REDD+ a challenge to implement says new study

Implementation of a UN-backed scheme that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by protecting tropical forests is fraught with challenges but these can be overcome with technical solutions and increased political will, according to the authors of a new publication from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

Analysing REDD+: Challenges and Choices, released last week on the side-lines of the Rio +20 summit, reports on the current state of REDD+, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, as well as the conservation and sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. The study – drawing on three years of research across Asia, Africa and Latin America – offers fresh insights into the challenges faced by REDD+, and suggests new ways of addressing some of them.

Seven years since the idea of reducing emissions through avoided deforestation was launched, the publication takes a critical look at REDD+, asking how it has changed, how it is unfolding in specific national policy arenas – and highlighting the choices for making REDD+ more effective, efficient, and equitable.

As REDD+ has moved from an idea into the real world, the difficulties have mounted. Those challenges are both practical and political. They range from how to measure and monitor the carbon emissions avoided by leaving a forest standing, to deciding who should get the money generated by REDD+, to achieving coordination among local, regional, national and international levels of governance.

Analysing REDD+, which was published as part of CIFOR’s Global Comparative Study on REDD+, presents a new, step-wise approach to developing reference levels at the national level, which would allow all countries to build these all-important reference levels, even if they have low levels of institutional capacity and ability to collect data.

The book also reveals some encouraging news regarding the location of REDD+ pilot projects. The success of REDD+ in actually reducing carbon emissions depends on interventions happening in areas of high deforestation. Analysing REDD+'s detailed study of project locations in Brazil and Indonesia finds that REDD+ projects are more likely to be established in areas with high deforestation rates and high forest carbon densities – suggesting the projects have the potential to make an impact.

Click here to download a copy of Analysing REDD+: Challenges and Choices.

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