Governing and implementing REDD+

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests (REDD+) are emerging as a central policy instrument to halt land-use related emissions from developing countries. This paper uses the Earth System Governance Framework (developed by Biermann et al., 2009) to illustrate the key governance issues underlying the REDD+ initiative.The paper emphasises the absence of research on the politics governing the emergence of REDD+, particularly the influence of parties’ interests in determining negotiation outcomes, or on promoting particular financial mechanisms. The authors highlight three main pillars for a future research agenda:

the politics of REDD+ in international and national negotiations
the interplay between REDD+ policies and measures and other developments in land-use related processes
the examination of the environmental and socio-economic outcomes of REDD+ activities, integrating locally informed monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) techniques and using robust counterfactual assessment methods.