Welcome to the Forests project notes. These will be edited over the course of Climate Deal Day. Stay tuned for more information as the day progresses. 

Key Questions:

What are the big deals that have occurred in reducing deforestation and in helping to accelerate reforestation and afforestation?

Can these deals be replicated, and if so, where, with whom, and how?

Where are ripe opportunities for new forest deals? Can we build on the REDD agreement at COP16 in Cancun, and get some projects going on the ground? What about AD Partners' efforts to set methodologies and help move private dollars even before public funds move?

Who should we reach out to and involve going forward to help make more forest deals happen?

From London...

In London…
Jasper Sky, Oxford University:
I met yesterday with someone from a UK climate resilient development organisation. Something we haven't spoken about -- offsets. An offset mechanism: 100 millions of hectares of ranch, degraded bushland in South Brazil, Indonesia, etc. There is an opportunity to restore biodiversity to those lands. Buy this land as a for profit, and you reforest it -- 2/3 is agro forestry for a revenue stream. You might get high value agro forestry out this and you can use green bonds, pay to manage this land (even if might have negative cash flow for first 8 years or so…).
And you have an ability to get a market. A business model could be applied to hundreds and millions of hectares. The main cash flow is agro forestry, but also carbon offsets, and you're giving people good work, some things they've never had before.
You need to find a base for this, social enterprises in developing countries and get them involved so you have people you can trust on the ground (ie not a Greenfield project that has to train people).
This is deal that would make a great story. We haven't found a name for it yet.

Christian Teriete, GCCA:
'One of the most powerful projects that I did with WWF in Indonesia was an offset project like this.

Sandrine:
The UN, FAO, etc is working heavily on this as well

Jasper:
It's a win win win…. It's food security too.
Another deal: there's a huge increase in desalination plants. Burning diesel fuel to desalinate water. The idea: create an financial incentive if have an A sticker rating. Maybe we need to work with Desertech or the EU on this. A cool climate deal: move desalination. That's thoroughly achievable.

Christian:
It doesn't bring in government, but it is powerful thing to do. Don't just produce something and label it, but create a dialogue with a company and the consumer. Eg a utility in Delhi started demand side management, and went into households to do audits, to help improve how they do things, then replicated it.
WWF drafted in the utility, that was skeptical at first. But it improved relations with customers. You turn energy users into climate activists.

Sandrine:
Could the same be said with water -- in Australia, they are not increasing tax on water but went to consumers and said, We have a problem, can we find a solution together so you don't have to pay more. They pushed more efficiency by households and kept price down. The water company got everyone, to participate. This can be replicated.

Greg:
With utilities that works. We use energy brokers… with regulations. Whenever there is a third party in b2b deals there's more of a challenge.