Updates on the GCF REDD+ RBP application for Vietnam

[Baku Takahashi]

Dear all,

Warmest greetings from JICA/SNRM2 project.

As a couple of people asked us about the progress of the GCF REDD+ RBP application for Vietnam while there are some misunderstandings about the program, let me update you on the current status of the application for your better understanding.

The GCF REDD+ RBP is one of the three major non-market-based REDD+ result-based payment mechanisms for Vietnam apart from FCPF and LEAF.

GCF started its pilot REDD+ RBPs in Oct 2017. The total budget of USD 500M was made available for the applications between 2017 and 2022. However, the pilot phase funding was exhausted by the end of 2020 with 8 proposals approved for 8 countries including Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, Indonesia, Columbia, Argentina, and Costa Rica. The payment per country ranged from USD 18.6M to 103.8M under the pilot program. It was too late for Vietnam to send its funding proposal as the country was still in the process of preparing and submitting its REDD+ result report to the UNFCCC (Vietnam submitted the REDD+ result report to UNFCCC in April 2021 with its technical assessment completed in September 2022).

In 2020, GCF Board also requested its Secretariat to explore and propose alternatives for continuing the RBP program in the future, but it was only last year (2023) that GCF Board started discussing the next phase of the RBPs. Phase II RBPs will be discussed again at the 39th Board Meeting (B39) on 15-18 July 2024, and we do hope that the Phase II TOR will be approved by the Board in that meeting (but not completely sure, of course).

According to the current draft TOR, which is also available on the GCF website, the expected fund allocation will be between USD 620M and 1.2B. Vietnam would be eligible for maximum 10% of that total total envelope, meaning that the country would be able to apply for at least USD 62M for the next phase. The good news is that Vietnam already submitted its concept note to GCF back in September 2020 so the country is regarded as one of the four pipeline countries including Vietnam, Lao PDR, PNG, and Uganda, which might be treated with some priorities in the Phase II RBP program.

IF the TOR will be approved at B39, then the window will be reopened for FP submissions as early as January 2025. Vietnam will have to prepare all application documents with its internal clearance completed by then in order to submit its FP to GCF. If too late, the funding might be exhausted again before its FP submission.

For now, the country's REDD+ result  has been calculated for a whole country (note that the country's REDD+ result report covered 2011-2018), and we expect to claim the payment for a part of any single year between 2014 and 2018 depending on the Phase II TOR. The reinvestment (use-of-proceed) program tentatively targets the Northwest and the Northeast regions with the specific target provinces to be selected later.

If you have any questions regarding the GCF REDD+ RBP program for Vietnam, I suggest you direct your questions to either DoSTIC/DoF or JICA/SNRM2 office as we are working together on this program.

Best,

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Baku Takahashi (Mr.)
Chief Technical Advisor
JICA Enhancing Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project (SNRM2)
Address: Room 601, MBFPs, Bldg. #2, 16 Thuy Khue, Tay Ho, Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Phone: +84-24-7304-6336
Mobile: +84-97-574-3507
Email: Baku....@gmail.com

https://www.jica.go.jp/project/english/vietnam/058/index.html
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