Finance | Profor

Activity List

Advancing Ecosystem Market Intelligence

CHALLENGEMarkets require reliable and transparent information in order to function; this applies equally to new and emerging markets for ecosystems services for carbon, water and biodiversity, as it does to traditional financial markets. Investors need to fully understand the risks and opportunities associated with their ecological dependencies, assets and investments. Only then will substantial private investment move toward supporting sustainable resource outcomes.APPROACHThe “Ecosystem Marketplace” is a Forest Trends initiative that seeks to consolidate and report free and independent…
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Analysis of Financing Flows and Needs to Implement the Non-Legally Binding Instrument (NLBI) on All Types of Forests

CHALLENGEAlthough overseas development assistance for forests appears to have modestly increased in the past few years, and although many new promising mechanisms and sources are emerging, analysis reveals that the gap between the needs and existing funding for sustainable forest management is still very wide. There is a need for substantial new and additional funding from all sources to support sustainable forest management and make implementation the Non-Legally Binding Instrument (NLBI) effective on the ground.APPROACHIn 2008, PROFOR financed analysis of funding sources and gaps towards…
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Best Practices in Financing Protected Areas - Lessons for Southeastern Europe

CHALLENGEWhat are the tools and practices available for financing nature protection in Southeastern Europe? Conforming to European environmental requirements and joining the ecologocial network "Natura 2000" requires better management of natural resources, new approaches for public and private collaboration, and a sustainable method to finance the expansion of protected areas.Although the Croatian Government has identified a network of around 1,000 potential "Natura 2000" sites covering over 250 species and 70 regionally significant habitat types, resources are scarce. A review of best…
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Business Climate for Forest Investments: A Survey

CHALLENGEThe World Bank Group has been successful in reporting on the business and investment climate in developing countries through its Doing Business rankings which look at regulatory systems at the country and sub-national level. PROFOR and other partners have also devoted time and energy in trying to mobilize greater participation of businesses in meeting forest sector economic, social and environmental goals. A conducive investment and business climate would seem to be an essential element in this effort and would help increase the forest sector's contribution to "green growth".However…
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Catalyzing Payments for Ecosystem Services

Providing information to motivate market activitiyCHALLENGEWorldwide, there is growing interest in market-based approaches to conservation. Public regulation and protected area systems, while critical, are insufficient to stop widespread resource degradation. For natural resources to be conserved they must be more valuable than the alternative uses of land and in order for them to be well-managed, good stewardship must be rewarded over bad stewardship. Markets and payments for ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, watershed protection, and biodiversity conservation are emerging as…
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Developing A Carbon Payment Scheme On Certified Forest Concessions

CHALLENGEReducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has been singled out as a promising way to cut the rate of carbon emissions, and contribute to mitigating climate change. But much of the focus has been on the first “D”. In countries with high forest cover, weak governance structures, and active concession forestry (where the challenge of measurement and enforcement will be the greatest), there may be opportunities through Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certification, for inciting the private sector to contribute to more sustainable and less degrading concession…
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Developing the International Financing Facility for Forests (IFFFor)

Program SummaryThe International Financing Facility for Forests (IFFFor) is a proposed mechanism designed to fill an incentive gap in the effort to combat deforestation. The IFFFor is a long-term investment fund, which will offer financial incentives to forest countries to preserve and restore the world’s most valuable forests. This would contribute to combatting climate change, preserving biodiversity, and enhancing economic development of forest countries.Conceived by the World Bank Treasury and developed by the Center for Global Development (CGD), the IFFFor is currently being co-financed…
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Evaluating the Flows of Financing for Sustainable Forest Management

An Input Paper to the UNFF (2003)UNFF stands for the United Nations Forum on Forest. The Forum's support for sustainable forest management is guided by a Multi-Year Program of Work comprised of sixteen elements based on the proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). At the third session of the UNFF (UNFF3), "Economic aspects of forests" was one of the major elements for discussion. To inform this discussion, the World Bank prepared an input paper providing a review of policy reforms, projects and programs at the…
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Exploring the Potential for Avoided Deforestation

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries -- A Policy Workshop for UNFCCC COP11 Agenda Item #6CHALLENGEContinued tropical deforestation is thought to be the second leading cause of global greenhouse gas emissions, behind fossil fuel combustion. The UNFCCC Parties at COP-11 referred the issue of tropical deforestation to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) as part of a two-year process. This process was part of a broad dialogue on procedural, technical and policy issues pertaining to tropical deforestation in developing countries that resulted in…
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Forest Enterprise Information Exchange (FEINEX)

CHALLENGEAccess to markets is fundamental to the goal of improving livelihood security for a growing number of micro entrepreneurs in the forest produce domain. But this access depends on efficient service delivery which in turn relies on useful and complete information provision to micro entrepreneurs.APPROACHAs part of the Forest Connect alliance, the Forest Enterprise Information Exchange (FEINEX) initiative is evaluating the processes and systems that enhance efficiency in the agricultural SME sector. It will then incorporate and adapt lessons to enable increased profits – economic and…
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