REDD activities as eligible offset assets – the
first compliance regime in the world to do so. Finally, the wider impact of the GCF
could be seen in December 2010 at the conference of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancún, where the parties agreed for
the first time to officially include REDD+ in the negotiating text. In addition to
confirming a long-term commitment to reducing deforestation through this
mechanism, the text also explicitly recognizes subnational governments as critical
partners to successful REDD+ activities.

Objectives
The GCF will continue its work to
move REDD+ projects into existing
and emerging GHG compliance
systems and markets in 2011 with a
focus on the following objectives:
• Design a common subnational
REDD+ framework for GCF
member states and provinces
that addresses—inter alia—
monitoring, reporting, and
verification; crediting
pathways; state-level
accounting; project nesting
architectures; and
environmental and community
Figure 2. The Four Working Groups of the GCF
safeguards
Source: Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force
• Develop options for linkage (2010)
arrangements that would allow
sector-based REDD+ credits from GCF member states and provinces to enter
GHG compliance systems, such as California’s nascent cap-and-trade
program
• Create an innovative, rapid deployment GCF Fund to finance technical,
institutional, and scientific capacity-building for REDD+ activities in GCF
member states and provinces
• Refine and enhance the GCF Knowledge Database, a web-based, transparent
platform for sharing information on all REDD-related activities and needs in
GCF member states and provinces
• Continue to facilitate cooperative efforts between GCF member states and
provinces and their respective federal governments
For More Information
William Boyd
Secretariat, Senior Advisor and Project Lead
University of Colorado Law School, Professor of Law
Phone: 1 303 492 7320
E-mail: William.Boyd@colorado.edu