REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries)

By Rhett A. Butler



This article presents the state of REDD+ as of 2012. There are regular updates on REDD+ in the news feed below.

REDD — reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries — is a proposed climate change mitigation mechanism that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by paying developing countries to stop cutting down their forests. Tropical deforestation is the source of 12-17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, a share larger than all the world's cars, trucks, ships, planes, and trains combined.

A properly designed REDD mechanism is widely seen as a cost-effective approach to simultaneously conserve forests, slow climate change, protect biodiversity, foster sustainable development, and maintain important ecological services provided by healthy forest ecosystems. The concept of REDD has won support from a wide range of interests, including conservationists, big business, scientists, governments, development agencies, and some environmental and indigenous rights groups. However concerns still remain over how REDD will be implemented and whether benefits will be fairly shared between stakeholders.

Smallholder deforestation in Borneo
Smallholder deforestation in Borneo

History of REDD

The concept of REDD is not a new idea. Compensating tropical forest conservation was proposed by environmental scientists in the 1980s and 1990s but it wasn't until the later half of the 1990s that the idea gained much currency at the international level, when it was discussed at various United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) events, including COP3 in Kyoto in 1997. Nevertheless technical concerns and opposition from some environmental groups (led by WWF) resulted in forest conservation being excluded from the Kyoto Protocol by 2001.

The concept of 'avoided deforestation' re-emerged on the international stage in 2005 with the formation of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN), a group of tropical countries lobbying for the inclusion of forest conservation as a way to mitigate to climate change. Led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, the Coalition for Rainforest Nations presented a draft proposal "Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries: approaches to stimulate action" at COP11 in Montreal in 2005. Two years of negotiations and technical advancements culminated in the Bali Action Plan of December 2007, which called for "policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries [REDD], and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stock in developing countries." Support for REDD has deepened and broadened since Bali: REDD was one of the only areas of progress during climate talks in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Since its inception as "avoided deforestation", the forest protection mechanism has expanded to encompass forest degradation (the second "D" in REDD). It later evolved to include sustainable forest management (i.e. reducing impact logging) and reforestation, becoming known as REDD-plus ("REDD+").


Soy and Chaco forest

Key REDD issues

While there is now substantial support for REDD, many issues remain unsettled, including financing to support the mechanism and provide sufficient economic incentives to stop deforestation; criteria for establishing credible deforestation baselines; technical aspects of monitoring and verifying change in forest cover; concerns over poor governance and illegal logging; international leakage, whereby forest conservation in one country drives deforestation in another; scale of implementation, including the debate over "national" versus "sub-national" projects; equity, including land tenure, ownership, and participation of forest-dependent communities; questions on how to address drivers of deforestation including consumption in rich countries; sustainable forest management (i.e. reduced impact logging) versus protection of primary forests as intact ecosystems; protection of biodiversity and environmental services in non-carbon-rich ecosystems; and controversies over carbon offsets and including forest carbon in market-based trading schemes.



REDD timing

Although an agreement on REDD has still not been signed, projects are already underway in a number of countries and industrialized countries have committed billions of dollars to REDD start-up initiatives via the UN-REDD Programme, the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, and other entities. Once an agreement is finalized, 2013 is the earliest REDD would formally commence, following the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol.

REDD Funding

The following overview is from the UN's Reporting REDD.

    Once a system is in place, market-based funding mechanisms such as carbon trading, and private sector involvement, could be introduced. Some proposals back a combination of government and private sector funding.

    Carbon trading is based on the idea that companies and governments may meet targets for reducing their carbon emissions by paying for carbon reductions elsewhere in the global economy instead. REDD could allow credits to be issued which would quantify the amount of carbon saved through 'avoided deforestation' — not cutting trees down. The credits could then be traded on carbon markets.

    An advantage of carbon trading is that it could raise money quickly. A disadvantage is that flooding existing carbon markets with REDD credits could further dilute the already low value of carbon. A low carbon price means there is less incentive for companies to switch to technologies that reduce carbon emissions.

    Developing countries would voluntarily opt in to the REDD mechanism, so for it to work the scheme would have to ensure that there is more money in protecting forests than in logging or agriculture. Because those responsible for commercially driven deforestation often control the forest area in which they operate, they need to be involved in REDD schemes. Typically, this involves paying them to manage the forest sustainably, or at least not to engage in large-scale logging or land conversion. REDD will have to compensate for income lost as a result of stopping forest clearance — known as the 'opportunity cost.' While REDD may be able to match this amount for poor farmers, matching lost income from lucrative agricultural production such as soya and oil palm cultivation or from valuable timber will be very costly. If payments are disrupted, or the amount falls short of the value of the timber in the forest or what could be grown on cleared land, a return to cutting down trees could quickly occur. To avert this problem, REDD would need to ensure a steady flow of funds over long periods. Negotiators concerned that fluctuations in the carbon market would be too erratic advocate a separate REDD fund based on donations from industrialized countries.
Drained, cleared, and burned peat forest in Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

REDD Resources

Official documents

Key REDD Programs


Some notable REDD Publications

REDD Glossary

The following overview is from the UN's Reporting REDD.

Additionality
Extra amount of carbon saved or stored because of projects carried out through climate change agreements.

Baseline or Reference level (RL)
Historical reference point (date or year) against which the rate of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation or forest degradation can be compared.

Carbon rights
The right to use carbon credits or offsets to satisfy limits on greenhouse gas emissions or to reduce penalties for exceeding the limit imposed.

Carbon sink
Ecosystem that accumulates and stores carbon.

Carbon sequestration
Removal of carbon from the atmosphere and storage in carbon sinks through natural or human-induced methods.

Carbon trading
The process of buying and selling carbon credits. Large companies or organizations are assigned targets for the amount of carbon they are allowed to emit. A company that exceeds its target will need to buy carbon credits to offset the extra carbon it has emitted. A company that uses less than its quota can sell surplus credits.

Deforestation
The conversion of forest land to non-forested land through human activity.

Degradation
Human-induced long-term loss of forest, characterized by the reduction of tree crown cover, but not yet considered as complete deforestation.

Indigenous peoples
Tribe or community native to a particular region and sharing a collective identity who retain some or all of their own social, cultural and political institutions.

Leakage or emissions displacement
When efforts to reduce emissions in one area lead to an increase in carbon emissions in another area.

Liability
Obligation on the implementing party to guarantee that the emissions reduction credited in the REDD scheme is permanent.

Mitigation
Actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.

Offsetting
Payment to emissions reduction projects to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions.

Opportunity cost
The cost of compensating for financial gains from deforestation practices such as logging or agriculture.


The following definitions are from the International Institute for Environment and Development.

REDD
The acronym stands for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’. This issue was first placed on the agenda of the 2005 international climate change negotiations. At that point the agenda item was called ‘reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries and approaches to stimulate action’. As a result, this is the name of the decision on REDD agreed at the 2007 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali, Indonesia (decision 2/CP.13). Decision 2/CP.13 acknowledges that forest degradation also leads to emissions and needs to be addressed when reducing emissions from deforestation. The ‘DD’ in REDD now stands for degradation and deforestation.

REDD +
Along with the separate decision on REDD (see above), REDD is included in the Bali Action Plan (decision 1/CP.13) as a component of enhanced action on mitigation (curbing emissions). Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed to consider policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to REDD in developing countries and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. It is this last clause on the role of conservation and sustainable management that has added the ‘+’ to the REDD discussion.

REDD baseline
An expected, or business-as-usual, emission of carbon dioxide from deforestation and forest degradation in the absence of additional efforts to curb such emissions — used as a benchmark against which emissions reductions can be measured.

REDD conditions
To deliver real reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, REDD must satisfy the following conditions.

  • additionality - Proof that any reduction in emissions from a REDD project is genuinely additional to reductions that would occur if that project were not in place.
  • no leakage - Leakage is a reduction in carbon emissions in one area that results in increased emissions in another. A classic example is where curbing clearfelling in one region of forest drives farmers to clearfell in another.
  • permanence - The long-term viability of reduced emissions from a REDD project. This is heavily dependent on the forested area's vulnerability to deforestation and/or degradation.

     

    THE LATEST REDD+ NEWS FROM MONGABAY

    New dam approval in Cambodia raises concerns about REDD+ projects (27 Mar 2025 14:28:43 +0000)
    The Cambodian government recently approved at least three new irrigation dam projects within protected forests of the Cardamom Mountains that overlap with two carbon credit projects, reports Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn. Projects to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) aim to combat climate change and support local communities by generating carbon credits for protecting forests. […]

    New dams call into question Cambodia’s commitment to REDD+ projects (19 Mar 2025 06:53:04 +0000)
    - Three new irrigation dams have been approved in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, overlapping with two carbon credit projects
    - The new developments join five hydropower projects that are already eating into these same forests.
    - Communities in the affected area have described the onslaught of dam projects, from which they say they haven’t benefited, as “a war against the forest.”
    - Experts say the approval throws into question the Cambodian government’s commitment to carbon credits as a viable climate tool.

    Indigenous community calls out Cambodian REDD+ project as tensions simmer in the Cardamoms (10 Mar 2025 06:19:20 +0000)
    - Indigenous Chorng communities in Cambodia allege continued land restrictions and rights violations by Wildlife Alliance, the U.S.-based NGO running the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project that includes swaths of their farmlands and forest.
    - The project was reinstated last September after a 14-month suspension to review the allegations, but concerns persist over unresolved land claims, restricted access to land, and lack of financial transparency.
    - Locals have complained of intimidation, threats and economic hardship after losing access to their traditional farmland and struggling to sustain their livelihoods.
    - The Cambodian government and Wildlife Alliance have denied the allegations yet continue to benefit from carbon credit sales, even as Indigenous communities are left without sufficient land or decision-making power.

    What have we learned from 15 years of REDD+ policy research? (analysis) (07 Mar 2025 00:17:55 +0000)
    - The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program (REDD+) is supposed to provide participating countries, jurisdictions and communities in the Global South with incentives to protect their forests.
    - This analysis draws on more than a decade of comparative research and identifies a broad array of actors involved in REDD+, with large power differences between them. The authors argue that the power imbalances among these groups are obstructing progress toward shifting away from “business-as-usual” deforestation in the tropics.
    - The ambition for sustainable forest “transformation” is at risk of being co-opted by those who stand to benefit from maintaining the status quo, and the authors say it is therefore important for the research community to keep asking what proposed reforms and changes may represent, and whom they serve.
    - This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

    Southeast Asia in review: 2024 (30 Dec 2024 04:33:48 +0000)
    - 2024 was a grim year for conservation and its champions across Southeast Asia, as deforestation surged due to infrastructure, agriculture, logging and mining, threatening critical ecosystems and protected areas.
    - Environmental activists and journalists also faced increasing risks, including detentions, harassment and violence, highlighting a growing climate of repression by governments across the region.
    - Despite this, there were some conservation successes of note, including wildlife population recoveries, biodiversity discoveries, and Indigenous community victories against harmful development projects.
    - Grassroots and nature-based initiatives, like mangrove restoration and sustainable agriculture, showcased effective approaches to enhancing biodiversity and resilience while also improving community livelihood.

    Rainforest Outlook 2025: Storylines to watch as the year unfolds (30 Dec 2024 03:39:00 +0000)
    - As 2025 begins, the future of the world’s tropical forests hangs in the balance, shaped by a confluence of political, economic, and environmental forces.
    - From the Amazon to Southeast Asia and the Congo Basin, these ecosystems play a critical role in stabilizing the planet’s climate, preserving biodiversity, and supporting millions of livelihoods. Yet, they face unrelenting threats from deforestation, climate change, and resource exploitation.
    - This year promises pivotal developments that could redefine their trajectory, testing the resilience of conservation mechanisms and the resolve of global actors to prioritize sustainability.
    - The stakes have never been higher for the survival of these irreplaceable landscapes.

    The year in tropical rainforests: 2024 (24 Dec 2024 00:25:54 +0000)
    - The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility of these ecosystems.
    - Although a complete comparison of tropical forest loss in 2024 with previous years is not yet available, there are currently no indications that this year’s loss will be markedly higher. A sharp decline in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon—partially offset by widespread forest fires—suggests the overall rate of loss may be lower.
    - This analysis explores key storylines, examining the political, environmental, and economic dynamics shaping tropical rainforests in 2024.

    Nepal’s forest-protecting communities may miss out on World Bank carbon funds (23 Dec 2024 07:06:02 +0000)
    - Stakeholders warn that Nepal’s first results-based carbon funding of up to $45 million from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) may be subjected to complex bureaucratic processes and lack of coordination among multiple government bodies.
    - Only 72% of the funds are expected to reach the beneficiaries after administrative deductions, with further uncertainty about how much will directly benefit local forest-protecting communities, given potential operational costs and unclear disbursement mechanisms.
    - Communities also face challenges in accessing the funds, such as the requirement to present proposals, navigate government procurement laws, and compete with private contractors.
    - Nepal’s Forest Development Fund, responsible for disbursing payments, has been criticized for operational inefficiency, holding unspent reserves due to the lack of finalized guidelines.

    Study: REDD+ doesn’t work without Indigenous peoples, but fails to engage them (24 Oct 2024 15:19:20 +0000)
    - Climate policies like REDD+ often fail to prioritize Indigenous peoples, undermining their effectiveness in tackling the root causes of deforestation and climate change, according to a recent study.
    - The authors propose 12 principles to improve climate policies, based on themes such as supporting Indigenous territorial defense and their rights, encouraging Indigenous-led climate initiatives, and directing climate funding to these populations.
    - Indigenous-led initiatives like RIA in the Amazon offer a feasible alternative to REDD+ and emphasize the importance of compensating them for their ecological services; however, they face challenges in getting adequate funding.
    - Experts suggest that the lessons learned from REDD+ could be applied to the development of biodiversity credits to help make this emerging climate solution more inclusive from the get-go.

    Cambodian environment minister bans logging at tycoon’s Cardamoms hydropower project (30 Sep 2024 04:29:13 +0000)
    - Cambodia’s environment minister has ordered a ban on forest clearance at a hydropower project site where activists and media, including Mongabay, previously reported indications of illegal logging.
    - The Stung Meteuk hydropower project is being developed by a company under Ly Yong Phat, a ruling party senator notorious for a long history of environmentally and socially destructive businesses.
    - In April, Mongabay documented the illegal logging operations at the project site, where logging routes had been cut leading into the nearby Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary.
    - Activists have welcomed the order to halt forest clearance, but say they’re skeptical the ban will be enforced against such a powerful figure, noting that timber processing continues at the site.

    Cambodian carbon credit project hit by rights abuse claims is reinstated (11 Sep 2024 17:45:11 +0000)
    - The Southern Cardamom REDD+ project in Cambodia can resume issuing verified carbon credits again after a review prompted by allegations of rights abuses of local communities.
    - Verra, the leading certifier of carbon credits, reinstated its certification of the project, run by U.S. NGO Wildlife Alliance, despite Human Rights Watch citing evidence that “overwhelmingly points to abuse.”
    - In a February 2024 report, HRW detailed allegations of forced evictions, physical violence, the destruction of homes and property, and intimidation by rangers working for Wildlife Alliance with the support of state security forces.
    - Activists have slammed Verra for not carrying out an on-the ground investigation and instead relying on documents provided by Wildlife Alliance — which they say continued to carry out evictions even as the review was underway.

    Brazil cites Mongabay reporting in recommendation to suspend ‘rotten’ carbon credit projects (13 Aug 2024 20:32:03 +0000)
    Brazilian authorities announced a recommendation to suspend all ongoing and future REDD+ and carbon credit projects on Indigenous and traditional territories in the state of Amazonas. The announcement follows a series of reports by Mongabay and others highlighting the potential problem of timber laundering associated with REDD+ projects. REDD+, short for reducing emissions from deforestation […]

    In Cambodia, Indigenous villagers lose forest & land amid carbon offset project (24 Jul 2024 22:38:32 +0000)
    - A 3,348-hectare (8,273-acre) protected forest established by a carbon credit project in Cambodia and encompassing the customary lands of several Indigenous Bunong communities has been destroyed largely by outsiders, while Indigenous community patrollers say they lack adequate law enforcement support from the REDD+ project.
    - Government rangers supported by WCS are arresting and imprisoning Indigenous peoples – often the poorest and most vulnerable – for clearing land for farming amid ongoing conflicts and confusion over project boundaries.
    - An Indigenous community has been blocked from receiving land ownership by the Keo Seima REDD+ project proponent and pressured by government officials to withdraw land claims without free, prior and informed consent, community leaders say.
    - This reporting project received support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund.

    Can a carbon offset project really secure Indigenous rights in authoritarian Cambodia? (22 Jul 2024 21:05:23 +0000)
    - The Cambodian Ministry of Environment has blocked Indigenous communities from receiving ownership over thousands of hectares of customary farmlands and culturally significant forests in the Keo Seima REDD+ project zone.
    - The Wildlife Conservation Society, which works with the ministry to administer the project, did not disclose these land disputes caused by the project’s activities to standard setter Verra, and its auditors failed to identify these issues.
    - Indigenous peoples in the REDD+ project face arrests, imprisonment, crop destruction and property confiscation as a result of unclear boundaries and insufficient land allocated to their communities.
    - This reporting project received support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund.

    Hydropower dams further undermine REDD+ efforts in Cambodia (28 Jun 2024 02:25:12 +0000)
    - Five hydropower dams are currently being built in the Cardamom Mountains with reservoirs set to collectively span more than 15,000 hectares (37,065 acres) across protected forests.
    - Three of these new dams encroach on forests where REDD+ projects are currently operating, pitting “green” energy infrastructure against conservation goals.
    - Residents living nearby one of the dam sites fear that history may repeat as hydropower dams have typically been used to illegally extract valuable timber.

    History repeats as logging linked to Cambodian hydropower dam in Cardamoms (27 Jun 2024 10:45:50 +0000)
    - Loggers are targeting protected forests in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains using the cover of a new hydropower dam
    - The dam is being built by Ly Yong Phat, a wealthy Cambodian tycoon with ties to the top tiers of government and a long history of environmental vandalism in the Cardamoms
    - Timber from the Stung Meteuk hydropower dam has already been sold via a government-facilitated auction, but some timber may have been illegally logged
    - The dam also overlaps significantly with the Samkos REDD+ project which is still under validation and verification

    ‘Non-market’ solutions to deforestation need more support, advocates say (31 May 2024 08:03:54 +0000)
    - In a report released May 29, three environmental groups called for a shift away from carbon markets and toward “non-market” solutions to deforestation.
    - The Paris Agreement has a clause calling for such solutions, which the groups said could include financing for Indigenous groups, payment for ecosystem services, and debt relief.
    - The report criticized carbon markets, saying incentives for brokers and project developers are misaligned with global environmental priorities.

    Are carbon credits another resource-for-cash grab? Interview with Alondra Cerdes Morales & Samuel Nguiffo (22 May 2024 12:29:14 +0000)
    - Indigenous and traditional communities around the world are increasingly being recognized for their stewardship of forests.
    - That’s led to their lands being seen as prime targets for carbon credit projects, the idea being that the carbon sequestered here can be sold to offset emissions elsewhere.
    - While some Indigenous communities have welcomed these projects and the funds they bring in, others say they’re just another example of the monetization of natural resources that’s driving the climate crisis in the first place.
    - Mongabay interviewed two leading Indigenous voices on both sides of the debate, who say the issue is a deeply nuanced one that carries implications for Indigenous land rights, culture and sustainability.

    Sierra Leone cacao project boosts livelihoods and buffers biodiversity (18 Apr 2024 22:26:19 +0000)
    - The Gola rainforest in West Africa, a biodiversity hotspot, is home to more than 400 species of wildlife, including endemic and threatened species, and more than 100 forest-dependent communities living just outside the protected Gola Rainforest National Park and dependent on the forest for their livelihoods.
    - In the last few decades, logging, mining, poaching and expanding agriculture have driven up deforestation rates and habitat loss for rainforest-dependent species, prompting a voluntary REDD+ carbon credit program in 2015 to incentivize conservation and provide alternative livelihoods.
    - One activity under the REDD+ project is shade-grown cacao plantations, which provide a wildlife refuge while generating income for cacao farmers in the region.
    - Independent evaluations have found that the REDD+ program has slowed deforestation, increased household incomes, and avoided 340,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually — all while enjoying support from local communities.

    UN probes controversial forest carbon agreement in Malaysian Borneo (18 Mar 2024 20:01:08 +0000)
    - The government of Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo will continue to move forward with an opaque nature conservation agreement despite concerns raised by the United Nations.
    - In a letter, the U.N. calls in question the transparency of the agreement and the state’s approach to the human rights law principle of free, prior and informed consent.
    - The agreement was signed by state officials and a representative of a Singaporean company in 2021. Shortly after news of the deal became public, some Indigenous groups in the state said they hadn’t been consulted or informed about the deal covering 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the state’s forests.
    - The U.N. letter was written by a group of “special procedures experts” with mandates established by the U.N. Human Rights Council, including the special rapporteurs on the rights of Indigenous peoples, on human rights and the environment, and on the right to development.




    Participants in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility as of 2012
      Argentina, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Congo, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
    For a more current list, see un-redd.org

    UN-REDD Programme - Countries receiving support as of 2012
      Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tanzania, Viet Nam, and Zambia.
    For a more current list, see un-redd.org

     

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