Norway donates US$ 110 million to the Amazon Fund

Norway donated US$ 110 million to the Brazilian government's Amazon Fund on March 25. This is the first donation to be received by the Fund. Germany has already committed to donating another US$ 18 million. The money will go towards sustainable development and conservation initiatives in the Amazon Forest, in a new effort to halt deforestation and environmental degradation in the region.

By June, Brazil´s Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social/BNDES), in charge of fund management, will have started receiving proposal letters from NGOs, companies and federal, municipal or state governments interested in carrying out conservation initiatives focused on reducing CO2 emissions. All initiatives must be in accordance with the Brazilian government's Action Plan for the Prevention and Control the Deforestation of the Legal Amazon (Plano de Prevenção de Combate ao Desmatamento na Amazônia/PPCDAM) and Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS). Funds applied will not be reimbursed, however - except in cases in which preestablished goals are provenly not reached. Fund application will be supervised during all phases of project implementation.

Proposals will be analyzed by the Bank and, if approved, returned to proponents for detailing of technical and managerial aspects. Examples of projects eligible for grants from the Fund are management of forests and protected areas, ecological and economic zoning, conservation and sustainable use, monitoring and payment for environmental services.

The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (MMA) participates in the Fund through a Technical Committee. MMA projects will be submitted to BNDES analysis in equal terms and conditions. Rules for approval of proposals were defined when the Fund was created, and viability analysis is carried out by the bank.

Fundraising is based on reductions in deforestation: whenever Brazil proves it has reduced degraded areas, implying in a reduction of CO2 emissions, it is eligible for carbon credits, according to international prices. Thus, the 200 million tonnes of CO2 corresponding to the 1996-2005 period mean a donation of up to U$ 1 billion; the remittance of US$ 128 million were guaranteed this week.
According to Brazilian minister of the Environment Carlos Minc, three other countries are willing to donate to the Fund - but he would rather not say who, yet, "so as not to influence negotations".

Minc assured Norwegian ambassadress Turid Euzebio - who signed the donation agreement on behalf of Norway - that "every cent will be applied in defense of the forest and in defense of the Earth".

The minister said the Norwegian donation was both generous and an example to other countries - recalling that Norway has always sought to invest in initiatives focused on indigenous peoples and the environment in foreign countries.

According to ambassadress Euzebio, the Congo and Tanzania, amongst others, have also received funds from Norway for the conservation of ther tropical rainforests.

BNDES president Luciano Coutinho, on the other hand, saod the bank will launch a site for the Amazon Fund, so as to afford "transparency" to anything which refers to Amazon Fund fundraising and application.

Combatting deforestation - The Amazon Fund is an unprecedented mechanism presented by Brazil at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali in 2008. Donations can be made by governments, companies and individuals who are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

It is the first time the struggle against deforestation includes a series of encompassing initiatives for promoting sustainable development in the Amazon.

Annual deforestation indexes used for calculating reductions in emissions will be compared, every year, to average 10-year deforestation indexes.