Who wears the REDD+ pants in Papua New Guinea?

Presented by Andrea Babon (CDU/CIFOR)

An analysis of the actors, institutions and power relations shaping national policies for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in PNG

Overview Present preliminary findings from a Policy Network

Analysis (PNA) which maps relationships between stakeholders (actors) in REDD+ policy arena in PNG We find both state and civil society actors are both

influential and central in REDD+ policy networks in PNG. We suggest that PNG’s system of customary land

tenure has enabled a discourse coalition based on landowner rights to (re)emerge and dominate the REDD+ policy arena Whether this coalition can challenge business-as-

usual interests driving deforestation and forest degradation remains to be seen.

A (brief) history of REDD+ in PNG RED(D)(+) First proposed by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica

in 2005 at COP 11 in Montreal Office of Climate Change & Carbon Trade established in 2008 to

develop climate change policy and manage carbon trading in PNG

Media reports of ‘carbon cowboys’ conning landowners and engaging in shady deals with government

OCC&CT plagued by scandals - Exec. Dir. sacked; name change to Office of Climate Change & Environmental Sustainability

International Consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. engaged to help develop ‘Climate Compatible Development Strategy’

Widespread criticism of governance arrangements and lack of national ownership of policy process

New governance structure for REDD+ developed in 2010 which creates a new ‘lean & professional’ Office of Climate Change and Development

Policy Network Analysis (PNA)

• Draws on Social Network Analysis (SNA) theory • focuses on the nature, quality & structure of

relationships among policy actors (Wasserman & Faust 1994)

• Recognises that, while politicians and state actors have final decision making power, policy emerges from a network of inter-dependent actors (c.f. Kenis & Schneider 1991)

• PNA can enhance understanding of policy processes by identifying influential actors and the source of this influence (Fisher 2011)

Methods • Set boundary of REDD+ policy

arena • Quantitative data collection

through surveys • Network analysis using UCINET

computer software (Borgatti 2002)

• Qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews, document reviews and personal observation – used to ‘triangulate’ and provide context for quantitative data

Setting the boundary of the network • Following Laumann & Knoke (1987), policy actors

defined as: “all organizations perceived by others, and that consider themselves, a part of the policy domain and able to influence the agenda setting, formulation and implementation of national REDD+ policies in PNG”

• Identified through qualitative data (context analysis; media analysis) and expert-panel

REDD+ policy actors in PNG

Actor Group Number of actors

Survey respondent

Survey Response rate %

Interview Participant

Government 12 7 50% 5 University/Research Instit. 8 6 75% 4 Private Sector 12 5 42% 3 National NGO 12 10 83% 7 International NGO 10 9 90% 4 International Organization 2 1 50% 0 Donor 10 7 70% 5

Total 66 45 68% 28

Survey questions Network type Survey Question Influence Q1. Please indicate those organizations that

stand out as especially influential on domestic REDD+ policies

Communication and Information exchange

Q2. Please indicate those organizations with which you regularly or routinely discuss and exchange information about national REDD+ policy matters

Actor 1 Actor 2 Actor n

Actor 1 - 1 0

Actor 2 1 - 1

Actor n 0 1 -

Influential actors Three organisations stand out as

particularly influential: • the Office of Climate Change and

Development (OCCD) • the Papua New Guinea Forest

Authority (PNGFA) • The Eco-Forestry Forum (EFF) Other prominent actors include mix

of government, donors, local research institutes, and local and international NGO actors. Domestic organisations generally

more influential than international organisations

‘Top 20’ most influential actors Rank Organization name Organization type % Survey

respondents nominating

1 Office of Climate Change and Development Government 86% 2 Papua New Guinea Forest Authority Government 80%

Papua New Guinea Eco-Forestry Forum NGO 80% 3 Office of the Minister for Forestry and Climate Change Government 73% 4 Office of Prime Minister Government 70%

UN-REDD Donor 70% 5 National Climate Change Committee Government 59% 6 Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute Government 55%

National Research Institute Research Institute 55% AusAID Donor 55%

7 McKinsey and Company Private sector 52% 8 Department of Environment and Conservation Government 50%

UPNG Remote Sensing Centre Research Institute 50% 9 University of Papua New Guinea Research Institute 48%

Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights NGO 48%

10 World Wildlife Fund NGO 45% 11 Office of PNG Sp. Envoy and Embass. For Climate Change Government 43% 12 Forestry Industry Association Papua New Guinea Private sector 41%

Coalition for Rainforest Nations International Organization

41%

JICA Donor 41%

Information Network

Information Network

OCCD PNGFA

Information Network

OCCD PNGFA

EFF

REDD+ perspectives

General consensus amongst REDD+ policy actors on many issues: • REDD+ is an effective mechanism for reducing

carbon emissions • REDD+ can contribute to other goals such as

improved forest governance • Importance of engaging landowners in decision-

making and implementation, including free prior and informed consent (FPIC)

Benefit sharing

Discussion • REDD+ policy arena comprised of actors from a number of

different stakeholder groups • Well-connected policy networks – e.g. information

exchange • State actors are the most influential actors in the REDD+

policy arena given their formal role in national policy processes

• Civil society has also been both influential and central in the REDD+ policy arena - largely through Eco-Forestry Forum as a representative organisation

• Private sector peripheral in many REDD+ policy networks, e.g.. information exchange, even though they are involved in activities leading to deforestation and forest degradation.

• Salience of landowner rights discourse in REDD+ policy arena – ‘ideology of landownership’ in PNG (Filer 2005)

Limitations Missing data means we do not have complete

information about the networks and can introduce bias if certain actor groups under-represented PNA is a ‘Snapshot in time’ – only includes those

actors involved in REDD+ policy processes at a particular point in time REDD+ policy arena is a ‘sub-set’ of broader

forest policy arena – does not help us understand the power of those actors promoting REDD+ vs. actors with a vested interest in activities driving deforestation and forest degradation Still need qualitative data to help explain and

understand network measures

Conclusion Suggest that customary landowners ‘wear the REDD+

pants in PNG’ BUT…A bigger question remains:

Is the coalition of actors promoting REDD+ powerful enough to challenge business-as-usual interests driving deforestation and degradation in PNG?

For further information, please contact me at andrea_babon@yahoo.com I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Daniel McIntyre (CIFOR), Gae Gowae (UPNG) and Nalau Bingeding (NRI) to the Policy Network Analysis