Lao People's Democratic Republic

The Lao National Safeguards Information System (LNSIS) is a national-level system for providing information on how the Cancun safeguards are addressed and respected, during implementation of REDD+ activities in Lao PDR. The LNSIS outlines objectives, institutional arrangements, database management and reporting mechanisms.

The NRS of Lao PDR has a vision that by 2030 forest and forestland, which will cover 70% of the country’s total land area, are sustainably managed, protected, developed and utilized through the participation of all stakeholders in the whole society; forest management systems are enhanced; and forest can provide efficient economic, social and environment services. The NRS of Lao PDR set the target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the forestry sector by 30 million tCO2e by 2025. This includes reducing emissions from forest/tree loss of around 21 million tCO2e, and the promotion of emission removals of around 9 million tCO2e through forest restoration and plantation.

According to the Decision 12/CP 19: 1. Reiterates that according to decision 12/CP.17, paragraph 3, developing country Parties undertaking the activities referred to in decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70, should provide a summary of information on how all of the safeguards referred to in decision 1/CP.16, appendix I, are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of the activities; 2. Reiterates that according to decision 12/CP.17, paragraph 4, the summary of information referred to in paragraph 1 above should be provided periodically and be included in national communications, or communication channels agreed by the Conference of the Parties; 3. Agrees that the summary of information referred to in paragraph 1 above could also be provided, on a voluntary basis, via the web platform on the UNFCCC website Therefore, Lao People’s Democratic Republic would like to submit its first SOI for the period 2015-2018.

The NFMS Roadmap of Lao PDR is developed as a shared vision for developing the NFMS and to enhance coordinated actions among the stakeholders. It is made through a consultative process and provides clear orientation for developing further and operationalizing the NFMS for Lao PDR. It aims to describe the current NFMS and proposes potential for improvements into the future. It mainly shows the conceptual design of NFMS including the composition and phased approach, methodology of each component, institutional arrangement and action calendar for implementing and managing the NFMS in Lao PDR. It has a nature as a ‘living document’ which will be updated as necessary by reflecting the changes over time.

1. This report covers the technical assessment (TA) of the submission of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on its proposed forest reference emission level (FREL)/forest reference level (FRL),1 submitted on 5 January 2018 in accordance with decisions 12/CP.17 and 13/CP.19. The TA took place (as a centralized activity) from 19 to 23 March 2018 in Bonn, Germany, and was coordinated by the UNFCCC secretariat.2 The TA was conducted by two land use, land-use change and forestry experts from the UNFCCC roster of experts3 (hereinafter referred to as the assessment team (AT)): Mr. Emil Cienciala (Czechia) and Mr. Javier Fernandez (Costa Rica). In addition, Mr. Thiago de Araújo Mendes (Brazil), an expert from the Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention, participated as an observer4 during the centralized activity in Bonn. The TA was coordinated by Mr. Nalin Srivastava (UNFCCC secretariat). 2. In response to the invitation of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and in accordance with the provisions of decision 12/CP.17, paragraphs 7–15, and its annex, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic submitted its proposed FREL/FRL on a voluntary basis. The proposed FREL/FRL is one of the elements5 to be developed in the implementation of the activities referred to in decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70. The COP decided that each submission of a proposed FREL/FRL, as referred to in decision 12/CP.17, paragraph 13, shall be subject to a TA in the context of results-based payments, pursuant to decision 13/CP.19, paragraphs 1 and 2, and decision 14/CP.19, paragraphs 7 and 8. 3. The objective of the TA was to assess the degree to which the information provided by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was in accordance with the guidelines for submissions of information on FRELs/FRLs6 and to offer a facilitative, non-intrusive, technical exchange of information on the construction of the FREL/FRL, with a view to supporting the capacity of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for the construction and future improvement of its FREL/FRL, as appropriate.7 4. The TA of the FREL/FRL submitted by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was undertaken in accordance with the guidelines and procedures for the TA of submissions from Parties on proposed FRELs and/or FRLs as contained in the annex to decision 13/CP.19. This report on the TA was prepared by the AT following the guidelines and procedures in the same decision. 5. Following the process contained in those guidelines and procedures, a draft version of this report was communicated to the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The facilitative exchange during the TA allowed the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to provide clarifications and additional information, which were considered by the AT in the preparation of this report.8 As a result of the facilitative interactions with the AT during the TA, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic provided a modified version of its FREL/FRL submission on 28 May 2018, which took into consideration the technical inputs of the AT. The modifications improved the clarity and transparency of the submitted FREL/FRL, altering the approach used to construct the proposed FREL/FRL. This TA report was prepared in the context of the modified FREL/FRL submission. The modified submission, containing the assessed FREL/FRL, and the original submission are available on the UNFCCC website.