L’Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a Credit Facility Agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Finance for an amount of € 35 million to support a “rural carbon” project in Yunnan province, China. The objectives of the loan project are to sequester carbon and to promote the sustainable management of forests. This project supports the establishment and improved management of a total of 59,000 ha of forest plantations and the construction of 24,000 biogas digesters for rural households. UNIQUE was invited to conduct a comprehensive audit of the project components including three private forest enterprises and four counties and to inform the financiers of the implementation status and the requirements to complete the project successfully within the given project investment period.

• Analysis of project implementation and social and environmental impact monitoring.
• Assessment of fiduciary procedures.
• Audit of relevant documentation in place to justify the use of funds already disbursed.
• Outline of options on loan restructuring considering deviations with the implementation plan.
• Provision of a detailed action plan.