U.S. Climate Finance

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is investing $5.9 million in the Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF) program, which takes a regional approach to improve REDD+ policy, planning, and institutional frameworks in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. The program is demonstrating how to simultaneously lower greenhouse gas emissions, improve land management, and enhance people's livelihoods, while contributing to building REDD+ architecture through linking sub-national actions to national monitoring systems. The U.S. Forest Service is providing targeted technical assistance in forest monitoring systems, carbon-sensitive land use planning, and capacity building. LEAF is also supporting the development and implementation of ASEAN regional guidelines for setting forest emissions baselines, which will provide practical, harmonized, science-based standards for countries in the region. LEAF's regional approach involves replicating and scaling up innovations and successes through regional platforms and partnerships. The program intends to catalyze more rapid change by enabling practitioners to learn from each others' experiences and standardize policies and approaches where they are beneficial.