Northern Laos Emission Reductions Payment Programme (GFLL / FCPF Carbon Fund)

Under the Governance, Forest Landscapes and Livelihoods programme for Northern Laos, the Government of Lao PDR — through its Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Department of Climate Change Management) and the National REDD+ Taskforce — signed an Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank-administered Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Carbon Fund in December 2020. The agreement pays the government for verified reductions in deforestation and forest degradation across six northern provinces (Houaphanh, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bokeo and Xayabouly) — roughly one-third of the country's territory — against an agreed forest-reference emission level, with funds intended to flow through a national and provincial benefit-sharing plan to district and village forest management.

The ERPA is worth up to US$42 million for up to 8.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent reduced between January 2019 and December 2024. In July 2024, Laos received its first tranche of US$16 million after the FCPF verified 3.2 million tonnes of CO2e reduced between January 2019 and December 2021 — making it only the second country in the East Asia-Pacific region to receive an FCPF results-based payment.

The record so far covers only the first of two expected payments, with the larger remaining share of the US$42 million still contingent on further monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV). Laos's domestic carbon-market governance is also still maturing: national reporting (Vientiane Times) covers the government's parallel effort to draft its first carbon-credit regulatory decree in 2024, and separate reporting on unsold credits from other REDD+ projects in southern Laos suggests the institutional capacity to manage and transparently disburse forest-carbon revenue nationally is not yet fully established.

Read the full analysis: https://www.vientianetimes.org.la/freefreenews/freecontent_67_Govtmakes_y24.php