Forestry institutions

Building organizational capacity for cross-sectoral coordination of finance and investment

Many countries face the challenge to effectively mobilize and use the national and international funding that is available in the forest and climate change sectors. Such challenge is exacerbated by weak organizational capacities for cross-sectoral coordination of investments and finance opportunities within the government as well as for monitoring and evaluation of financing flows and impacts. The consequences of such weak organizational capacities are inefficiencies, gaps and duplications in funding efforts.

Understanding, developing and implementing cross-sectoral country investment plans

An orientation training session was held in Rome from 13-15 October 2014. Organized by the Forest Governance Team with the support of the project, ‘Strengthening the Environment, Forestry and Climate Change Capacities of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its Agencies’ of Bangladesh, the Forest and Farm Facility, and the FAO-Finland Programme, the session built on FAO's experience through its Investment Center, the Agricultural Development Economics Division, in supporting the development and implementation of country investment plans in food security, nutrition and agriculture in Africa and Asia.

Eleven high level government officials from Bangladesh and three other countries (Tanzania, Myanmar and Peru) participated in the session. The main purpose was to enhance understanding and knowledge on the needs, importance and formulation of Country Investment Plans (CIP) for the environment, forestry and climate change sectors for better environmental security and sustainability in the country.

The orientation training equipped the participants with the understanding of and basic knowledge on:

Concept and process of CIP, its uses and linkage to policy development
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) aspects and investment tracking systems in environment sectors
Institutional capacities needed for CIP implementation and monitoring
Governance principles and mechanisms of financing instruments for climate change and forests.

Bangladesh is the first country which has initiated this innovative and important multi sectoral, integrated and inclusive investment planning in environment, forestry & climate change sectors with the technical support of FAO and financial help of USAID. Environmental security and sustainability is identified as the main goal of the CIP in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh CIP will have 3 main components: (i) reducing the impacts of climate change vulnerability (building a climate resilient society), ii) ensuring sustainable flow of ecosystems goods and services and (iii) maintaining clean living environment (air, soil and water pollution control). The delegates prepared a time-bound tentative action plan for CIP preparation. Other participating countries such as Tanzania, Myanmar, and Peru, showed strong interest to learn from Bangladesh's experience and to start CIP in their own countries with the help of FAO.