Deforestation accounts for about a fifth of all global carbon emissions,
second only to the burning of fossil fuels, according to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).1 But ever since
the Kyoto Protocol was drafted in 1997, countries have been divided over
how to incorporate forest protection into global emission-reduction
plans.
At the UNFCCC meeting in Montreal in 2005, the Coalition for Rainforest
Nations, a group of nine countries led by Papua New Guinea, proposed
that there be incentives for countries to control emissions by reducing
deforestation. Their proposal evolved into REDD: Reducing Emissions From
Deforestation and Forest Degradation, the United Nations’ model for
curbing deforestation. Under REDD, polluters could offset their
emissions by purchasing carbon credits generated by governments,
companies, and communities like Cocomasur that protect forests.
But as countries began hammering out a post-Kyoto climate plan in
subsequent UNFCCC meetings, the chorus of REDD critics grew,
particularly with regard to carbon trading. Opponents say measuring the
amount of carbon stored in forests is complex and prone to errors, and
that protecting one part of a forest may have the unintended consequence
of shifting deforestation to adjacent, unprotected areas. Critics point
out that offsets could allow companies to continue polluting with no net
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Indigenous peoples and other
communities that depend on forests for their survival are also concerned
that REDD may not provide sufficient safeguards to prevent land grabs.
In countries where land tenure and rights to forest carbon are not well
defined, they fear the financial incentives of REDD could lead to
displacement and other abuses.
For now, a formal UN framework for REDD is on hold but likely to be
developed in the coming years. Delays in the UN process have not,
however, prevented the emergence of hundreds of REDD pilot projects
around the world, many in developing countries with funds provided by
individual countries, the World Bank, private donors, and other sources.
Nations with weak governance and limited resources often struggle to
uphold the rights of forest peoples. But certification programs through
groups such as the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance and
Verified Carbon Standard are encouraging pilot projects that adhere to
higher environmental standards and community protections, creating a
blueprint for future models that aim to be more equitable and inclusive.
