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Land-use finance mapping in Côte d’Ivoire

1. Scoping summary

  • Main objectives of the study

    To identify the nature and volume of domestic and international public finance relevant to limiting deforestation and improving sustainable land use for two main reasons:

    • measure progress in delivering REDD+ relevant investment needs
    • identify opportunities to increase financial support
  • Key policy framework

    National REDD+ Strategy

  • Sources of finance

    International and domestic public finance

  • Type of finance

    Investments

  • Typology framework

    • Green flows: investments aligned to REDD+ objectives
    • Grey flows: investments non-aligned to REDD+ objectives, potentially driving deforestation and forest degradation (unknown impact)
  • Sectors covered

    • Forestry
    • Environment and sustainable development
    • Agriculture and rural development
    • Energy
    • Mining
    • Planning and development
    • Economics and Finance
  • Geographical scope

    National

  • Period

    Single year study for 2015 data

  • Project champion

    Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development through the REDD+ unit

  • Main data sources

    • Domestic public finance: national budget information system of the Ministry of Budget extracting executed investment data from 12 ministries
    • Project information: Ministry of Planning
    • International public finance: Database of the Ministry of Economics and Finance, Donor coordination group
  • Technical assistance

    • Climate Policy Initiative
    • EU REDD Facility
    • Impactum
  • Funding

    • EU REDD Facility
    • UN-REDD program
  • Time and budget

    • Time: 12 months
    • Budget: USD 200 000

2. Detailed objectives of the study

This study was commissioned by the REDD+ unit of the Ministry in charge of the Environment of Côte d’Ivoire, in the context of the finalisation of the National REDD+ Strategy. Specific objectives of the study were to:

  • Provide insight into the nature and volume of international and domestic public financial flows that already contributed to REDD+ objectives, prior to the implementation of the REDD+ Strategy, and provide a baseline
  • Identify main actors and instruments used to support land use, as well as main gaps and priorities for the financing of the REDD+ Strategy
  • Identify investments not aligned to REDD+ objectives and potentially driving deforestation and forest degradation, with a view to informing cross-sectoral dialogue on the mainstreaming of forest and climate objectives into sectoral policies

3. Process

3.1 Stakeholder involvement

  • Project implementers (the EU REDD Facility and Climate Policy Initiative) worked with Impactum, a well-networked national NGO, which facilitated key contacts in ministries and supported data collection and stakeholder engagement from Abidjan.
  • The project team worked directly with two senior analysts from the Ministry of Budget, who were appointed to support the study. This collaboration was essential to understand the scope and quality of available data, as well as request the right sets of data from the national budget information system.
  • The project benefited from the existence of multistakeholder thematic working groups in charge of the drafting of the National REDD+ Strategy. These groups were mobilised to elaborate the typology and support data interpretation.
  • A study committee was established to guide the study approach and assist with data collection and interpretation. Members included representatives from the REDD+ unit, key line ministries and National REDD+ Strategy working groups, civil society and donors.
  • Donors were engaged through their donor coordination group on environment. The French Development Agency (AFD), which was leading the group, facilitated data exchange.

3.2 Typology development

The study used a phased approach to develop the typology for the land-use finance mapping exercise:

  1. First, stakeholders identified policy areas relevant to REDD+. These were drawn from policy areas covered in the National REDD+ Strategy. Some policy areas potentially relevant to REDD+, such as demography, were purposely excluded because they were not included in the scope of the REDD+ Strategy. The definition of relevant policy areas helped identify ministries and actors to be included in the data collection.
  2. For each policy area, relevant activities were identified. They were identified on the basis of policies and measures discussed in the context of the elaboration of the REDD+ Strategy, as well as drivers of deforestation. The level of detail of activities to be defined is a challenging element. Ultimately, it should match the level of detail of the qualitative data that can be collected about financial flows. In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, the identification of relevant activities was an iterative process. As investment data was collected and analysed, new activities were identified and incorporated into the typology.
  3. Identified activities were then further separated according to whether they were aligned to the REDD+ Strategy, namely whether they could be categorised alongside the proposed REDD+ policies and measures (‘green’) or not/unknown (‘grey’). There was no data available on the impact of spending, therefore the analysis could not go as far as identifying ‘brown’ activities, driving deforestation. The typology for green activities was further structured among mitigation, adaptation and enabling environment activities, to mirror the approach taken in the REDD+ Strategy. The multistakeholder working groups played a key role in the development of the typology. They discussed and validated the identification and categorisation of each activity.

3.3 Data collection and analysis

The following datasets were used as sources of quantitative data :

  • State budget investment data was collected from the Ministry of Budget for 12 ministries considered to be potentially relevant to land use due to their REDD+ relevant policy competences.
  • The ministries’ operating budgets were excluded from the analysis due to challenges in determining which budget lines could be of relevance to REDD+ objectives.
  • International development partner disbursement data was obtained from the Comité de Mobilisation des Ressources Extérieures (COMOREX), which monitors and manages finance from development partners. This data was also gathered through a survey sent to 21 international development partners to verify information collected and inform data interpretation.
  • International sources of finance channeled through Côte d’Ivoire’s treasury could also be tracked in the state budget. In some cases, this information was also found in databases, such as the OECD Creditor Reporting System, the Voluntary REDD+ Database, and the Climate Funds Update.

The following datasets were used as sources of qualitative data :

  • The study team used a compilation of project information documents gathered annually by the Ministry of Planning and Development during the annual programming process. Reconciling qualitative and quantitative data was an arduous task. An important share of project information was missing.
  • For donor-related projects, qualitative information was collected directly from donors or from their websites.

Budget lines, programmes and projects found in the above datasets were first reviewed in accordance with the definitions outlined above to select a subset of projects that could potentially be REDD+ relevant. This subset of projects was then analysed and categorised by the study team. Following initial coding, consultations with technical ministries and development partners were conducted to improve the understanding of budgeted activities and inform data interpretation where possible.

The overall data collection and classification process is summarised in the figure below:

Figure 1: Data classification process. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

Figure 1: Data classification process. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

4. Outputs of the study

Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d'IvoireA detailed report (in French and English) was produced to inform stakeholders, as well as a foldable executive summary (in French and English) for national and international dissemination.

A series of infographics were produced to illustrate the main findings and conclusions of the report, including a Sankey diagram.

Figure 2: The landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire in 2015. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

Figure 2: The landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire in 2015. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

Figure 3: Example of another visual output of the study. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

Figure 3: Example of another visual output of the study. Source: Falconer et al. (2017) Landscape of REDD+ aligned finance in Côte d’Ivoire.

5. Main findings and use of results

  • The study showed that the current level of land-use investment makes up only a small fraction of the expected needs for implementing Côte d’Ivoire’s REDD+ Strategy. It identified main gaps and underlined the low levels of investment in reforestation and sustainable forest management, sustainable domestic energy or sustainable mining.
  • The study also highlighted the current incoherence of land-use spending and the potential of greening unsustainable investments. It showed that by greening existing agricultural finance from domestic, and especially international sources, Côte d’Ivoire and its partners could deliver over five times more REDD+ aligned finance.
  • The study highlighted the role played by international partners, who, in 2015, spent 55 times more money on agricultural intensification than in the forest sector. This served as a basis for a strategic dialogue between the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and international partners, resulting in a new strategy to rehabilitate and extend forests.
  • The study also identified opportunities to raise finance from new sources and improve the effectiveness of existing spending, including through fiscal measures, incentives for local governments, and a national REDD+ Fund.
  • Côte d’Ivoire elaborated its REDD+ Investment Plan based on the findings of this study. The Investment Plan will support the gap and needs estimates for the implementation of the REDD+ Strategy.
  • The Ministry of Planning also initiated work to integrate forest and climate change safeguards in the programming process in order to mitigate the risks of deforestation and forest degradation of land-use-related activities.

6. Limitations and lessons learnt

  • Quantitative data was very limited for industry associations, producers and investors on the private side as well as NGOs.
  • There were also some data gaps for public actors. On the domestic public side, information was lacking on public subsidies, public agencies, enterprises with public capital and local governments.
  • Qualitative information available on government programmes was incomplete. To fill information gaps, the study team held numerous bilateral meetings with technical departments of several ministries.
  • Overall, the ownership of the study was limited. Staff changes at the Ministry in charge of the Environment after the completion of the study impacted the use of the results and implementation of its recommendations. Where possible, leadership should be ensured by engaging several ministries and/or cross-cutting authorities, such as ministries of finance or higher-level authorities.

Resources

  • Online briefing: The Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire
  • Executive summary in English and French
  • Full report in English and French
  • Sankey diagram: Landscape of REDD+ Aligned Finance in Côte d’Ivoire in English and French
EU REDD Facility                     Climate Policy Initiative
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Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0. Credit information: European Forest Institute and Climate Policy Initiative, www.landusefinance.org | Disclaimer
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