REDD+ entered the global scene 10 years ago to great fanfare, with the promise of building a ‘wooden bridge’ towards a carbon-neutral economy. By making standing trees worth more than dead ones, the concept of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) was expected to be a quick, cheap and easy way to lessen the climate impacts of land-use change. While it has not been quick, cheap or easy, REDD+ is still a valid idea, more so now than ever. Recent findings show land-oriented climate solutions – primarily those protecting and restoring the world’s forests - could deliver more than one-third of the cost-effective mitigation needed to keep global warming below 1.5°C by 2030. Yet land-oriented climate solutions receive only 3% of climate funding, less than a tenth of what could be considered a fair share.
New warnings about the potentially disastrous consequences of rising GHG concentrations in the atmosphere bring the reality of climate change into sharp focus. But the combined national commitments under the Paris Agreement together fall far short of achieving the 1.5°C goal, placing the world on track to a temperature increase of 3.0–3.2°C by 2100 – with some countries in the fast lane towards 5°C. And a growing chorus of climate deniers in major emitting countries is influencing the global debate in alarming ways. The resulting noise risks drowning out voices of reason.
Reference
Angelsen, A.; Martius, C.; de Sy, V; Duchelle, A.E.; Larson, A.M.; Pham, T.T.; (eds.)"Transforming REDD+: Lessons and new directions". Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia, 2018.
Sven Wunder (EFI) co-authored four chapters in it, especially the ones focused on impact evaluation.