REDD+ key components

Environmental concerns - emissions - deforestation - degradation - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Author: Charitarth Sindhu, Environmental Sustainability & ESG Consultant

The initiative known as REDD+, first negotiated within the UNFCCC framework in 2005 and formalized in the Paris Agreement (COP21) of 2015, is a voluntary financing model aimed at mitigating deforestation and forest degradation.

The acronym REDD stands for 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation,' with the addition of the '+' signifying supplementary activities related to sustainable forest management, conservation, and the enhancement of forest carbon stock.

REDD+ primarily targets developing nations, extending results-based payments for efforts in curbing deforestation and associated emissions. Its operational structure comprises three phases: readiness, implementation, and payments for achieved results.

Forest Carbon Stocks: denotes the quantity of carbon absorbed from the atmosphere and stored within forest ecosystems, primarily within living biomass and soil, alongside lesser amounts in dead wood and litter. Deforestation consequently releases this stored carbon, contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, estimated to account for roughly 11 percent of CO₂ emissions.

Major Carbon Sinks: including the ocean, soil, and forests, serve as natural systems absorbing and retaining carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Key components

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems are a vital REDD+ component for accurately monitoring forest resources and carbon stocks. These systems empower participating nations to track changes in forest cover and carbon stocks, providing crucial data for informed decision-making, transparency, and accountability.

Social safeguards are integrated into REDD+ to avert unintended consequences and ensure the program's social and environmental integrity. This approach prioritizes biodiversity conservation, indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights, and sustainable development.

Financial incentives within REDD+ offer rewards to nations successfully reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Funding sources encompass governments, multilateral organizations, and private sector entities, utilizing mechanisms like carbon markets and results-based payments.

Stakeholder engagement is vital for effective REDD+ implementation, necessitating involvement from governments, local communities, indigenous groups, civil society, and the private sector. Such engagement fosters ownership, transparency, and alignment with local priorities.

Securing long-term funding is critical for sustaining REDD+ activities amidst competing priorities and uncertainties in international climate finance.

Enhancing governance and institutional capacity entails bolstering governance structures and institutional capabilities at national and sub-national levels to effectively implement REDD+ activities.

Supporting knowledge sharing and learning involves facilitating exchanges among countries and stakeholders to replicate successful experiences and evade common pitfalls.

See also

• Afforestation
• Carbon sink
• Ecosystem services
• Deforestation
• Degradation
• Desertification
• Governance
• Greenhouse gas
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• RED
• REDD
• Reforestation
• Stakeholder
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Other resources

• United Nations Environment Programme REDD+
• The Forest Declaration assessment - background
• Client Earth - Carbon Sinks
• Forest research - Forest carbon stocks
• AgLEDx - MRV of greenhouse gas emissions