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Concept Note4 March 2014

Sustainable Landscapes for Green Growth in Southeast Asia

5-6 May 2014 | Jakarta, Indonesia

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Overview 3

Forests and landscapes’ contribution to Southeast Asia’s green economy 3Objectives 3Outcomes 4Target audience 4Background 6

The Summit 7Indonesia as host country 7A summit framed by a landscape approach 7

Summit agenda 9

About the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) 10

Communications and outreach 10

Opportunities for partners and sponsors 11Exhibition table tops 11Landscapes Issues Marketplace 11

Annexes I ASEAN background and ongoing processes 12II Sustainable Development Goals and

the Post-2015 Development Agenda 14

Table of contents

Produced as part of

Concept Note 3

OverviewThe Forests Asia Summit will see Ministers from across Southeast Asia join CEOs, civil society leaders, development experts and the world’s top scientists in Jakarta to share knowledge on how the region can accelerate the shift toward a green economy by better managing its forests and landscapes.

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic regions. Its economy is growing rapidly led by a rising middle class but it faces major policy challenges: inequality, uncertain land tenure, unsustainable land use, a loss of biodiversity, food insecurity and climate change. Against this backdrop, some Southeast Asian economies are adopting a green-growth approach, voluntarily establishing targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to sustainably manage their forests and landscapes. Similarly, leading businesses are committing themselves to sustainable land use and investment practices.

Still, more needs to be done. Agricultural expansion in Southeast Asia threatens the world’s third-largest tropical forest and the many ecosystem services they provide. And unsustainable land-use change has made the region one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Informed by the latest research and best practices, the Forests Asia Summit will allow participants to share knowledge with policy makers and each other in the pursuit of new green-growth pathways for development.

The Summit – organized by the Center for International Forestry Research and co-hosted by the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry – will be the largest in Asia in recent years and is expected to attract more than 1,000 leading stakeholders from across Southeast Asia and globally. Tens of thousands more are expected to participate online or through nationwide broadcasts. There will be special learning events with leading global experts on the Green Economy, the Southeast Asian haze crisis, climate change negotiations and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Forests and landscapes’ contribution to Southeast Asia’s green economyObjectivesForests Asia will inform and be informed by national, regional and international initiatives and processes, taking perspectives from other emerging economies such as China.

The summit will address issues such as governance and trade and investment opportunities, climate change mitigation and adaptation, livelihoods, sustainable food systems and nutrition.

At the regional level, the event aims to position forests and landscapes at the core of ongoing processes, including the achievement of the ASEAN Community 2015; highlighting the role sustainable landscapes can play to achieve environmental sustainability, equitable economic development in a competitive region, and to reduce the development gap among ASEAN member states.

Drawing upon existing ASEAN policy processes (Annex I), the summit will support ongoing regional strategies to:• Promote bilateral and multilateral exchanges to improve the implementation of Green Growth

policy;

4 Forests Asia Summit 2014

• Strengthen law enforcement and governance relating to land tenure, land use and trade;• Develop a low-carbon economy and enhance adaptation capacity to achieve synergies between

climate change and economic development;• Re-affirm the potential for REDD+ in ASEAN and lessons learned thus far for climate change

mitigation, biodiversity conservation and livelihoods;• Find the balance between economic growth and social development to reduce and prevent

negative impacts to food security.

International discussions around the green economy, climate change (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)), biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)), food security (Committee on World Food Security) and the Sustainable Development Goals (Annex II) have also shaped the themes of Forests Asia. Summit organizers are planning for key messages and commitments stemming from the event to later feed back into these discussions.

One notable vehicle for this will be the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), which CIFOR organizes on behalf of a large coalition of forestry, agriculture and other groups with an interest in sustainable landscapes. The first was held in Warsaw in November 2013 on the sidelines of UNFCCC COP19, attracting hundreds of climate negotiators. The second will be held in Lima in December alongside COP20.

In the lead-up to the Forests Asia Summit, CIFOR will convene multi-stakeholder working groups to draft background briefs on the event’s five themes. These will then be used to refine the focus of event sessions and will be shared with all conference participants. The briefs will consist of background and context; policy needs and recommendations; research gaps; and an outline of the differing roles of stakeholders, including government, private sector, civil society, research and donors.

Two other workshops held in the lead-up to the Summit will help inform it. The first is a CIFOR-led multi-stakeholder meeting on the Southeast Asian haze crisis. The second is a CIFOR-funded Field Dialogue on Changing Outlooks for Food, Fuel, Fibre and Forests, which is being held in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan Province and organized by The Forests Dialogue.

OutcomesForests Asia will aim to produce the following outcomes: 1. Commitments to an integrated regional research program, beginning with a pilot program to

alleviate the haze crisis;2. Commitments to investments in sustainable landscapes;3. Commitments to continued multi-stakeholder dialogues to refine evidence-based policy options

for key regional challenges.

Target audienceExpected to attract more than 1,000 participants, Forests Asia will bring together a wide diversity of stakeholders from across the region who have a shared and critical interest in sustainably managing Southeast Asia’s forests and landscapes. In particular, organizers expect significant participation from the private sector to reflect the increasing urgency for and engagement in corporate sustainability.

Leaders of government, private sector, civil society, research bodies, donor agencies as well as the media are invited to take part in an open discussion that seeks to bridge institutional silos and offer ‘green growth’ solutions for our common future.

Concept Note 5

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BackgroundIn recent decades, Asia has experienced rapid and sustained economic growth. Alongside overall progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, however, social and environmental vulnerability remain and disparity within and between countries is growing.

Home to more than half of the world’s population and roughly two-thirds of the world’s poor, Asia is disproportionately affected by extreme weather events, and the majority of its rural population continues to depend on climate-sensitive sectors such as forestry, agriculture or fishing.

At the turn of the 21st century, South and Southeast Asia became the world’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change. Agriculture, including cash crop plantations such as oil palm and rubber, are the primary drivers of deforestation in the region, while timber extraction and logging account for more than 70 percent of total degradation.

With the world’s highest rates of economic and population growth, an increase in consumer, food and energy needs in the region will add further pressure on Southeast Asia’s forest landscapes for forest goods, food, biofuels, hydro-power and mining developments.

Against this backdrop, Southeast Asian economies — such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam — have shifted to a ‘green growth’ approach, voluntarily establishing targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase forest cover as part of their development planning processes. Meanwhile in 2012 the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly drew up a Draft Resolution on ‘The Creation of A Green Economy to Promote Sustainable Development.’

Similarly, governments and businesses across the region are showing increasing commitment to sustainable land use and investment practices, engaging in such initiatives as the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze, the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT–VPA) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

On the international level, several ASEAN countries have engaged in the Program to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) through UN-REDD or national programs. ASEAN countries have played an active role in the process leading to the post-2015 development agenda. In the Kathmandu declaration, major stakeholder groups from the Asia-Pacific region have called for a green economy framework for equitable development and poverty eradication to guide the post-2015 agenda.

Social equity issues are also rising on the political agenda. Laws governing land tenure are changing rapidly across Asia, transforming the rights of marginalized groups, as was seen in a recent revision to the Indonesian Constitution that gave customary communities rights to customary forests, previously regarded as state-owned. Variations of community and/or state-based forest management across Southeast Asia also offer significant lessons with implications for livelihoods, food security, ecosystem services and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Concept Note 7

• Easy to understand

• Applies to any scale

• Applies to any location

• Measurable

• Sustainability can mean improvement over time

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The SummitIndonesia as host countryThe event will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia — home to the world’s third-largest rainforest and a large share of the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity. It is an acknowledgement of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s leadership in the forestry and sustainable development agenda, and organizers have welcomed President Yudhoyono’s commitment to deliver the opening keynote address.

A summit framed by a landscape approachForests Asia is guided by a landscape approach, which integrates forests, agriculture and other land-based sectors to examine their joint contribution to broader development goals.

It is a framework that can enable clear and understandable measurements to monitor progress (Fig. 2), and seeks to inform future UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreements and the achievement of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It requires the engagement of multiple stakeholders to identify combined solutions to the challenges arising from competing land uses and multiple pressures on social and environmental systems. Only by taking this cross-cutting approach will it be possible to identify the best ways forward and determine how good the proposed solutions are for the bigger picture.

Figure 2. A proposed generic set of four objectives for sustainable landscapes and a possible performance measure for each.

8 Forests Asia Summit 2014

To this end, the summit will be organized along five main themes:1. Governance and legal frameworks to promote sustainable landscapes: How can we

better address land and corporate governance for effective social and environmental safeguards, amid increasingly complex governance structures?

2. Investing in landscapes for green returns: How can we guide the benefits of economic growth to re-invest in sustainable landscapes and land use to benefit investors and producers of all scales?

3. Climate change and low emissions development on the ground: How can we promote low-emissions development in ways that meet the needs of communities in landscapes and achieve verifiable emissions reductions while generating opportunities for increased resilience to climate variability?

4. Forest landscapes for food and biodiversity: How are forests important for food systems, nutrition, health and biodiversity in Southeast Asia?

5. Changing communities, sustainable landscapes and equitable development: How can we provide opportunities for smallholders to improve livelihoods? How do processes of migration, urbanization and multi-locality of households interact with landscapes?

Landscapes and the landscapes approach

The landscapes approach provides a broad framework that fully integrates all land-based sectors — forestry, agriculture, fisheries, livestock, mining, and urban land use — into a sustainable development agenda. It seeks to assess performance against broader development goals such as poverty eradication, green growth, food security and nutrition, climate change mitigation and adaptation, efficient cities and sustainable land use and farm practices.

Concept Note 9

Summit agenda

Monday, May 5 07:00 – 09:00 Registration

09:00 – 10:30 Parallel Discussion Forums

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30 Parallel Discussion Forums

12:30 - 14.00 Lunch & Landscapes Issues Marketplace1. Learning Event: Fire and haze in Southeast Asian landscapes

14.00 – 15.45 Day 1 Opening Plenary

15.45 – 16.15 Coffee Break

16.15 – 17.45 Parallel Discussion Forums

18.00 – 20.00 Special Session: Youth in Southeast Asia

19.30 – 22.00 VIP dinner hosted by KADIN and Global Initiatives

Tuesday, May 6 07:00 – 09:00 Registration

09:00 – 10:30 Day 2 Opening Plenary

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30 High Level Panel Discussions

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch & Landscapes Issues Marketplace1. Learning Event: The Green Economy in Southeast Asia2. Learning Event: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Southeast Asia

14:00 – 15:00 Keynote speeches: 1. Climate change, forests and landscapes2. Investing in sustainable landscapes

15:00 – 16:00 Panel Discussion on Key Knowledge Gaps & Policy Recommendations

16:00 – 16.30 Coffee Break

16:30 – 17:00 Private Sector Session: Commitments to deliver sustainable landscapes for green growth in Southeast Asia

17.00 – 18.00 Closing Plenary

18:00 – 20:00 Cocktail Networking Reception

10 Forests Asia Summit 2014

About the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)CIFOR is a non-profit global organization that conducts research to enable more informed and equitable decision making about the use and management of forests in less-developed countries. Founded in 1993, CIFOR’s global headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia. In Asia, it has an office in Vietnam and research sites in Cambodia, China, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, and Thailand.

CIFOR is a member of CGIAR, the world’s largest research consortium on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and it leads CGIAR’s global program on forests, trees and agroforestry.

CIFOR has significant experience convening large-scale international conferences. CIFOR organized and coordinated the past six Forests Days on the sidelines of the annual UN climate change summit. In 2011, it hosted the Forests Indonesia Conference: Alternative futures to meet demands for food, fiber, fuel and REDD+. The event attracted almost 1,000 stakeholders and saw Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono give the keynote address in which he dedicated the last three years of his presidency to the conservation and sustainable use of Indonesia’s forests, calling on businesses to unite in the effort.

Communications and outreachCIFOR will leverage its extensive media channels and networks to bring international, regional and national attention to Forests Asia, highlighting major policy speeches and the work of outstanding scientists and stakeholder groups. A comprehensive outreach campaign will be launched three months before, and continue during and after the event.

During the Summit, CIFOR will arrange live web streaming of discussions; create a live online platform for keynote and panel sessions; and host press conferences and interviews with speakers and other participants. A team of professional writers will blog sessions for distribution during and after the event. Journalists from across Asia will be encouraged to attend.

A journalist training and social media outreach program will aim to build the capacity of regional journalists and social reporters to actively engage them in the landscapes debate well ahead of the Summit. This momentum will be sustained during and after the event to share Summit outcomes.

Concept Note 11

Opportunities for partners and sponsorsThe Indonesian Ministry of Forestry is the host-country partner. Singapore-based Global Initiatives, which organizes the Business For Environment series of conferences, has come on board as partner to ensure broad involvement of the private sector – national firms and multinational.

CIFOR is in discussions with other organizations to help shape the event and host Discussion Forums.

Exhibition table topsExhibition tabletops will be available at a cost of $1,000 each for the two days. Interested organizations should apply by writing to Gugi Ginanjar at CIFOR: g.ginanjar@cgiar.org.

Landscapes Issues MarketplaceIn response to overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants at the Forest Day series of conferences CIFOR led until 2012, the Summit organizers have set aside one hour each day for semi-structured networking and discussions. We call the session Landscapes Issues Marketplace in which the audience is free to move between presentations. Participants congregate in small groups around specific themes to hear short presentations and then have the opportunity for Q&A. This session allows organizations to showcase their latest research, thinking and experiences on specific topics and receive substantive feedback. Five slots will be available on each day at a cost of $500. Interested organizations should apply by writing to Vanda Santos at CIFOR: v.santos@cgiar.org.

All other queries should be made to CIFOR’s Asia Communications Coordinator, Adinda Hasan: a.hasan@cgiar.org; +62 (0) 8118609338.

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Annex IASEAN background and ongoing processes

The ASEAN region occupies only three per cent of the earth’s total surface but is home to over 20 per cent of all known plant, animal and marine species, providing food, medicine, shelter, clothing and other biological goods and ecosystems services to almost 600 million people in ASEAN.

ASEAN Community 2015The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) aims to achieve regional economic integration by 2015 that encompasses (a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region fully integrated into the global economy. Amongst other objectives, the AEC aims to enhance market access for agriculture and forest products for long-term competitiveness (forest certification), and strengthen efforts to combat illegal logging, forest fire and its resultant effects.

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) aims to achieve (among others):• Sustainable management of forests and biodiversity conservation for eco-system services:

strengthen law enforcement and governance;• Implement climate change mitigation and adaptation based on the principles of

equity, flexibility, effectiveness, common but differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities, as well as reflecting on different social and economic conditions;

• Develop regional strategies to enhance capacity for adaptation, low carbon economy for win-win synergy between climate change and the economic development;

• International community to participate in and contribute to ASEAN’s efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and for afforestation and reforestation;

• Poverty alleviation, food security, disaster-resilient communities.

ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Draft Resolution on ‘The Creation of A Green Economy to Promote Sustainable Development’ (Sept 2012)Calls on ASEAN member countries to recognize that green economy policy may further enhance their regional commitment to achieve their national sustainable development measures and to actively respond to global climate change based on the common-but-differentiated responsibilities principle of the UNFCCC.

Urges developed countries to increasingly strengthen their political commitment to support green economy policy practised by respective ASEAN member countries by providing resources such as financial assistance, collaborative research, technology transfer and capacity building.

Recommends ASEAN Member Countries to promote bilateral and multilateral exchanges to improve the implementation of green economy policy, and to take policies and

Concept Note 13

coordinating actions to ensure that they take benefits of the use of green economy, and at the same time promote sustainable development.

ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Joint Response to Climate Change (2010)Recognizes the importance of sustainable forest management in ASEAN, to international efforts to promote environmental sustainability and mitigate climate change:• Reaffirm that REDD+ is critical for ASEAN Member States to mitigate emissions,

conserve biodiversity and support livelihoods; • Encourage implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) on

a voluntary basis, in accordance with different national circumstances;• Encourage South-South cooperation to support ASEAN Member States address impacts

of climate change;• Cooperate in knowledge sharing on climate change mitigation and adaptation for food

security in the ASEAN region;• Enhance ASEAN participation towards strengthening international cooperation/

efforts to address climate change and assess its impacts on socio-economic development.

Implementation: ASEAN Action Plan on Joint Response to Climate Change adopted in 2012.

ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (2009- 2013)Aims to ensure long-term food security, improve farmers’ livelihoods and find balance between economic growth and social development to reduce and prevent negative impacts to food security. Components:• Agricultural innovation to promote sustainable food production by:

- Optimizing land use and other natural resources; - Promoting public and private sector partnership; - Strengthening regional networks of agricultural research and development; - Promoting greater access to land and water resource, agricultural inputs and capital,

particularly among small-scale farmers. • Encourage greater investment in food and agro-based industry to enhance food security.• Identify and address emerging issues related to food security:

- Review status and trend of bio-fuels development in the region and potential impacts on food security;

- Identify measures to mitigate/adapt to impacts of climate change on food security, collaborate with other sectoral bodies.

In October 2013, the East Asia Summit attended by the 10 ASEAN member states adopted a declaration on food security.

14 Forests Asia Summit 2014

Annex IISustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Policy ContextTwo parallel processes:1. Formal process through the UN General Assembly: received mandate from Rio+20 -

Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals - 30 member body (including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore) - Interim Report published 30 July 2013, summarizing main points and consensus,

but no framework for SDGs yet - OWG will report to Secretary-General in September 2014 - OWG is relatively open to taking in suggestions through registered Major Groups,

several organizations have submitted pleas, suggestions and conceptual remarks2. The UN General Secretary tasked a High-level Panel with recommending ambitious yet

realistic post-2015 framework, which could include the SDGs

Key Dates• 25 September 2013: Secretary General hosted a special event in the UN General

Assembly, transition to High-level Forum on Sustainable Development, Secretary General to discuss uniting SDG and post-2015 Agendas - Outcome: countries called for a 2015 Summit to adopt a new set of Goals that

will balance the three elements of sustainable development – providing economic transformation and opportunity to lift people out of poverty, advancing social justice and protecting the environment

• Up until February 2014: OWG meetings, second phase of deliberations covering specific topics: - 5th session 25-27 Nov: Sustained and inclusive economic growth - 6th session 9-13 Dec: Means of implementation (science and technology,

knowledge-sharing and capacity building); Global partnership for achieving sustainable development

- 7th session 6-10 Jan 2014: Sustainable consumption and production; Climate change and disaster risk reduction

- 8th session 3-7 Feb 2014: Forests, biodiversity, oceans and seas• February 2014: OWG to submit new report to UN General Assembly• September 2014: OWG to submit recommendations to UN General Assembly• September 2015: High-level Political Forum to decide on post-2015 framework

With the financial assistance of

Fund

Hosted by Center for International Forestry Researchcifor.org

Host country partner Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesiadephut.go.id

Coordinating partner Global Initiativesglobalinitiatives.com

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Visit www.ForestsAsia.orgFor more information please contact Adinda Hasan: a.hasan@cgiar.org; +62 (0) 8118609338

Supporting partners