South American civil servants and civil society partners learn about the science of climate change and issues of implementation
In 2013, the GCF Training Program (South America) brought together 46 civil servants and civil society partners from the GCF’s six Brazilian states (Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Mato Grosso, Pará, and Tocantins) and Madre de Dios, Peru. The decentralized design of the Training Program allowed the South American region to uniquely structure its program to facilitate horizontal policy alignment by engaging personnel from ministries and departments not typically involved in REDD+ and low emissions development, thereby addressing the need to socialize the concepts and programs more broadly across GCF governments.
The 4-day program featured intensive training on key REDD+ topics ranging from the science of climate change all the way to issues of implementation, such as financing and legal frameworks. This innovative socialization of the principles of REDD+ and low emissions development facilitated the creation of Tocantins’ first cross-ministerial Working Group, whose purpose is to propose a state-specific study on REDD+ and to facilitate public discussion. The state of Pará also capitalized on the uniquely diverse gathering of experts, creating an executive committee to advance REDD+ policies in the state.