Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 36
36
Accepted
Paragraph: 128
Insufficient funding directly supports Indigenous Peoples' and Local Communities' nature tenure rights.
Conclusion
It is encouraging to see the IPLC donor pledge supporting the principle of the advancement of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ forest tenure rights and rewards their role as guardians of forests and nature. However, extremely little funding pledged for nature has previously supported IPLC tenure rights, and even less has reached indigenous peoples and local community organisations directly.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation and is actively addressing the issue of direct funding for IPLCs. It details new ODA programmes that strengthen IPLC governance, including channeling £9m through the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility for direct grants and supporting capacity building for IPLCs to access carbon finance.
Paragraph Reference:
128
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Although led by FCDO, the UK’s IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge commitment pertains to UK Government as a whole. On this basis we agree with the Committee. The IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge has been successful in influencing UK priorities, resulting in new Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes that strengthen governance, including IPLC’s role within this. An important part of our work is with partner governments to support systemic changes to land and forest tenure laws and administration systems; this complements our work with IPLCs, and is a critical enabler to advancing forest tenure security. In addition to leading the launch of the IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge, the UK also led establishment of the Pledge Donor Working Group to foster coordination and collaboration between donors, and also wider organisations including CSOs and organisations led by IPLCs. This meets quarterly, and was chaired by the UK over 2022. The IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge highlighted the need for greater accountability on how donors channel support to IPLCs more effectively. The UK’s Pledge commitment is ODA and part of the UK’s International Climate Finance. Project management costs, due diligence and risk management requirements to spend public money can constrain our ability to provide direct funding to local communities at scale. To effectively fund multiple IPLC organisations while meet our reporting, risk, and accountability requirements, we work through intermediary organisations, which can manage multiple grants on our behalf while reducing administrative and reporting burdens for IPLC organisations. They can provide technical support to IPLC organisations at different development stages, thus increasing capacity of these organisations to ultimately receive direct funding. We recognise the importance of working with intermediaries that are trusted by IPLCs and accountable for how funding and technical support reach communities. We are increasingly seeking to work with organisations that give greater control to IPLCs on how funds are spent and proactively to make funds more accessible to communities. For example, the UK’s Global Land Governance Programme will channel £9m of its funding through the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility, which provides direct grants to IPLCs. Through programmes such as AIM4Forests and UK PACT, the UK is also supporting capacity building for IPLCs in relation to access to carbon finance, which can become another important source of direct finance for IPLC’s forest stewardship efforts. Successful delivery of the UK’s commitments under the IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge will require ODA budgets in these areas to be prioritised.