Korea Forest Service Includes Latin America and Africa in 'REDD+' Investment Target Countries

The Korea Forest Service has expanded the target countries for its international forest carbon accumulation promotion project (hereinafter REDD+) to include Latin America and Africa.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 20th that it achieved the result of including Latin America and Africa as REDD+ target countries for Korea at the 29th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties, held from the 11th to the 22nd of this month in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Korea Forest Service delegation attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties is taking a group commemorative photo. Photo by Korea Forest Service

At the conference, detailed guidelines for the operation of the international carbon market under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which allows trading of carbon emission rights in a UN-operated market, were agreed upon. This means that carbon reductions generated from projects invested and implemented by developed countries in developing countries are recognized as emission reductions by the investing countries.

Following the agreement on detailed guidelines, competition among countries to secure REDD+ target sites with cost competitiveness is expected to intensify. This highlights the significance of the Korea Forest Service’s inclusion of Latin America and Africa as REDD+ target countries.

The Korea Forest Service delegation attending the conference held side events in Baku to attract investing countries for securing international forest carbon credits, introducing policies such as ▲promotion of tropical forest carbon absorption ▲cooperative approaches under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement ▲and the development direction of Korea’s forest carbon market, while requesting support from international organizations and participation from developing countries.

As a result, the target countries for investment were expanded to Latin America and Africa, including Uganda, a tropical rainforest country in Africa, with which a letter of intent for investment at a quasi-national level is planned to be signed in the first half of next year.

Additionally, Honduras, Peru, and Paraguay, tropical rainforest countries in Latin America, expressed their willingness to participate in REDD+ in two promising carbon credit investment sites each, and Ghana, a West African country, expressed its intention to participate in two inland mangrove afforestation sites, raising expectations for further expansion of REDD+ target sites.

The Korea Forest Service delegation also held a meeting with Azhikeev Boobek, Minister of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, at the conference, achieving concrete results in forest cooperation between the two countries, including forest restoration in Central Asia to respond to the climate crisis, forest disaster management, and seed conservation.

Nam Songhee, Director of International Forest Cooperation at the Korea Forest Service, said, “The Korea Forest Service is focusing on securing additional REDD+ target sites with the goal of achieving the national greenhouse gas reduction target of ‘5 million tons by 2030.’ We will discover new partner countries such as developing countries and strengthen the policy foundation to ensure stable investment by domestic companies.”