REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM

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REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION and
Degradation (REDD) IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Background and status of UNFCCC Policy Process
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Acronyms

• UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on
  Climate Change
• COP Conference of the Parties
• RED(D) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
  (and Degradation)
• SBSTA Subsidiary Body for Scientific and
  Technological Advice
• CDM Clean Development Mechanism

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Submission by the Governments ofPapua New
Guinea Costa RicaReducing Emissions from
Deforestation in Developing CountriesApproaches
to Stimulate ActionEleventh Conference of the
Parties to the UNFCCC Agenda Item 6
Enter RED... Montreal, Nov 2005
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REDD in the UNFCCC process

• 2005
• December - Montreal RED is placed on the UNFCCC
  agenda with 2 year recommendations deadline
• 2006-2007
• 2 SBSTA workshops on scientific, technical, and
  policy issues of REDD
• December 2007
• Bali 2 year deadline reached SBSTA recommends
  inclusion of degradation Bali Action Plan
  includes REDD as a potential option to reach
  climate goals

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Issue Scale

• National vs Project-level approach
• National accounting approach
• avoids many problems with leakage that kept REDD
  out of CDM
• could drive deeper Annex I commitments
• Supports development of cross-sectoral policies
  to address drivers of deforestation
• Subnational accounting approach
• May allow broader initial participation
• Quicker start
• Promotes private sector financing

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Issue Baselines

• National historical reference period based on
  emissions
• Forward-looking baseline modeling future
  business as usual emissions
• Baseline of carbon stocks
• Global average emissions baseline
• Hybrid approach
• Using combination of historical emissions and
  carbon stocks

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Issue Scope

• Include degradation?
• Include maintenance of carbon stocks?
• Include regrowth/increase in carbon stocks?
• What about countries that have not yet
  deforested? Perverse incentive?
• Costa Rica declining deforestation
• Congo Basin limited degradation
• Brazil extensive historical deforestation
• Ghana high deforestation rates

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Issue Financing Mechanism

• Market
• Credits created for emissions reduced, which can
  be sold in carbon market and used for countries
  to meet emission reduction targets
• Non-market approach
• Annex I countries contribute voluntarily to large
  fund not linked to market
• Levy on emissions trading to fund REDD
• Hybrid approaches
• Separate market for REDD credits
• And many others....

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All approaches advantage some countries and
disadvantage others

• National level accounting favors countries with
  strong measurement and monitoring capacity, and
  government infrastructure for tracking and
  accounting
• Historical baselines favors countries with high
  levels of historical deforestation
• Scope including deforestation only favors
  countries with high deforestation rates
  including degradation favors countries with
  logging and fuelwood gathering as primary forest
  emissions

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Advantage/Disadvantage contd

• Scope contd - including maintenance and
  regrowth of carbon stocks favors countries with
  low historical emissions and high carbon stocks,
  as well as countries with net carbon gain in
  forests
• Financial mechanism depends on structure

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Next steps for REDD

• Dec 2008 Poland Conference of the Parties
• Dec 2009 Deadline for establishing Kyoto
  Protocol successor Copenhagen Protocol?
• Success of REDD is heavily dependent on consensus
  on comprehensive climate agreement to follow
  Kyoto Protocols 2012 expiration

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Thanks for your attention
Tracy Johns The Woods Hole Research
Center tjohns_at_whrc.org
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Compensated Reduction

• Amazon Institute of Environmental Research,
  Environmental Defense, The Woods Hole Research
  Center
• Scale - National level accounting
• Baseline National historical baseline
• Scope - Could include degradation maintenance or
  regrowth of carbon stocks not included
• Financing Mechanism - Market-based approach

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PNG Proposal

• Scale National level accounting
• Baseline national historical reference period
  at least 5 years
• Scope can include degradation separate fund
  for maintenance and growth of carbon stocks
• Financing mechanism market-based approach
• Includes Development Adjustment Factor applied
  to baseline to reflect national circumstances

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Stock-Flow Approach

• The Woods Hole Research Center based partly on
  Strassburg Global Baseline Approach
• Scale National-level acounting
• Baseline Global historical baseline
• Scope can include degradation based on both
  emissions and carbon stocks
• Financial mechanism could be market or
  fund-based

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Nested Approach

• Climate Focus, CATIE, Colombia
• Scale combination of subnational and national
  accounting
• Baseline project baselines nested into future
  national baseline
• Scope includes degradation does not include
  maintenance or regrowth
• Financing mechanism market-based approach

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Strassburg Global Baseline Approach

• Bernardo Strassburg, University of East Anglia,
  UK
• Scale national-level accounting
• Baseline global historical baseline
• Scope can include degradation does not include
  maintenance or regrowth of carbon stocks
• Financial mechanism could be market or
  fund-based

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Carbon Stock Approach

• Climate Focus, Center for International
  Environmental Law similar approach favored by
  India
• Scale national-level accounting
• Baseline based on current carbon stocks, not
  emissions
• Scope because based on stocks, includes
  deforestation, degradation, maintenance and
  regrowth of carbon stocks
• Financing Mechanism market-based approach

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Dual Markets Approach

• Center for Clean Air Policy Greenpeace favors a
  similar approach
• Scale national-level accounting
• Baseline national historical baseline
• Scope Includes degradation does not include
  maintenance or regrowth of carbon stocks
• Financial mechanism market/fund hybrid
  separate market for REDD credits

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Brazil Proposal

• Scope National-level accounting
• Baseline modified national historical
  reference emission rate
• Scale Focus on deforestation does not include
  maintenance or regrowth of carbon stocks
• Financing Mechanism competitive Fund-based
  approach