Overview

This document presents the 2021 Workplan and Budget for UN-REDD Programme's Technical Assistance (TA) for REDD+ Implementation. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the 2021 workplan will operate in a transition year, in which the current UN-REDD projects (national programmes and technical assistance to REDD+ implementation) will transition into the new UN-REDD results framework (which is aligned to the Paris Agreement and the new approaches and opportunities for forest solutions). In this sense, this transitional workplan and budget builds on the original (2015) UN-REDD Programme ToR and the priority countries of the 2018-2020 period, while referring to the new UN-REDD Results Framework (2021-2025). This workplan reflects the deliberation of the Executive Board at its 4^th meeting in June 2020 and will be reviewed prior to the end of the year, to better align it with worldwide COVID-19 recovery plans and to incorporate insights from an inception process, notably with regards to UN-REDD role in supporting countries access new REDD+ performance finance, notably ART, the new REDD+ market platform with a high social and environmental standard (known as TREES).

Given the disruption and uncertainty caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected long-term planning and resource mobilisation efforts, the Programme will implement in 2021 a costed one-year extension of its 2018-2020 budget for TA for REDD+ Implementation, while the development of a new phase of operations through 2025 (with a view to 2030) continues in parallel.

The 2021 TA for REDD+ Implementation builds on the approved workplan and budget for 2020 while contributing to the results framework for the forthcoming period (2021-2025), which is structured by the following four inter-related outcomes:

1. Forest solutions realised: On-the-ground actions to generate forest-based GHG emission reductions and enhanced removals, of increasing quality, across countries and jurisdictions
2. Forest solutions rewarded: Mobilising finance for REDD+ results, including performance- based, finance schemes, emerging carbon markets and private sector's offset commitments
3. Forest solutions enhanced: Raising ambition and acceleration of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement
4. Connecting actors and knowledge for forest solutions: Deploying a global, transformative nature-based solution (NBS) movement to accelerate climate action.

The 2021 Workplan and Budget, presented in narrative form below and with more detail in the annexes, covers the technical assistance and knowledge management support that will be provided by the UN-REDD Team over the coming year, with some indicative activities that can be anticipated now. It is presented through the following sections:

1.  Country Support

2.  Knowledge Management

3.  Budget