Research project SD/CL/010 (Research action SD)
Objective
The objective of REDD payment distribution mechanisms is to support policies and measures that reduce deforestation and degradation through transfer of revenues from international REDD funds or carbon markets to (or within) national levels (GOFC-GOLD 2009). This may provide benefits of three types: a) shared responsibility for reducing a major driver of global climate change, b) financial payments and co-investment that exceed the economic opportunities foregone from decisions to maintain carbon stocks, and c) co-benefits through the other environmental service functions that well-maintained forests can provide. To ensure demonstrable results on emission reduction, REDD must be effective in targeting the wide range of agents involved in deforestation and degradation. Therefore they must incentivize and reward good performances compared to reference scenarios and adequately compensate agents that suffer losses from changed practices. In this respect, valuable lessons can be learned from past and ongoing conservation efforts that have apparently failed. International REDD payments are likely to be performance based, both in terms of emission reduction at national scale and the environmental and social impacts of the system, meaning that accountability, transparency, risk management, adequate benefits transfer and administration mechanisms will be essential for attracting investment (Van Noordwijk et al. 2008).
Method
The objectives of this proposal will be achieved via 6 work packages, interlinked to one another.
An important, and often the first, step for implementing REDD+ would be establishing baseline deforestation and degradation rates. Technical aspects regarding quantification, monitoring and establishment of baseline data will be assessed by combining recent and historical ground truth data from past projects of the cluster partners with a time series of SPOT-Végétation imagery (WP1).
Local and published information will be used on the carbon stock in different pools to assess the emissions resulting from land use changes. Combined with the information from WP1, the historic greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation can be determined (WP2). Within a future REDD+ mechanism, historic emissions might play an important role in baseline setting (Parker et al. 2008).
Deforestation and forest degradation is caused by a wide set of socio-economic and biophysical drivers (Lambin et al. 2001). Consequently, land-use policies must capture these complex drivers of land-use change and account for the specific human-environment conditions under which the drivers of change operate (Lambin et al. 2001). Past and ongoing case studies of REDD will be analyzed jointly (WP3) to draw wider conclusions regarding the opportunities and pitfalls in establishing REDD+ policies (WP6). The inclusion of an international partner based in the South (ICRAF) offers the opportunity to include the assessment of development benefits, in an effort to avoid perverse side effects (Griffiths 2007). To assess the sustainability of ongoing and planned REDD+ efforts the framework developed in the SAFE project will be tested and further expanded. This work will be carried out in close collaboration with ICRAF (WP4).
Finally, REDD+ policies will come with a certain economic cost. The cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures via different REDD+ policies will be compared, such as avoiding deforestation and agroforestry (WP5). Depending on data availability, costs associated with implementing REDD+ (e.g. opportunity costs) will be assessed in the different case studies.
Result
This cluster proposal will bring together the most important Belgian scientific partners working on REDD+ related topics, to form a Belgian REDD knowledge centre. This direct collaboration is expected to result in more joined proposals. Concrete outputs will be:
A1-paper(s) on the case studies in Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya and/or Ethiopia.
A1-paper on methodological and political problems and issues in REDD+ (as identified by the case studies).
A policy paper (for DGDC, BTC and DG environment) drawing lessons from the case studies.
A workshop or dedicated session during an international conference, foreseen mid-2011.
A website with relevant information to different stakeholders.
REDD initiatives are to a large extent linked to development aid. A better knowledge base will help the administrations of DGDC to make more informed choices about what REDD – mechanisms can operate under which conditions. Relevant results for the policy research will be communicated to the DGDC through the KLIMOS* O platform.
Belgian Platform for REDD+ information (BE-REDDI) : final report
Dauwe, T. - Cuypers D.- Meyfroidt,P. ... et al Brussels : Belgian Science Policy, 2012 (SP2582)
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