1. Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation & Forest
Degradation (REDD)
Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South, July 31, 2012
Markets??

2. What is REDD+?
• REDD+ : countries' efforts to reduce CO2 emissions that arise
from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster
conservation, sustainable management of forests, and
enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
• Deforestation & forest degradation 2nd leading cause of global
warming, responsible for about 15% of global greenhouse gas
emissions; preventing identified as one of the most cost-
effective ways to lower emissions.
• Eighty percent of the Earth’s above-ground terrestrial carbon &
forty percent of below-ground terrestrial carbon is in forests
• Most emissions from deforestation take place rapidly, whereas
carbon removal from the atmosphere through afforestation and
reforestation activities is a slow process.
Source: http://www.forestcarbonpartnership.org/fcp/node/30

3. What is REDD+?
• First proposed in 2005, Montreal Conference of
Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, by Coalition of
Rainforest Nations (PNG and Costa Rica)
• Discussed in subsequent COPs—Bali (Bali Action
Plan) and Copenhagen;
• REDD became REDD Plus (+): additional
elements added

4. What is REDD+?
REDD+ adopted at the 16th COP in Cancun in
December 2010; encourages developing countries to
contribute to mitigation actions in the forest sector
through:
a) Reducing emissions from deforestation; b)
Reducing emissions from forest degradation; c)
Conservation of forest carbon stocks; d) Sustainable
management of forests, and; e) Enhancement of
forest carbon stocks.

5. Actors in REDD
• Governments—parties to UNFCCC
• Local communities, IPs, forest communities
• The UNFCCC world of scientists and experts
• Multilateral agencies: UN, World Bank, ADB, etc.
• International experts on forestry, carbon
measurement, etc.
• International conservation and other etc.NGOs
• Private sector—carbon traders, market, etc.

6. What is REDD+?
• According to UN REDD: REDD is an effort to
create a financial value for the carbon stored in
forests, offering incentives for developing
countries to reduce emissions from forested lands
and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable
development.
• It is predicted that financial flows for greenhouse
gas emission reductions from REDD+ could reach
up to US$30 billion a year.

7. What is REDD+?
Extremely complex: needs many enabling factors to
co-exist at the same time and complement one
another:
Identify real drivers of deforestation & degradation,&
strategy to stop/control them—investment model,
consumption, development strategy, corruption, law
enforcement, etc.
Security of tenure of local communities to land,
forests; secure livelihoods;
Cutting emissions among the wealthy

8. FREE PRIOR & INFORMED CONSENT
source: AIPP
FPIC is mechanism and a process wherein indigenous
peoples undertake their own/independent collective
decision on matters that affects them as an exercise of
their right to their land, territories and resources, their
right to self-determination and to cultural integrity.
• FPIC is a reiterative process to be undertaken in good faith
to ensure mutual respect and meaningful participation in
decision-making
• FPIC is not merely a procedural process but a substantive
mechanism to ensure the respect of indigenous peoples’
collective rights

9. Principles and substance of FPIC
source: AIPP
• The elements of FPIC are inter-related and should be
taken holistically as one distinct decision-making
mechanism specifically for indigenous peoples ensuring
the respect for their collective rights
• The first three elements ( Free Prior and Informed)
qualify and set the conditions for a consent decision
• Violations to any of this element invalidates a consent
decision
• All the elements should be consistent with the broader
framework of respecting IP collective rights

12. How is REDD+ financed?
No agreement at UNFCCC yet. But many interim commitments and several
programmes already exist.
Copenhagen Accord ‘fast start’ funds ‘agreed’
• $3.5 billion pledged by 6 countries (Australia, France, Japan, Norway, UK and
US) for REDD.
• Global REDD+ Partnership also pledged
• Total pledges $4 billion.
• 23% of pledged resources are allocated to Asia Pacific countries ($964
million)
Multilateral REDD+ Support Other sources of finance
Programmes • Bilateral Partners
• ($434 m for Asia Pacific (AP) region) • ($531 m for Asia Pacific region)
• Forest Carbon Partnership Facility • In-Country Contributions – the
(FCPF) governments take on 10-25 % of
• UN-REDD Programme (UN-REDD) project costs.
• Forest Investment Program (FIP) of the • Voluntary Carbon Market - 22 %
Climate Investment Funds of registered forestry projects are
• Global Environment Facility - part of VCM
Sustainable Forest Management and

13. How is REDD+ Financed?
• Multiple sources, for REDD Readiness and pilot
projects
• UN REDD (FAO, UNDP, UNEP)
• World Bank: FCPF, FIP, Green Climate Fund, etc.
• Bilateral donors—also included in aid packages
• International NGOs, conservation groups, private
foundations
• Private sector—carbon markets

14. How is REDD+ Financed?
• REDD-Readiness is a national strategy to prepare
for a post-2012 REDD payment mechanism
funded by multi-laterals.
• REDD-Readiness is normally developed in-part to
slot within a United Nations system and in-part for
integration with private carbon markets. This tends
to entail the national-level implementation of
REDD, rather than the project level
implementation.

15. How is REDD+ Financed?
(Source: http://forest-carbon.org/faq/what-is-redd-readiness/)
Additional capacity support in forest governance to
execute REDD activities & handle REDD financing
effectively
• National strategies to reduce emissions thru local stakeholder
consultations, • Institutional, technical, human capacity
building, • Designing/implementing Monitoring, Reporting,
&Verification (MRV) systems, & national forest carbon
accounting systems, • Developing national systems for
determining baselines and Reference Emissions Levels, •
Transparent, equitable and accountable benefit sharing
mechanisms, • Developing safeguards and grievance
mechanisms to protect the interests of forest communities and
the poor • Clarify national land, forest and carbon tenure rights.

16. How is REDD+ Financed?
(Source: Bank Information Centre)

17. How is REDD+ Financed?
Disagreements among many countries in recent
meeting in Bonn (14-25 May 2012).
Parties differed in their views on the use of private
finance, market mechanisms and offsets for forest-
related activities.
Many developing countries insisted that REDD
financing should come through public sources and
non-market approaches; some rejected the use of
offsets.
Recent studies show that forest carbon market not
expanding.

18. Some Important Problems
• Deceptive: guiding logic is: provide financial
incentives to governments and forest owners in
developing countries prevent deforestation &
forest degradation
• But payments are not for actually protecting
natural forests, but for reducing emissions from
deforestation/forest degradation.
• A government or forest owner must show that a
forest is being destroyed/degraded, & that this can
be stopped in exchange for money that
compensates for earnings from clearing or
degrading the forest

19. Some Important Problems
Offset and carbon trading: REDD will develop
markets to sell the capacity of forests to store CO2.
Carbon trading does not reduce emissions: for
every carbon credit sold, there is a buyer. Trading
forest carbon would allow pollution in rich countries
to continue, meaning that global warming would
continue.
High GHG emitters (in wealthy & developing
countries) can purchase forest carbon credits and
avoid their own ethical responsibilities to cut
emissions.
Governments or forest owners in developing
countries will be encouraged to deforest (or to
threaten to do so) so that they can receive payments
to prevent it.

20. Some Important Problems
Forests viewed as stores of carbon rather than as
complex eco-systems that support wide varieties of life,
biological processes and people.
UN definition of forests does not distinguish between
natural forests & plantations, leaving the door open for
investors & governments to convert natural forests (even
if sparse) to plantations + still get money under REDD+.
―Degraded‖ forests are often areas valuable to local
communities as sources of food, medicinal plants &
NTFPs important for local diets and incomes.

22. Some Important Problems
Many forest conservation programmes have
unfortunate histories of evicting local communities
from forest areas once they are zoned as national
parks and protected areas.
At the same time, logging is permitted in particular
forest sections which may be old growth forests,
community forests and the ancestral domains of
indigenous peoples.

24. Some Important Problems
Financial risks of carbon markets: create new
bubble of financial derivatives
There are already extremely complicated carbon
derivatives on the market; adding forest carbon
credits to these means exposing forests to market
volatility & instability.
Difficulties in measuring and guaranteeing the
amount of carbon stored in forests for fixed terms;
REDD can bring in new forms of corruption and
criminality

25. Some Important
Problems
Tenure, Governance and Rights
Who owns the forests? Who should be rewarded for
protecting and not cutting forests?
The rights of rural and indigenous peoples
communities to make decisions about forest
management not recognised.
Enable new property rights: those who buy REDD
credits can own a portion of the capacity of the forest
to sequester carbon for a certain period of time.

26. Alternatives
Protect forests & the environment or create forest
carbon & environment markets?
Control the real drivers of deforestation: logging,
mining, destructive commercial interests…
Stop conversions of forest and agricultural lands to
agro-industrial estates and industrial plantations
Reduce consumption & demands for products
sourced from forests (minerals, biofuels, animal
feeds, rubber, high value timber, etc.) – low carbon
for everyone…

27. Alternatives
Use REDD Readiness funds for programmes
& infrastructure to strengthen:
Tenurial rights of local communities to lands,
forests & eco-systems
Forest & ecosystem conservation &
restoration that respect community rights &
participation
Community forestry and fisheries; local
livelihoods and economic foundations