I wish I could bring some more encouraging news on the REDD+ Partnership, but it’s looking unlikely at this rate. More shady dealings, it seems. After their meeting last weekend (27-28 Nov) the Partnership approved a document detailing their work program for the next two years. This document contained a significant amount of language on safeguards, specifically outlining the activities that the Partnership could finance in this regard, including the development of monitoring protocols, definitions, means of stakeholder engagement. It was submitted to the Secretariat of the Partnership for editing. All good so far.
But it seems that something more than mere editing occurred by the time the document was sent back to Parties on Wednesday. The word ‘safeguards’ was still in the document, but stripped of nearly all the context and details it is now a vague commitment to some unspecified activity, quite easy to sidestep. The Secretariat could not have made such changes. What happened between the edited document leaving the Secretariat’s hands, and reaching the inboxes of the Parties? Where did it go? I leave such speculation to other, better-connected commentators…
The upshot is, unless some Parties themselves object by email by 20:00 this evening, the document becomes official decision. Few of them, I suspect, will have expected substantial changes from the version they signed off on Monday, so may not have scrutinised it. But if any happen to be reading this, there may still be time to flick through and check. I’m off to see if I can spread the word. Thanks to Global Witness and Forest Trends for spotting this.
Posted by Ben Vickers
RECOFTC's Blog for People and Forests 
recoftc
/ December 6, 2010Thanks very much for this, David
David Diaz
/ December 6, 2010Ben,
Thanks for timely post and spreading the word. It will be helpful for me to correct an error in our original reporting. On Sunday, December 5 at 20:00 the public commenting period closed. We are now expecting a final draft to be released Monday, December 6 at 20:00. Partners will then have until Wednesday, December 8 to register any objections via e-mail.
Stay tuned to Ecosystem Marketplace for additional coverage of this final draft if and when it comes out this evening. We will cover any additional edits that may have been made and observe what, if any, effect this growing awareness of the safeguard cuts may have on the Work Program.