Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)
Deforestation is occurring at a rate of approximately 13 million hectares per year, an area about 50 times the size of Luxembourg or 180 times the size of Singapore (FAO, 2007). Tropical deforestation is a major cause of biodiversity loss. It also results in the release of carbon dioxide (with small amounts of carbon monoxide and methane), a major cause of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated emissions from deforestation in the 1990s to be at 5.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year, or about 20% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore reducing and/or preventing deforestation is an important climate change mitigation option.
The topic of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries was first introduced at the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Montreal (December 2005).
The Climate Change Conference in Bali, in December 2007, opened the possibility of developing an incentive mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). One example of REDD is the
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Some REDD mechanisms already feature in the voluntary carbon markets.
REDD mechanisms can deliver multiple benefits. In addition to mitigating climate change, REDD can support livelihoods, maintain vital ecosystem services, and preserve globally significant biodiversity. Discussions on the linkages between REDD and biodiversity conservation are increasing. A number of research projects and policies are being developed around the issue. However, Parties to the CBD noted that the benefits will not necessarily be automatically achieved.
Specifically, the Conference of the Parties, at its ninth meeting (COP 9), called on Parties, other governments, and international organizations to ensure that REDD efforts:
- do not run counter to the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the implementation of the programme of work on forest biodiversity, but support the implementation of the programme of work,
- provide benefits for forest biodiversity, and, where possible, to indigenous and local communities,
- involve biodiversity experts, including holders of traditional forest-related knowledge,
- and respect the rights of indigenous and local communities in accordance with national laws and applicable international obligations (decision IX/5).
The CBD Secretariat is working with the other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), in particular the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the World Bank, in order to support Parties' efforts to address reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries in the framework of the UNFCCC (
decision IX/5). A particular emphasis of this work is directed towards ensuring the appropriate involvement of indigenous and local communities.
REDD-related decisions of the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9)
- Decision IX/16, para 11 (a), (b), (c); 16; annex II para 14; annex III, 3. (j), (k)
Biodiversity and climate change
Further information
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
