Topic: deforestation

This working paper is part of a series of regular updates on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) readiness process. It reviews documentation detailing national REDD initiatives emerging from the FCPF in order to assess how these efforts are dealing with fundamental issues of forest governance that underpin deforestation and forest degradation problems in REDD countries. Without addressing these issues it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reduce deforestation and degradation at the national level and deal with risks of leakage. We recommend improvements to the FCPF process that will support these objectives.

If reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is to work effectively, developing countries will need support to build the capacities required for enforcing their own laws and regulations. At present, timber production that violates the developing country’s own laws both acts as a barrier to REDD and costs these countries billions of dollars per year. This paper examines the approach taken by Parties to the challenge of illegally produced timber, and proposes measures to support developing countries in tackling this problem that could form part of the climate framework to be negotiated in Copenhagen.

This report looks beyond quantifying emissions reductions at a more flexible approach for recognizing mitigation actions being taken by developing countries in the forest sector. This approach ensures that countries with high historical emissions are not necessarily favored for support, and it allows for a broader set of MRV criteria to capture country’s efforts to change the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.

This publication is a transcript of Jonathan Lash’s annual Environmental Stories to Watch address, which he gave on December 17th, 2008 at the Newseum. For the past six years, WRI has invited members of the press to join in a conversation about what we think will be the environmental stories to watch in the coming year.