ASEAN High-level Seminar on the UNFCCC

ASEAN is a strong forestry block which comprises of 10 Member States including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. ASEAN Member States (AMS) have approximately 283.2 million ha of forests, which amount to 33.4% of the total countries' land area, and cover approximately 16% of the total tropical forests in the world (FAO, 2006).

In the context of climate change, land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) significantly contribute to global emissions. In the past 20 years, it has been estimated that the emissions from LULUCF have reached 1.65 Gt Carbon per year or about 17% of the global emissions (IPCC, 2006). About 75% of this has been from developing countries, especially those which have large areas of tropical forest (FAO, 2006).

ASEAN see that there are opportunities for climate change mitigation in ASEAN's forests through the Afforestation/Reforestation Clean Development Mechanism (A/R CDM) and the Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme.

Based on the report of the 11th Meeting of the ASOF, it was agreed that A/R CDM and REDD should be an agenda item in the ASOF, and development of project proposals on REDD and A/R CDM distinguishing between regional and national activities for further consideration. ASOF also agreed to a high-level executive seminar in November 2008 as proposed by the ASEAN-German Regional Forest Programme (ReFOP). In this connection, the ASEAN Secretariat have invited ASOF Leaders to an ASEAN High Level Executive Seminar on REDD and A/R CDM to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia on the 12 - 13 November 2008. The ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on REDD (ARKN-REDD) contributed a draft proposal on an ASEAN Common Position Paper on REDD, which was finalized and adopted by the High Level Executive Seminar.
The key outcome of the High-Level Executive Seminar is an ASEAN Position on REDD and A/R CDM which was submitted to the UNFCCC COP 14 held in Poznan, Poland on 1 - 12 December 2008.