DEVELOP & IMPLEMENT NATIONAL POLICIES
INTENDED OUTCOMES
- Forest countries have developed, implemented, and are enforcing legislative and regulatory action informed by existing multi-stakeholder consultations that balances social, economic and environmental considerations, including:
- reducing deforestation, including encouraging and promoting best practices by companies;
- reducing corruption and amplifying enforcement efforts, including through monitoring frameworks; and
- recognizing and respecting land-rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, and smallholders.
- Green development boosts local economies and sustainable livelihoods.
- Enforcement of existing domestic laws eliminates all illegal deforestation.
PRIVATE SECTOR ROLE
- Leading companies work with civil society to advocate for domestic policy development and implementation that establishes requirements for others to adhere to sustainable practices.
- Engage with forest countries regarding integrated land use planning and deforestation free supply chains.
- Use market power to call for enabling policies that help companies accelerate the pace in implementing their pledges to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains.
ROLE OF OTHER ACTORS
- Civil society/donor governments work with forest countries/companies to enable forest positive alternative livelihoods.
- NYDF Platform assisting forest countries in incorporating forest and land use into NDCs.
- Civil society partners work with forest countries to enhance forest monitoring capacity.
- The international finance community and multilateral bodies create incentives for tropical forest regions to improve support for sustainable commodity production through innovative loans and carbon finance.
TFA ROLE
- Convene in-region companies and forest country representatives to build trust and communication in pursuit of sustainable commodity production in jurisdictions.
- Increase TFA support to encourage private sector action in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
- Convene in-region conversations to better understand politics in tropical forest regions and where the opportunities exist on-the-ground, for example, application of HCSA in high forest cover countries.
RATIONALE
- Public policies can restore competition, help create a level playing field and complement private sector actions.
- Forest countries must benefit economically and socially from adopting a green, sustainable pathway to development, including eliminating deforestation from soft commodity production.
- Without forest country legislative and regulatory action being in place, it will be very challenging to eliminate leakage markets.
- Producer country governments have the ultimate responsibility for land use planning and regularization as well as the monitoring and enforcement of relevant laws.
CURRENT STATUS
- The private sector is challenged to place no-deforestation requirements on producers that are beyond the required legal framework(s), which highlights the need for the engagement of governments.
- Particularly in high forest cover countries there is a perception that regulations promoting a forest positive future are anti-growth, which calls for a new framing of policy, initiatives, tools, and regulatory frameworks that improve livelihoods, create jobs, help for responsible decision making, and stimulate (green) economic growth.
- Producer countries have ultimate responsibility for legal enforcement, which places upon them a disproportionate cost burden.