The Aichi-Nagoya Ministerial Meeting of the REDD+ Partnership: creating momentum to advance negotiations at COP16

The Aichi-Nagoya Ministerial Meeting of the REDD+ Partnership was held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in Japan on October 26, 2010, under the co-chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Seiji Maehara, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and H.E. Mr. Samuel T. Abal, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

This Ministerial Meeting was held under the "REDD+ Partnership," a mechanism designed to enhance the international coordination and cooperation on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). The REDD+ Partnership was established in response to the widely held idea that reducing emissions from REDD+ has a crucial role to play in the tackling of global warming, which was broadly recognized by the international community at the COP15 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held at the end of the last year. The Ministerial Meeting was attended by Ministers and the heads of delegations from 62 countries participating in the REDD+ Partnership. Representatives from various international organizations, the UNFCCC Secretariat and non-government organizations (NGOs) also attended the meeting.

Japan actively led discussions, as a co-chair, and also as a top donor in the forestation area. The Ministerial Meeting confirmed the achievements of the past forest preservation activities under the REDD+ Partnership, such as the creation of databases on REDD+ actions, finance and results, and mechanisms to share information. The Meeting also released a Co-Chairs' Summary that presents the outcome of activities under the Partnership and the directions of future activities to be taken by the international community. Ministers were able to strongly appeal to the international community by sharing the view that they should accelerate the initiatives of REDD+, a key pillar of climate change commitments, and create the momentum to further advance negotiations on climate change just a month before COP16.