Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

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 (REDD+) was first negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2005, with the objective of mitigating climate change through reducing net emissions of greenhouse gases through enhanced forest management in developing countries. Most of the key REDD+ decisions were completed by 2013, with the final pieces of the rulebook finished in 2015. In the last two decades, various studies estimate that land use change, including deforestation and forest degradation, accounts for 12-29% of global greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason the inclusion of reducing emissions from land use change is considered essential to achieve the objectives of the UNFCCC. During the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol, and then in particular its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the inclusion of tropical forest management was debated but eventually dropped due to anticipated methodological difficulties in establishing – in particular – additionality and leakage (detrimental effects outside of the project area attributable to project activities). What remained on forestry was 'Afforestation and Reforestation', sectoral scope 14 of the CDM. Under this sectoral scope areas of land that had no forest cover since 1990 could be replanted with commercial or indigenous tree species. In its first eight years of operation 52 projects had been registered under the 'Afforestation and Reforestation' scope of the CDM. The cumbersome administrative procedures and corresponding high transaction costs are often blamed for this slow uptake. Beyond the CDM, all developed countries that were parties to the Kyoto Protocol also committed to measuring and reporting on efforts to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from forests. The United States also measures and reports on the net greenhouse gas sequestration in its forests. In response to what many perceived to be a failure to address a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions, the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) was established and in 2005 they proposed to the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC policy approaches and positive incentives for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases stemming from tropical deforestation and forest degradation as a climate change mitigation measure. REDD was first discussed in 2005 by the UNFCCC at its 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP) at the request of Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea, on behalf of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, when they submitted the document 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries: Approaches to Stimulate Action', with a request to create an agenda item to discuss consideration of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in natural forests as a mitigation measure. COP 11 entered the request to consider the document as agenda item 6: Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action. REDD received substantial attention from the UNFCCC – and the attending community – at COP 13, December 2007, where the first substantial decision on REDD+ was adopted, Decision 2/CP.13: 'Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action', calling for demonstration activities to be reported upon two years later and assessment of drivers of deforestation. REDD+ was also referenced in decision 1/CP.13, the 'Bali Action Plan', with reference to all five eligible activities for REDD+ (with sustainable management of forests, conservation of forest carbon stocks and enhancement of forest carbon stocks constituting the '+' in REDD+). The call for demonstration activities in decision 2/CP.13 led to a very large number of programmes and projects, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank, the UN-REDD Programme, and a flurry of smaller projects financed by the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, among many others. All of these were based on substantive guidance from the UNFCCC. In 2009 at COP 15, decision 4/CP.15: 'Methodological guidance 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' provided more substantive information on requirements for REDD+. Specifically, the national forest monitoring system was introduced, with elements of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV). Furthermore, countries were encouraged to develop national strategies, develop domestic capacity, establish reference levels, and establish a participatory approach with 'full and effective engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in (…) monitoring and reporting'.