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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Burkina Faso · 2014–2021

Burkina Faso Forest Investment Program project: 3.78 million tCO2eq in emission reductions estimated with an ex-ante tool

Nature's voice · report
At appraisal my forests and woodlands were being deforested at 105,000 to 250,000 hectares a year.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

A World Bank-administered Forest Investment Program project spent USD 23.7 million in grants across 32 communes in Burkina Faso between 2014 and 2021. The 3.78 million tCO2eq in emission reductions it reported was estimated with an ex-ante tool because the monitoring, reporting and verification system was not completed.

3.78 vs 3.52 million tCO2eq estimateEmission reductions estimated against target
Estimate: calculated with FAO's Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool; the monitoring, reporting and verification system was not completed.

Status As of the project's closing on 30 June 2021: emission reductions estimated at 3.78 million tCO2eq; MRV system not completed.

What?
A Forest Investment Program project in Burkina Faso reported 3.78 million tCO2eq in emission reductions, calculated with an ex-ante tool, on a cost of USD 25.54 million. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
Where?
32 mostly rural communes across Burkina Faso. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
When?
Approved 23 January 2014; closed 30 June 2021. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
Who?
Gained
  • Communities in 32 communes — 25 Payment for Environmental Services contracts were signed with communities; income from forests in the communes was approximately USD 60 million, as stated in the review. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
To reduce emissions from deforestation and woodland degradation, in the name of REDD+. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
How?
Grants from the Strategic Climate Fund and an EU Trust Fund, administered by the World Bank, financed forest management, conservation spaces, reforestation and payments to communities; carbon results were calculated with an ex-ante tool. World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Project P143993, 'Burkina Faso - FIP - Forest Mgmt.' (the Decentralized Forest and Woodland Management Project), was financed by the Strategic Climate Fund's Forest Investment Program and an EU Trust Fund grant, and administered by the World Bank. It was approved on 23 January 2014, had an original closing date of 31 December 2019 and closed on 30 June 2021 after four restructurings, the last on 22 December 2020. It covered 32 mostly rural communes. At appraisal, deforestation was stated at 105,000 to 250,000 hectares a year.

The Implementation Completion Report, as reviewed by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (ICR Review ICRR0022868), reported these outputs: reforestation of 1,400 ha; avoided deforestation on about 2,500 ha; reduced forest degradation on 6,000 ha; 72 conservation spaces on 30,000 ha; over 600,000 plants planted, with an average survival rate of 70% at closing; and 25 Payment for Environmental Services contracts signed with communities. A Forest Reference Level was set and submitted to the UNFCCC for assessment in the context of results-based payments.

The review states that 3.78 million tCO2eq were 'estimated to be reduced', exceeding the 3.52 million target. The monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system that was expected to set the 2012 reference level and verify carbon impact 'was not completed' under the complementary project executed by the African Development Bank; carbon impact was estimated instead with FAO's Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool.

Total project cost was USD 26.26 million at appraisal and USD 25.54 million at completion; grants spent were USD 23,712,205.29. Financing came from a USD 16.50 million Strategic Climate Fund grant (TF015339), of which USD 16.48 million was disbursed, and an EU Trust Fund grant of EUR 7.30 million amended to EUR 6.5 million (approximately USD 7.27 million), of which USD 7.24 million was disbursed. Spending on the REDD+ mainstreaming component was USD 3.83 million against an estimate of USD 6.10 million (62%); on the component addressing drivers of deforestation, USD 14.81 million against 17.07 million (86%); and on coordination and knowledge, USD 6.90 million against 3.10 million (222%). The review states that income from forests in the 32 communes was approximately USD 60 million.

A 2019 World Bank financial management review identified USD 0.9 million of ineligible expenditure, which the Government refunded in full in 2020; external auditors gave qualified opinions on the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 financial statements. The World Bank's completion report rated the outcome and Bank performance Satisfactory; the Independent Evaluation Group rated outcome Satisfactory, Bank performance Moderately Satisfactory and monitoring and evaluation quality Modest.

  1. 2014Project approved (23 Jan)
  2. 2019Original closing date (31 Dec); World Bank financial management review identifies USD 0.9 million of ineligible expenditure
  3. 2020Government refunds the ineligible expenditure in full; last restructuring (22 Dec)
  4. 2021Project closes (30 Jun)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“estimated to be reduced”

“was not completed”

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Completion report: 3.78 million tCO2eq 'estimated to be reduced', against a target of 3.52 million.
  • Completion report: average survival rate of 70% for over 600,000 plants at closing.

Recorded

  • Emission reductions were estimated with FAO's Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool; the MRV system was not completed.
  • Coordination and knowledge spending reached 222% of its estimate; REDD+ mainstreaming spending reached 62%.
  • USD 0.9 million of ineligible expenditure refunded by the Government in 2020; qualified audit opinions for 2017-2020.
  • At COP26 on 1 November 2021 the World Bank President cited a Burkina Faso project aiming at about 10 million certified carbon credits.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

—
Component 1: REDD+ mainstreaming (actual)$3.83m
Appraisal estimate USD 6.10 million (62%).
Component 2: drivers of deforestation (actual)$15m
Appraisal estimate USD 17.07 million (86%).
Component 3: coordination and knowledge (actual)$6.9m
Appraisal estimate USD 3.10 million (222%).

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Ineligible expenditure refunded by the Government (2019 review; refund 2020)$0.9m
Income from forests in the 32 communes$60m
As stated in the review.
Reached the ground
—
Currency: USD · Window: 2014-2021. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • world-bank (c. 2022): The Implementation Completion Report rated the outcome Satisfactory and Bank performance Satisfactory; the Independent Evaluation Group rated outcome Satisfactory, Bank performance Moderately Satisfactory and monitoring and evaluation quality Modest. · World Bank Independent Evaluation Group

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Emission reductions
3.78 million tCO2eq (estimate)
Against a 3.52 million target; ex-ante tool, no completed MRV system
Survival rate
70%
Average, of over 600,000 plants at closing
Area protected or restored
1,400 ha reforested; 6,000 ha degradation reduced
Reported outputs at closing

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Court

Record

  • Not measured Not measured: verified emission reductions. The MRV system expected to verify carbon impact was not completed, and carbon impact was estimated with FAO's Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool.
  • Insufficient Insufficient: social monitoring. The review states that no baseline household surveys were carried out at the outset, that yearly monitoring of social dynamics was not carried out and that data transmission was delayed.
  • None on record None on record: court proceedings or insurance claims.
  • Unclear Unclear: whether any results-based REDD+ payment followed the Forest Reference Level submission to the UNFCCC.

Did the harm stop?

None on record.

Who paid?

Strategic Climate Fund and EU Trust Fund grants totalling USD 23.7 million, administered by the World Bank; the Government refunded USD 0.9 million of ineligible expenditure in 2020.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

  1. ICR Review ICRR0022868: Burkina Faso - FIP - Forest Mgmt. (P143993)
    World Bank Independent Evaluation Group · c. 2022

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Carbon and conservation finance

Baseline
The projected scenario of what would have happened without a project, such as an expected rate of deforestation. Credits are issued for the difference between the baseline and what actually happened, so an inflated baseline produces more credits.
Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. A UN framework under which forest projects earn carbon credits for deforestation they say they prevented, measured against a projected baseline.

Bonds and banking

Arranger
The bank that structures and sells a bond or loan deal, usually for a fee.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Land titling
Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.
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