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About REDD+ in Bangladesh
What is REDD?
The issues concerning “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”, in acronym
“REDD”, came formally in the field of development by UNFCCC in 2005. It was introduced with the
objective of mitigating climate change through reducing net emissions of GHG by establishing enhanced
forest management in developing countries. The term “REDD” coined first on the UNFCCC Bali
conference in 2007. It stands for the developing countries' efforts to Reduce Emissions
from Deforestation and forest Degradation, as well as foster conservation, sustainable management of
forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
Globally, REDD strategies aim to make forests more valuable by creating a financial value for the carbon
stored in trees. It works as a mechanism to create an incentive for developing countries to protect,
better manage and wisely use their forest resources as part of a post-2020 global climate change
agreement. Finally, it involves paying positive incentives i.e. result based payments to the developing
countries that qualify and become eligible through voluntarily reducing their rates of deforestation and
forest degradation, and increasing their forest carbon stocks.
What is “REDD +” and why it is important for the developing countries?
Apart from their basic role of storing the carbon, forests play vital functions in preserving the ecosystem,
protecting the soil erosion, producing foods and fibre and water regulation. They are the home and
source of livelihoods for a great number of world populations. Thereby, the damages and losses incurred
by deforestation & forest degradation are multifold and deeply affect all forms of life on our planet. In
addition to the global impacts of climate change, deforestation & forest degradation directly and
indirectly encompass different layers of interlinked threats ranging from poverty, health hazards, and
water & air pollution to migration.
Where “REDD” comes as an emerging approach to minimize the intensity of the climate change
aftermaths globally through scaling down the GHG concentrations in the atmosphere by reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, REDD+, simply, goes beyond this periphery and
includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon
stocks in reducing emissions. After Kyoto Protocol in 2012, REDD+ came into being as one of the
sustainable solutions to mitigate climate change. Nowadays, it becomes a popular term that directly
refers to the strategies set forth for achieving the benefits out of the reduced GHG emissions but not
limited into those only. It enables the developing countries to attain the health, shelter, food and
livelihood benefits additionally. It is the latest mechanism that determines whether a developing
country is eligible for result based payment. Implementing REDD+ goes beyond reducing GHG emission
level and creates provisions of decreasing poverty, increasing equity and livelihood opportunities for the
vulnerable stakeholders, ensuring full and active participation of all relevant stakeholders in decisionmaking processes, addressing all corrupt practices through formulating or revamping relevant legal or
policy frameworks e.g. forest & environment policies and laws, agricultural development plans etc.
In order to be an eligible one under the REDD+ mechanism established by the UNFCCC Cancun
Agreements, at first, the developing countries are encouraged to implement following 5 activities:
1. Reducing emissions from deforestation
2. Reducing emissions from forest degradation
REDD
3. Conservation of forest carbon stocks
4. Sustainable management of forests (SMF)
5. Enhancement of forest carbon stocks
+
“+” stands for the co-benefits that enable
a developing country in conservation, SMF
and enhancement of carbon stocks as well
as open the door for social, environmental
and economic benefits for the country and
its forest dependent communities.
The sign “+” added to the acronym indicates the above three additional terms- sustainable management
of forest, forest enhancement, and forest conservation, thereby, turns REDD into a potential win-win
situation for implementing countries. It encapsulates the activities set for reducing the carbon emissions
and forest & biodiversity conservation into one policy and finally, enables those countries with
enhanced poverty alleviation. It is considered as a tool to realize achievement of the transformative
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders in September 2015. By next 15
years, this new agenda calls on countries to commence its strategic efforts to attain 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) where REDD+ is straightly linked with a county’s strategy pertaining to
achieving the Climate Action (goal 13). It also plays vital roles in enabling a country to attain other major
SDGs such as: No Poverty (goal 1), Zero Hunger (goal 2), Life on Land (goal 15), Consumption and
Production (goal 12), Decent Work and Economic Growth (goal 8) and Gender Equality (goal 5) etc.