Guest post from Chris Meyer, writing from Bonn

I was in Bonn last week for the first of two weeks of post-Copenhagen climate change negotiations. As I wrote in a blog post for the Environmental Defense Fund, indigenous rights language in the negotiating text - specifically the REDD+ section - is significant.

I wrote in that post:

Most promising in this is that the two-year-old brackets around the text – text is [bracketed] when it is controversial and does not have unanimous support from countries – have been removed.  This is a big victory for indigenous leaders, as it indicates strong support for indigenous peoples' rights.

For example, this excerpt was bracketed:

(c) Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and members of local communities, by taking into account relevant international obligations, national circumstances and laws, and noting that the General Assembly has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

(d) Full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, including, in particular, indigenous peoples and local communities in actions referred to in paragraphs 3 and 5 below;

Is the text perfect? No. There are still sections where indigenous leaders want better language about rights and safeguards. The major issue in Bonn was whether the brackets around the remaining social safeguards text would be removed, i.e. be accepted by country negotiators. The latest draft released did not remove the brackets, so this issue will be debated in future negotiations.

As I noted before, the international language is only good as its implementation on the ground, which is often poor. In Panama for example, the community of Arimae (where Planting Empowerment located some of its plantations) still doesn't have secure title to all of its lands. Nor is there consensus on who owns the carbon in the forest, which has been conserved at great expense by the indigenous peoples.

At a global level the negotiating text for REDD is looking much better for indigenous peoples. However, there is still work to be done to strengthen the implementation language in the text, and actually see that translate to positive action on the ground. Things are moving in a good direction in Panama, but the country needs to move quicker to protect its remaining forest and increase benefits to the local peoples.

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We started Planting Empowerment because we recognized an opportunity for rainforest communities to profit sustainably from their natural resources. The business model was formed around some basic tenets:

• To slow deforestation, forest dwellers need an incentive not to deforest
• Land tenure is paramount in addressing deforestation
• Rainforest dwellers can earn more from their undervalued parcels of land through sustainable forestry
• Forestry projects would be funded by environmentally and socially-minded investors

Since Planting Empowerment formed in late 2006, we have signed four land-lease partnerships with local Panamanians, planted 22,000 trees over 50 acres, and raised $140,000 from over 100 sponsors to finance these operations. We're pretty happy with the progress thus far, and have received positive feedback from our sponsors, local partners, and government agencies. However, there are still thousands of acres of deforested land available - owned by thousands of rainforest dwellers who want better lives.

As Planting Empowerment enters a growth phase, we are dealing with the growing pains of funding and organizational structure, among others. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in details that we lose sight of the big picture, er, don't see the forest for the trees.

So, in the next few posts we will describe our vision for the upcoming five years. Think of them as snapshots of different areas of the business - operations, environmental and social benefits, business structure, number of trees planted, capital raised, and so on.

Stay tuned.

A few months ago we updated the language on our website in order to eliminate any reference to our products as "investments".

Securities regulations require that public offerings be registered with the SEC - a costly and time consuming process. Thus, Planting Empowerment does not markets investments, but Sponsorships with the expectation of periodic repayments.

From a messaging perspective this gets confusing. Chances are you already understand something about responsible investments, and it is clearer to describe our products as such. However, we are obligated to avoid "investment" language in explaining our products, and that tends to cloud the message.

For example, in comparing website traffic over the last three months with the previous three months, we saw a significant decline in information requests and transactions. We attribute this to lack of clarity about our offerings.

In short, the characteristics of our offerings have not changed:

• You still support sustainable forestry projects in Panama
• You still help to reforest degraded land, create jobs, and promote sustainable development
• We project a "full repayment, plus a bonus"
• We update you on the social and environmental impacts you are creating

You should view sponsorship as a long term comittment. While we are investigating short term revenue-generating activities from the plantations, growing and harvesting trees takes time, and there is a chance that you will not receive repayments. However, through the support of our 100+ customers, 22,000 trees are in the ground, and locals are benefiting from lease payments and increased employment.

Selling securities is expensive. For now this is a cost that Planting Empowerment, as a small organization, can not afford. We are in the process of raising capital to fully register our sponsorships with the SEC, at which point they will become investments. When these steps are completed the investments may be sold through brokerages or as part of a mutual fund - in addition to being available through our website.

The SEC takes measures to ensure that individual investors are protected, and we are fully compliant with their regulations.

Sponsoring sustainable forestry projects is a smart way to look after your own financial interests while doing something good for the planet. The plantation inventory of our Adelante project is 70% sold. If you would like to get involved, please visit our Sponsor page.