Forests, Climate Change and REDD+: A brief introduction

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Forests, Climate Change and REDD+: a brief introduction Maria Brockhaus Myanmar – February 2017

Transcript of Forests, Climate Change and REDD+: A brief introduction

Forests, Climate Change and REDD+: a brief

introduction

Maria Brockhaus Myanmar – February 2017

Strategies for climate change

Mitigation and adaptation: Different objectives

Mitigation:To reduce emissions or enhance sinks

Adaptation:To moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities

MITIGATION

GhG concentrations

Climate change

Impacts

Responses

Global ecosystem service:Carbon sequestration.

Instruments: CDM, REDD.

Ecosystem-Based Mitigation

ADAPTATION

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation

Local ecosystem services:Water regulation, provision of goods...

Instruments: EBA.

Linkages between forests and adaptation are twofold

Adaptation for forests

• CC affect forests

• Adaptation measures needed for forestsNew challenges -> understanding impacts, adapting management

Forests for adaptation

• Forest ecosystems contribute to social adaptation

• They provide ecosystem services that contribute to risk management, and reduce the vulnerability of local communities and of the broader societyNew challenges -> forests in adaptation of sectors outside of the forest sector

(Locatelli et al., 2010)

Forest Ecosystem-Based Mitigation: Examples

e.g., Afforestation & Reforestation (CDM)

Increasing carbon in ecosystems

t

With reforestation

Carbon in ecosystem

Baseline

Avoiding loss of carbon from ecosystems

Conservation

Carbon in ecosystem

tBaseline (deforestation)

e.g., Avoided Deforestation (REDD+)

What is REDD+?

… policy approaches and positive incentives for activities relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries

UNFCCC Decision 2/CP.13–11

The core idea of REDD

REDD+ architecture

A brief REDD history Early 1990s: Deforestation 1/5 of GHG emissions

2001 - COP7: Avoided deforestation too difficult to include in CDM (+ no additionality). Only A/R

2005 - COP11: 2 year consultation period for RED ; 2006 –Stern report

2007 - COP13: RED(D) included in Bali Action Plan; Norway’s Climate-Forest initiative, NOK 15 billions

2008+: FCPF (World Bank), UNREDD, other initiatives

2009 - COP15: some progress for REDD+, interim financing

2010: COP 16 confirms earlier decisions on REDD+; safeguards and ref.levels; REDD+ partnership

2011: COP 17: REDD part of commitment for all parties? Financing to be explored. Pilots and national policy reforms

2012: COP 18 and SBSTA - not much new, a lot of bracket text for safeguards, MRV etc. - verification problem

2013: COP 19 Warsaw framework, results based finance, guidance – safeguards issue will need further guidance

2014: SBSTA and COP 20 – Safeguards guidance, JMA

2015: COP 21 and SBSTA concluded REDD+ negotiations ->

national implementation arenas

2016: Green Climate Fund and REDD+ results based payments, transparency

Paris Agreement, forests and REDD+

First time forests are explicitly mentioned (Art 5.1)

Encourages action for results based payments (e.g. REDD+) (Art 5.2)

keeping forests and trees standing and sustainably managed will be crucial for global efforts to reach the 1.5 temperature goal

especially in forest-rich countries avoided deforestation can provide major emission reductions contributions and REDD+ is explicitly mentioned in many (I)NDCs

The phased approach (adopted from Meridian Report 2009, UNFCCC)

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Phase 1:Readiness

Phase 2 PAM implementation

Phase 3Results

Activities - Institutionalstrengthening

- Technical capacity building

- ..

- Governance, regulatory and economic reforms (including Land use planning, Law enforcement, Moratoria)

- Forest sector reforms- Removal of perverse subsidies - …

- Improved forest management

- Improved commodity chains

- ….

Performance - Assessment completed

- Consultations conducted

- Capacityincreased

- …

- Policies enacted- Measures enforced- Proxies identified and

monitored for changes in emissions

- …..

- Quantified emission reductions, removaland enhancements (tCO2-e)

- Quantified co-benefits - ….

Financing Immediately available (readiness funds)

Predictable amounts over a defined period, including countries’ own upfront investments

Large-scale funding (note-shift from market to public funds)

Performance in REDD+

Over past decades move towards output/outcome orientation based on incentives, cash-on-delivery approaches

Some problems of ‘’traditional aid’ : - High transaction costs due to donor requirements; National ownership; “The

accountability problem”, in which countries are held accountable to the donors instead of their citizens; low incentive to perform (‘ritual dance’ between donor/receiver)

REDD+ to incentivize quantifiable results: Payments for performance

Should allow for ownership over reform, integration of context, and for turning tables from aid receiver to service provider

REDD+ shifted away from market-based to public fund-based, performance element remains

Risks of ‘aidification’ of REDD+, but lessons available (Angelsen

2016)

Key trendsObjectives: CO2 Co-benefits

Funding: Rich pay poor REDD+ countries

Policies: PES Broad PAMs Forest policies

Funding: Market Public (aid)

Scale: National Local/projects

Challenges in national REDD+

Among others ...

Coordination across sectors and administrative levels (in decentralized systems)

Tenure, financing systems, benefit sharing and participation

MRV systems and capacity

Scope, scale, permanence, leakage

Sovereignty and ownership over process and reform(s)

Capacity and political will to address the drivers of forest carbon change (driven oftentimes by interests of powerful elites), access/availibility to data on sectorial contributions to DD, and identifying an effective policy mix

www.cifor.org/gcs