On 9–10 June 2026, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) convened implementing partners, technical experts and private sector stakeholders in Geneva for a collaborative workshop on “Managing Rebound Effects in CAFI Private Sector Programming.”

The workshop focused on one of the key challenges in sustainable agriculture, forestry and energy transitions: ensuring that productivity gains and efficiency improvements do not unintentionally drive new deforestation — a phenomenon commonly known as the rebound effect or Jevons paradox.

Participants from CAFI implementing organizations including UNEP, UNCDF, IDH, CFC, the &Green Fund, Catalytic Finance Foundation and other CAFI partners worked together to develop practical approaches for managing rebound risks and strengthening monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems for private sector investments.

The discussions also benefited from contributions by leading experts, including Professor Johanne Pelletier (Université de Montréal and CGIAR Standing Panel on Impact Assessment), whose research on agricultural intensification and deforestation has helped shape global understanding of rebound effects, as well as representatives from SCS Global Services on independent verification methodologies aligned with ISO standards.

The workshop contributed to harmonized frameworks, indicators and verification approaches that support deforestation-free investments across Central Africa.