Laos: Approval of the GCF REDD+ Results-Based Payment (2025/10/30) and the 5th JCC Meeting (2025/12/09)

■ Approval of GCF FP282: Rewarding the Lao PDR’s Emission Reduction Efforts

On October 30, 2025, during the 43rd Meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the project "REDD+ Results-based Payment - Governance, Forest Landscape and Livelihoods Project in Southern Lao PDR (GFLL-SL)" was officially approved. JICA served as the Accredited Entity for this proposal submitted by the Government of Lao PDR. Under this approval, approximately USD 62 million will be disbursed in recognition of approximately 14 million tons of CO₂ emission reductions achieved by Lao PDR between 2015 and 2018.
To secure this funding, JICA, through the F-REDD 2 project, provided extensive support to the Lao government in the preparation of Funding Proposal 282 (FP282). This approval marks a historic milestone, representing the culmination of many years of collaboration on REDD+ between the Lao government and Japan.

■ The 5th JCC: Looking Toward the Final Year and New Horizons

On December 9, 2025, two months after the GCF approval, the 5th Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) was held. With the project approaching its conclusion, participants reviewed achievements to date and discussed the work plan for 2026, the project’s final year. During the meeting, stakeholders expressed high expectations for reinvesting the newly acquired GCF funds through the GFLL-SL project to advance policy formulation and capacity building at the central-level, and forest conservation efforts across five southern provinces, including Savannakhet.

■ The Virtuous Cycle of REDD+: Linking Results to Sustained Forest Conservation

Lao PDR has already begun receiving results-based payments from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) also with technical support from JICA, making this GCF project the country’s second instance of REDD+ results-based payments from public fund. This success proves that the REDD+ mechanism can serve as a powerful incentive for forest conservation in Lao PDR, enabling the reinvestment of payment proceeds into further conservation. This "virtuous cycle" is precisely the outcome that both Lao PDR and its donors have sought as a core objective of their REDD+ efforts. All those involved are deeply encouraged that JICA's support has played such a vital role in achieving this significant contribution.