REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT · REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT NEENA KHANDEKAR,...

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REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT NEENA KHANDEKAR, IFS Associate Dean FRI (Deemed) University Dehradun. Abstract Forests provide a variety of benefits but are facing multiple threats ranging from impacts of climate change to competing land uses leading to its degradation and deforestation. To overcome these threats, the concept of REDD was introduced on 2005 and officially recognised and developed in 2007 at the UNFCCC COP 13 meet in Bali where the Bali Action Plan was formulated. This was expanded in the next two years in the form of an innovative concept of REDD+ that called for activities to address the issue of climate change through reduction of emissions degradation and deforestation along with conservation of carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. And those developing countries that undertake activities under REDD+, keyed to a reference time, will receive financial compensation for their efforts. For the implementation of REDD+, a three phased approach has been suggested wherein the countries are allowed to prepare for REDD+ through capacity building in the first phase. In the second phase, the national policy frameworks for the implementation of REDD+ are to be set up. Finally, in the third phase, the full implementation of REDD+ is to be accomplished along with payments that are based on performances. Funds are already been made available for the readiness phase through bilateral and multilateral arrangements such as FCPF of the World Bank and the UN-REDD programme. For the second phase of policies and measures, it is expected that multilaterals will still be the main source of funding and for the third phase, an increasing role of markets is envisaged depending on whether or not the UNFCCC reaches a legally binding agreement. As of now REDD+ is still being deliberated upon and there are several challenges that it faces for example, how the local communities are to be involved in implementation of REDD+ as an important role is foreseen for them, the issue of safeguards, distribution of benefits, monitoring and evaluation among others. Key words: REDD+, UNFCCC, Bali Action Plan, Readiness phase, Safeguards FCPF, UN REDD programme

Transcript of REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT · REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT NEENA KHANDEKAR,...

REDD+ AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT

NEENA KHANDEKAR, IFS

Associate Dean

FRI (Deemed) University

Dehradun.

Abstract

Forests provide a variety of benefits but are facing multiple threats ranging from

impacts of climate change to competing land uses leading to its degradation and

deforestation. To overcome these threats, the concept of REDD was introduced on 2005 and

officially recognised and developed in 2007 at the UNFCCC COP 13 meet in Bali where the

Bali Action Plan was formulated. This was expanded in the next two years in the form of an

innovative concept of REDD+ that called for activities to address the issue of climate change

through reduction of emissions degradation and deforestation along with conservation of

carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

And those developing countries that undertake activities under REDD+, keyed to a reference

time, will receive financial compensation for their efforts.

For the implementation of REDD+, a three phased approach has been suggested

wherein the countries are allowed to prepare for REDD+ through capacity building in the first

phase. In the second phase, the national policy frameworks for the implementation of

REDD+ are to be set up. Finally, in the third phase, the full implementation of REDD+ is to

be accomplished along with payments that are based on performances.

Funds are already been made available for the readiness phase through bilateral and

multilateral arrangements such as FCPF of the World Bank and the UN-REDD programme.

For the second phase of policies and measures, it is expected that multilaterals will still be the

main source of funding and for the third phase, an increasing role of markets is envisaged

depending on whether or not the UNFCCC reaches a legally binding agreement.

As of now REDD+ is still being deliberated upon and there are several challenges that

it faces for example, how the local communities are to be involved in implementation of

REDD+ as an important role is foreseen for them, the issue of safeguards, distribution of

benefits, monitoring and evaluation among others.

Key words: REDD+, UNFCCC, Bali Action Plan, Readiness phase, Safeguards FCPF, UN

REDD programme

Introduction

Forest ecosystems offer a range of benefits at the global, sub-regional, national and

local levels. However, for a long time now the forest ecosystems are facing varied threats that

range from the impacts of climate change to all aspects of competing land uses that lead to

forest degradation and deforestation. Not only do these threats pose complex challenges to

managing existing forest ecosystems in a sustainable way but also protect them from being

substituted by other land uses or land cover.

Rapid population growth and the related need for farming and grazing land constitute

the main threat to tropical forests according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Along with this, the other potential reasons for the destruction and degradation of forests

include the over exploitation of timber, forest fires, mining, cattle ranching, road construction

and the production of biomass for bio-fuels. Moreover, degraded forest ecosystems have been

recognised as being at risk to effectively cope with the impacts of climate change. Evidently,

vigorous and un-fragmented forest ecosystems are much more resilient to the impacts of

climate change and are able to absorb better shocks induced by human activities or natural

disasters.

Forests are a big storehouse of carbon, storing about 638 Giga tonnes carbon

according to FAO. But deforestation and other land-use activities are emitting 1.6 Gt carbon

annually. On a global scale, it is estimated that deforestation contributes to 15-20% of

greenhouse gas emissions. Further, global GHG emissions due to human activities have

grown alarmingly since the pre industrial times with an increase of 70% between 1970 and

2004. Carbon dioxide annual emissions grew by about 80% between 1979 and 2004.

It goes without saying that the coverage of forest resources is the first indication of

sustainable forest management that aims at maintaining adequate forest resources that

includes the various forest types and their characteristics, including trees inside forest lands

and trees outside forests – to support the social, economic and environmental objectives

related to forests and forestry within a country or region. But the forests are facing continuous

reduction in area that is reflected in national report data published by FAO that measured

changes in global forest area and its average annual change rate from 1990 to 2010. As per

their report, during the ten year period from 1990 to 2000, there has been a reduction in forest

area measuring 8.3 million hectares (ha) annually all over the world, and forest area

continued to decrease by an average of 5.21 million ha every year from 2000 to 2010.

Table 1. Annual change in global forest area (units: ha, %)

Region

Forest Area (1,000 ha) Annual Change Rate

1990 2000 2005 2010

1990-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010

1,000

(ha/yr) %

1,000

(ha/yr) %

1,000

(ha/yr) %

Africa 749,238 708,564 691,468 674,419 -4,067 -0.56 -3419 -0.49 -3 410 -0.5

Asia 576,110 570,164 584,048 592,512 -595 -0.1 2,777 0.48 1,693 0.29

Europe 989,471 998,239 1,001,150 1,005,001 877 0.09 582 0.06 770 0.08

North America/

Latin America 708,383 705,497 705,296 705,393 -289 -0.04 -40 -0.01 19 n.s

Oceania 198,744 198,381 196,745 191,384 -36 -0.02 -327 -0.17 -1,072 -0.55

South America 946,454 904,322 882,258 864,351 -4,213 -0.45 -4,413 -0.49 -3,581 -0.41

Global 4,168,399 4,085,168 4,060,964 4,033,060 -8,323 -0.2 -4,841 -0.12 -5,581 -0.14

Source: FAO (2010) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010

The South American region demonstrated the largest fall in forest area -an average of

4 million ha every year during 1990 to 2010, followed by the African region (an annual

decline in forest area of 3.6 million ha).

Annual change in forest area by region (1990-2010)

Source: FAO (2010) Global Forest Resources Assessment Report 2010

Now, the loss of forest cover is also reflected in the increase in CO2 emissions

globally caused by changes in land use including logging by forest industry that according to

4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 is

equivalent to 17% of total global emissions. This is the second-largest source of emissions

after fossil fuels emissions.

Percentage of GHG emissions by industrial sector

Percentage of GHG emissions by gas type

Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) IPCC Fourth Assessment

Report: Climate Change 2007 Synthesis Report.

It is for the reason of combating these threats through an innovative mechanism that

REDD+ is now attracting immense attention as an important measure for prevention of

deforestation and degradation of forest lands and carbon sequestration, especially as far as the

measures to prevent climate change are concerned particularly in view of the fact that the

outcomes of forestry mitigation activities implemented under the Kyoto Protocol including

CDM, have been limited.

The concept of REDD was officially introduced into the UNFCCC agenda at the end

of 2005 after countries like Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea, both the members of the

Coalition for Rainforest Nations, made an official request to consider reducing emissions

from deforestation in developing countries.‟ At the UNFCC COP 13 meeting in Bali in 2007,

a roadmap for the implementation of REDD was officially recognised and the concept of

REDD was developed globally. Further in the next two years, the concept of REDD+

emerged, that called for actions and activities to address issues relating to the implementation

of REDD and implications for local communities, indigenous people and forests that relate to

decreasing emissions on account of deforestation and forest degradation.

In 2009 in Copenhagen at UNFCC COP -15, and drawing on the Bali Roadmap, the

nations recognized “the crucial role of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest

degradation [REDD] and the need to enhance removals of greenhouse gas emission by

forests” and agreed “on the need to provide positive incentives to such actions through the

immediate establishment of a mechanism including REDD+, to enable the mobilization of

gas (GHG) emissions, which is more than the entire transport sector.

REDD+ concept

REDD implies a set of steps intended to use market and financial incentives with the

aim of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation.

It targets reduction in greenhouse gases. As mentioned above, it was in 2009 that the

definition of REDD was expanded to include mitigation measures from conservation,

sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. It is

envisaged as an innovative mechanism for enhancing mitigation activities by taking up the

five types of activities eg. reducing emissions from deforestation and from degradation,

conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of

forest carbon stocks in the developing nations. In particular, REDD+ calls for activities with

implications directed towards the local communities, indigenous people and forests which

relate to reducing emissions on account of deforestation and forest degradation.

In 2007 the agreement formulated at the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in

Bali (COP-13) is called the Bali Action Plan. Its objectives are directed toward forest

conservation, sustainable forest management and the enhancement of carbon stocks. At COP

– 15 in Copenhagen in 2009, the Copenhagen Accord was reached, recognizing the vital role

of REDD and REDD+ and the need to provide positive incentives for such activities by

facilitating the mobilization of financial resources from developed countries. By

strengthening the capacity of forests to conserve and enhance carbon stocks, REDD+ offers

cost-effective and immediate CO2 emissions reductions while generating strong co-benefits

for forest dependent communities and biodiversity conservation. Those developing countries

willing and able to reduce their deforestation rate keyed to a reference time period will

receive financial compensation for their efforts.

It is mentioned here that REDD is sometimes presented as an „offset‟ scheme of

carbon markets and thus, would produce carbon credits. Carbon offsets are „emissions saving

programmes‟ that theoretically would “compensate” for the polluters‟ emissions. The carbon

credits generated by these programmes could then be used by industrialised governments and

corporations to meet their targets and/or to be traded within the carbon markets. But this

angle of REDD+ is contested and a hotly debated subject among economists, scientists and

negotiators.

Sustainable Forest Management

The UN General Assembly adopted the following description of Sustainable forest

management, as communicated to UNFCCC by the Secretariat of the United Nations Forum

on Forests (UNFF) 3, in 2007- “Sustainable forest management as a dynamic and evolving

concept aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental value of all

types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations.” SFM is an important goal

for the forestry sector, applicable at international and national levels, and, in many cases, at

landscape level. The notion of SFM was expressed in the Forest Principles adopted at the

Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Since then SFM has been made operational through actions

identified in UNFF and its predecessors, regional processes to develop criteria and indicators

for sustainable forest management, and a range of guidelines and sound forest management

practices (for forests managed for production, conservation, protection or other purposes). In

short, SFM represents a broad goal for the forest sector, the achievement of which is

facilitated on the ground by the application of best practises for the sustainable management

of forests. It was with this meaning of SFM in mind that the 14 members of the Collaborative

Partnership on Forests (consisting of international organisations and secretariats) recognized

that “sustainable forest management provides an effective framework for forest-based climate

change mitigation and adaptation”.

Scope of sustainable forest management in REDD plus

SFM is recognised as a potential and powerful tool for REDD +, including protection,

restoration, afforestation and reforestation, to contribute to efforts to reverse deforestation

and prevent forest degradation. It is estimated by the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape

Restoration that 1 to 2 billion hectares of deforested or degraded land are suitable for forest

restoration.

In the Bali Action Plan, the concept of “Sustainable management of forests” refers to

the application of forest management practices for the prime purpose of maintaining constant

levels of carbon stocks over time. In other contexts, the sustainable management of forests

could refer to applying specific management practices to achieve diverse goals of biodiversity

conservation, poverty alleviation, watershed protection etc. Contained in the term sustainable

management of forests is the implication that, regardless of the primary objective of

management, the other values of the forest should not be disregarded. Sustainable

management of forests is one of the five broad activities recognised under REDD+ for

mitigation of emission.

Material and methods

The assignment basically analyses the evolution of the concept of REDD+, the way it

is being implemented all over the globe, the financing mechanism and its progress. The study

relies mainly on the available reports, literature and deliberations on the topic at various

forums and tries to trace the origin of the concept of REDD+ and its progression to its present

state. Though certain concepts and formalities under REDD+ are still in the process of being

finalised, it is definite that REDD+ will go a long way in achieving the goal of carbon

mitigation in more effective manner than other CDM mechanisms.

The available literature traces the progression of REDD+ along with the most relevant

REDD+ milestone that was the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC (Bali,

2007) where the Bali Action Plan was adopted under which REDD+ was recognized as a

potential element of an expected new agreement. Further in COP 16 (Cancun, 2010) a

decision was adopted that defined REDD+ and agreed on a phased approach to its

implementation. The developed countries were urged to provide financial and technical

support to assist developing countries in order to engage the key stakeholders that included

communities and indigenous peoples to prepare national strategies, policies and measures to

implement REDD+ along with development of national forest reference emission levels,

national forest monitoring systems and a system for providing information on how REDD+

social and environmental safeguards are being addressed and respected

In addition, the technical methodologies and modalities for REDD+ related to forest

reference emission levels, forest reference levels and monitoring, reporting and verification

(MRV) were discussed at COP 17 (Durban, 2011). It also continued the development of

guidance on social and environmental safeguards. A decision was also adopted on financing

for the full implementation of results-based REDD+ actions. The launch of the REDD+

Partnership provided interim funds and a non-legally binding framework to scale up and fast-

track REDD+.

The World Bank‟s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and Forest Investment

Programme, the UN-REDD Programme (UNDP–FAO–UNEP partnership) and the GEF

(Global Environment Facility) are collaborating to provide assistance to more than 40

developing countries in preparing REDD+ strategies by 2015. Additionally, ITTO

(International Tropical Timber Association) and other CPF members are providing technical

support to countries to undertake activities relevant to REDD+. However, it is estimated, that

approximately 17–40 US$ billion per year will be required to halve greenhouse gas emissions

from the forest sector. Work has therefore commenced to encourage private-sector financing

that would complement multilateral initiatives and official development assistance.

A three phased approach for the implementation of REDD plus has been suggested by

the Meridian Report in 2009 (Meridian Institute, a non-profit NGO internationally recognized

for convening and facilitating neutral and independent dialogues and assessments). And COP

16 (Cancun, 2010) agreed on a phased approach to its implementation. The phased approach

takes into account the diverse circumstances of different REDD+ countries and makes it

possible for REDD+ to make use of both fund-based and market-based financial recourses. It

is expected that the phased approach will allow the countries to adapt strategies to their

existing national circumstances and opportunities and develop portfolios for funding.

However, it is to be noted that till now there is no blueprint for the way in which countries

will move from one phase to another or from phase to phase.

It is understood that the phased approach, the first phase foresees a preparatory or

„readiness‟ phase with a focus on capacity building and engagement of stakeholder as part of

a process based on learning. It will be during this first phase that a country is expected to

build a national strategy that tackles drivers of deforestation that are particular to the situation

of the country.

It is during the second phase when the national policy frameworks for the

implementation of REDD+ will be built and linked to other sectors such as agriculture,

energy and development.

In the third phase, the full implementation of REDD+ activities is to be accomplished

along with payments that are based on performance. Again, this linking of REDD+ activities

to compliance markets at this stage will depend up on the question whether the UNFCCC

process can attain a legally-binding post-2012 climate agreement with binding emissions

reductions.

Thus, the readiness phase is the first step in the phased approach and takes place

ahead of actual implementation of REDD+ policies. And as mentioned above, during the

readiness phase the countries focus on building capacity and preparations for governance

reforms that will be essential for later REDD+ implementation. In this respect, a national

REDD+ strategy has to be built, based on a detailed analysis of country-specific drivers of

deforestation. During the readiness phase as well as in the later phases of REDD+

implementation it is very essential to have an inclusive and meaningful consultation and

participation of stakeholders.

Funds are already being made available for the readiness phase through bilateral and

multilateral arrangements such as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World

Bank and the UN-REDD Programme. For the second phase of „policies and measures‟, it is

expected that multilaterals will still be one of the main sources of funding, as through the

Forest Investment Programme (FIP) of the World Bank and through other bilateral

arrangements.

As of now, 75 donor nations and developing countries have been brought together

under the REDD+ Partnership to provide a parallel method for funding until the UNFCCC

process concludes in a binding. In May 2010, this Partnership was formalised and it as

pledged over US$4 billion for expedited action on REDD+ as part the 'fast-start financing'

proposed in the Copenhagen Accord. For the third phase an increasing role for markets is

envisage which will depend on whether or not the UNFCC will reach a legally binding

agreement for the post-2012 period with obligatory emission reduction targets for the

industrialized nations.

Results and discussions

REDD+ is still being negotiated by UNFCCC. It is a fact that the activities coming

under the purview of REDD+ are being implemented for years now but these activities and

projects were earlier not being accounted against CO₂ offsetting. It is now that these activities

are to be accounted for as emission reductions. It is obvious that REDD+ would be

implemented in developing countries having forests. The industrialised countries are called

the „Annex I countries‟ while the developing countries are called „non-Annex I countries‟ in

the context of the UNFCCC.

Most of the developing countries having forests are at present engaged in readiness or

other preparatory processes and in this regard, many pilot projects are being implemented

across the countries in the tropical region. Though most nations in these readiness activities

are supported through multilateral and bilateral funding, the individual pilot projects are at

times linked to the voluntary carbon market. There are many other projects that are at a

relatively advanced stage of implementation with defined baseline scenarios, preliminary

quantifications of emission reductions and access to buyers of carbon credits. Further, in

many cases REDD+ pilots inform national readiness processes in the countries where the

projects take place.

Previously, the mitigation activities implemented under the Kyoto protocol including

CDM have been limited. It is REDD+ that will provide a new framework to break this trend.

Here, it is important that safeguards be developed to ensure rather than merely promoting

specific principles or actions, these safeguards provide the necessary building blocks for a

future climate deal. They should brace the potential for REDD-plus to contribute in a

significant manner to climate change mitigation and also ensure that specific social and

environmental levels are respected. It is in a phased approach adopted for implementation of

REDD+ that the safeguards can be operationalized as triggers that give incentives to

countries with the eligibility to progress from one phase to the next.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified certain

requirements given below for the development of safeguards for post-2012 climate regime:

1. The principles and the safeguards can be applied specifically to actions taken

under the scope of REDD+ activities.

2. There is need for specific safeguards against possible conversion of natural

forests and other ecosystems into plantations.

3. The actions under REDD+ should also provide benefits for biodiversity,

ecosystem services as well as local communities.

4. REDD+ must make use of the past experiences with multiple stakeholder

platforms established in support of forest governance reform processes.

5. When ensuring the full and effective participation of all relevant stakeholders,

women must explicitly be included in REDD+ actions.

6. It is expected that the rights of the indigenous people will be recognised and

developed as per the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Of late the REDD+ has received great support and push from international

organisations and International Financial Institutions (IFIs). Again the World Bank at present

plays a significant role in the progress of REDD+ activities. The WB has created a $300

million fund, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) as one of the financial

contributors for the REDD+ programme. Till now small grants worth $200,000 have been

disbursed. The said fund is directed towards encouraging REDD+ activities in developing

nations. Moreover, the Carbon Partnership Facility (CPF), is likely to be used in sectors like

the power sector, transport, urban development and likewise other fields related to energy

efficiency to mitigate emissions.

The initial beneficiaries of this Partnership were nine countries- Bolivia, Democratic

Republic of Congo, Zambia, Paraguay, Indonesia, Vietnam, Panama, Papua New Guinea and

Tanzania. By the end of October 2012, this programme included 44 countries, 16 of them

implementing national UN REDD programmes and other 16 receiving small funds and

technical support to set up diverse REDD readiness activities. The programme is also

envisaged to give overall guidance through its global activities to support actions by countries

on Measuring, Verifying and Reporting (MRV) systems, engagement of local communities

and other forest dependent communities, good governance that is credible and transparent,

and safeguards.

Even though World Bank has declared its intention of fighting against climate change,

there are many civil society organisations all over the globe view the processes being

developed under these funds with scepticism. Few reasons for this are the almost non-existent

dialogue processes with the local communities, absence of any criteria to establish when a

country is ready to implement REDD+ projects, the negative impacts like loss of biodiversity

and deforestation due to fast agreements and absence of planning and lack of safeguards to

protect interests of local communities. It is in view of this that organisations like UNDP,

UNEP and FAO set up the UN-REDD Programme in 2008, jointly aiming at helping

developing countries in addressing certain measures needed in order to effectively participate

in the REDD mechanism. Some of these measures include capacity building, good

governance, establishing dialogue with local people and other technical needs.

However, there are still many things to be clarified. For instance, for a start, there is

lack of clarity in the definition of forests adopted currently by the United Nations climate

change conventions itself that fails to differentiate between natural forests and plantations

including eucalyptus, oil palm, acacias, pines and others. However, among other exclusions,

the definition of forests currently adopted by the UN climate change convention contains a

large loophole: it fails to distinguish between natural forests and plantations, including

eucalyptus, pines, acacias, oil palm, and others. Natural forests could therefore be replaced

with plantations but this will not be treated as deforestation because as per definition, the area

will still be covered by trees. This absence of clarity seems to be deliberate as defining forests

in terms of only tree cover while ignoring its complex ecosystems and livelihoods of people

interacting with them gas since long been used as an excuse for expanding industrial scale

plantations. Hence, it is a fact that commercial interests take precedence over social and

environmental concerns while shaping the REDD+ policy.

However, despite these hitches, REDD+ has been welcomed by both developed and

developing nations and many developing. Some of the developing nations have in fact

already formulated their REDD+ plans and strategies.

The Norwegian Government declared their International Climate and Forests

Initiative at the Bali Conference in 2007 that provided $1 billion towards the Brazilian REDD

scheme and $500 million towards the creation and implementation of REDD activities in

Tanzania. Furthermore, Norway and UK have contributed $200 million towards Congo Basin

Forest Fund to support forest conservation activities in Central Africa. Besides, in 2009 the

Finland Government and FAO have signed a $17 million partnership agreement for providing

tools and methods for multi-purpose inventories of forests, REDD+ monitoring and climate

change adaptation in five countries – Ecuador, Peru, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia, for

sustainable forest management practices. Under this programme, Tanzania will be completing

the country‟s first comprehensive forest inventory to evaluate its forest resources including

the size of the carbon stock stored within its forests. To estimate soil carbon stock too, a

forest soil carbon monitoring programme has been undertaken using survey and modelling

based methods.

Australia too has started efforts to promote REDD mechanisms. Their International

Forest Carbon Initiative worth $ 200 million focuses on developing REDD+ activities in

countries like Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Countries like Spain and Denmark too have

become donors to the UN REDD programme. The developing and developed countries have

joined efforts in 2010 to create an Interim REDD+ Partnership to enhance implementation of

early action and forge fast start finance for REDD+ actions.

It is increasingly likely that REDD+ will be included in the post 2012 international

climate change agreement. Even then it is faced with several challenges like how the REDD+

mechanism be linked to existing national development strategies?; how can local

communities participate in the design, monitoring and evaluation of REDD+ programmes?;

how REDD+ will eventually be funded and how equitable distribution of benefits be ensured

by countries among stakeholders?; and last but not the least, how the amount of carbon stored

as a consequence of REDD+ be monitored?

However, the REDD mechanism including REDD+ has progressed significantly since

1995 with various capacity building and research activities with the set up of a UN

programme. Projects are also getting tried through government programmes in countries as

well as the private sector. And surely, in view of the positive outcome of REDD+ activities

the developing and developed countries both would want the challenges to be resolved for the

smooth progression of REDD+ that will among others be a step in the right direction for

sustainable management of forests.

Conclusion

It was stipulated in Marrakesh Accords in 2001 (The Marrakech Accords is a set of

agreements reached at the 7th Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in 2001) that in the context of forest related

mitigation, only the reforestation and afforestation activities and related projects fall under

the CDM. REDD+ deviates from it in that it explores the possibilities to reduce emissions

from deforestation and forest degradation as also the capacity of forests to conserve carbon.

It goes beyond checking deforestation and forest degradation and includes incentives for any

positive intervention for conservation, enhancement of carbon stocks in the forests and

sustainable management of forests.

Now the activities under REDD are taken up by governments, private sector or

NGOs. The developing countries that are interested in REDD activities are supported by

number of development agencies, research institutes as well as international organisations.

Examples of such agencies are World Bank‟s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the UN

REDD Programme and Norway‟s International Climate and Forest Initiative. However, it is

eventually the forest dependent communities that will be focal point of REDD+ and the

success of REDD+ programme will be dependent on the engagement of these forest

dependent communities and other indigenous people. It has been realised from the initial

stages of REDD+ implementation that equal involvement of the various stakeholder groups is

essential for developing successful REDD+ strategies that are responsive to the local needs

and concerns while targeting effectively the drivers of deforestation.

As REDD+ involves land use changes, it is expected to have an impact, both positive

and negative on a wide variety of groups. In this context, it will become indispensable to

involve the most vulnerable groups such as women and other forest dependent communities,

indigenous people to create REDD+ interventions that take into account the needs and

interest of these groups. REDD+ policies should aim at encouraging such forest users as well

as organisations, project developers, government agencies and investors government

agencies, project developers and investors to support activities that conserve forests, manage

forests sustainably and enhance forest carbon stocks and to reduce activities leading to

deforestation and degradation of forests.

Hence, the various government agencies all over the globe need to develop policy

frameworks that provide incentives for REDD+ actions as well as investment. Actions by any

group or individuals that result in deforestation or forest degradation will have to be restricted

or regulated. Communities that live in the forests and depend on it will have to be encouraged

to implement REDD+ activities on the ground. However, here again, fears are there that

REDD+ implementation could do harm to communities and ecological functions of forests.

Then again safeguards will have to be devised to prevent negative social and environmental

impacts and ensure full and effective participation of all relevant stakeholders, guaranteeing

their timely access to appropriate and accurate information. Safeguards should also be

stimulating equitable profit sharing, development of land and tenure rights, good governance

and other important issues. The CCB (Climate, Community and Biodiversity) Project Design

Standards are an example of safeguards developed to evaluate land based carbon mitigation

projects in the early stages of development.

However, the key issue will remain which is whether the incentives under REDD+,

MVR systems and adequate safeguard methods together could ensure management of

production forests so that carbon stocks are maintained, timber is produced and local

livelihoods, biodiversity etc are not hampered. There are several areas under REDD+ that are

still being deliberated upon. It is hoped that the ongoing substantive debate will hopefully

lead to consensus on the scope of REDD+ and make REDD+ a truly effective mechanism to

mitigate climate change through sequestration of carbon and sustainable development.

To conclude, though REDD+ is being developed primarily as a climate change

option, but it is also expected to generate considerable biodiversity benefits and ecosystem

services along with generating benefits for local and indigenous people. Optimising these so

called „co-benefits‟ will require close coordination between actors at the international,

national and local levels.

References

1. CBD (2009): Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change Mitigation and

Adaptation: Report of the Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on

Biodiversity and Climate Change.

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