Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries have been estimated to contribute up to 20% of global emissions.
Reducing emissions in this area will need to be a major part of international policies to address climate change. As a result, efforts to curb emissions from forests have become an important item in international climate negotations under the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) was initially proposed in 2005 by a group of developing countries called the 'Coalition for Rainforest Nations'. At the 2007 UNFCCC conference in Bali, a process was initiated to find a way to incorporate REDD+ in a future global climate change agreement. Since then, REDD has expanded to 'REDD+' to include activities to conserve, sustainably manage and enhance forest carbon stocks. At Cancun in 2010, a framework was developed for a three-phase, nationally-driven approach to REDD+. This also included a number of social and environmental safeguards. While REDD+ is usually an area where progress is made in the climate talks, at the most recent round of negotiations in Doha, little progress was made, with a failure to agree on methodological issues and little agreed on REDD+ finance. This slow progress is generally seen to be a symptom of the lack of progress in the wider climate negotiations. Despite this, many governments and other actors continue to be committed to delivering REDD+, though actions in country and through a range of multilateral and bilateral partnerships.
REDD-net has been following the REDD+ negotiations, focusing on what some of the implications of discussions might be at national and local levels. You can find some of our analysis below and through our blog.
Image: UNFCCC - Mobilising long term finance for developing countries
