Financial Transparency Coalition

Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy was sentenced on 26 October to 4 years in prison for fraud but because of Italy’s laws limiting the length of trials, he is unlikely to serve any time. Headlines around the world read “Berlusconi gets four year jail sentence.” But Berlusconi is unlikely to see the inside of a cell following his conviction for fraud, not because an appeal will overturn the case but because the case will be closed under Italy’s short statute of limitation laws.

Transparency International today launched Keeping REDD+ clean – a step-by-step guide to guarding REDD+ against corruption, before it sets in. Many of the world’s most densely forested countries have a poor track record for corruption. Politicians have been known to accept bribes – sometimes huge – to grant companies access to forest zones that should be protected.

This manual helps interested parties to understand and address corruption risks associated with forest carbon accounting – particularly REDD+ – programmes and strategies at the national level. Users will learn how to identify corruption risks and instruments to help address these risks within the development of national Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) action plans and strategies, and the implementation of REDD+ and other forest carbon projects. The manual’s scope does not extend to corruption risks at the international level. Rather it is deliberately focused on processes that occur in country, to facilitate the participation of national and...

BERLIN - The biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference will take place from 7 -10 November in Brasilia. The four-day event will be opened by President Dilma Rousseff. As the world’s leading anti-corruption forum, the conference will bring together more than 1500 members of the anti-corruption community, including heads of state, civil society and the private sector. The conference will run more than 50 workshops and plenary sessions under this year’s theme, Mobilising People: Connecting Agents of Change.