Nepal preparing to verify 20 million tonnes of CO₂ mitigation under REDD+ programmes
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 28
Senior forestry officials and climate finance experts from Indonesia, Viet Nam, and Nepal gathered in Seoul this week to explore ways to expand high-integrity forest carbon transactions across the Asia-Pacific region.
The roundtable, organized at the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) as part of Global Green Growth Week, was co-hosted by UN-REDD to support countries in transitioning from REDD+ readiness to results-based finance and Article 6 implementation under the Paris Agreement.
"Countries in the Asia-Pacific are showing that protecting forests and developing credible carbon markets go hand in hand," said Gabriel Labbate, Head of UNEP's Climate Mitigation Unit and Global Team Leader of UN-REDD. "They are building systems that store carbon, sustain livelihoods, and build trust in the markets that finance them."
Across the three countries, over 230 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e) in potential mitigation results are being prepared for verification or issuance, reflecting a growing pipeline of forest-based climate outcomes tied to community resilience and green investment.
Indonesia leads with a jurisdictional REDD+ pipeline estimated at up to 200 MtCO₂e per year under assessment between 2022 and 2026, while Viet Nam is validating around 25 million tCO₂e in emission reductions across 11 provinces.
Nepal, for its part, is preparing to verify or issue about 20 million tCO₂e under its subnational ART-TREES and FCPF programmes, marking a significant step toward shifting from donor-based REDD+ payments to market-linked carbon finance. Discussions are also advancing on a larger jurisdictional programme that could cover around 3 million hectares of forest.
The meeting also explored ways to accelerate verified issuances and clarify national positions ahead of COP 30, while assessing the potential of the proposed Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) - a non-offset mechanism offering per-hectare payments for standing forests - to attract long-term, high-integrity investment in forest conservation.
