10 March 2010

The Norway International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) was launched during the climate change negotiations at Bali in December 2007, with commitments up to $500 million a year to support efforts that reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries. The NICFI (i) works towards the inclusion of REDD in a new international climate regime; (ii) takes early action to achieve cost-effective and verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; and (ii) promotes the conservation of natural forests to maintain their carbon storage capacity. The LTS consortium provides real-time evaluation services to the NICFI, through the Evaluation Department of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.  LTS progressively assesses the results of the NICFI with regard to its objectives and the general objectives of Norwegian development cooperation, such as those related to livelihoods, economic and social development and the environment.