Abstract
Although REDD+ was conceived as a national approach to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, many of the early advances have been at the subnational level. It is critical to link these subnational efforts to emerging national REDD+ frameworks, including with respect to finance and benefit distribution, setting reference levels, measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), land policy and safeguards. We use evidence from interviews with proponents from 23 subnational REDD+ initiatives in six countries to characterize the multilevel governance challenges for REDD+. We analyse the differences in perceived challenges between subnational jurisdictional programs and project-based initiatives, and then analyse proponents’ perceptions of the relationship between government policies at multiple levels and these REDD+ initiatives. We find important multilevel governance challenges related to vertical coordination and information sharing and horizontal and inter-sectoral tensions, as well as concerns over accountability, equity and justice. Though the shift to a nested, jurisdictional or national REDD+ is sometimes approached as a technical design issue, this must be accompanied by an understanding of the interests and power relations among actors at different levels. We outline challenges and suggest priority areas for future research and policy, as countries move towards a national REDD+ system.
Highlights
The data is based on interviews with the proponents of these initiatives, collected from December 2012 to May 2013 under the component of Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)’s Global Comparative Study (GCS) that focuses on subnational REDD+ initiatives
The perspectives of proponents on the relationships between subnational REDD+ initiatives and national governments have several implications as countries move towards a national approach to REDD+, and raise important questions for research
Our findings show that key elements of REDD+ – benefit sharing and finance, MRV and reference levels, land use planning and tenure, and safeguards – present multiple opportunities and challenges
Summary
Countries preparing for REDD+ are in various stages, starting from readiness, moving to advanced readiness, and to implementation and full UNFCCC compliance (Wertz-Kanounnikoff and Angelsen 2009). The sub-national jurisdictional approach is interpreted as guaranteeing a central role for subnational governments (interviews, 2013 – see Methods below for details) This discussion about jurisdictions raises a point that has been ignored in much of the REDD+ literature previously: the distinction between subnational jurisdictional programs, and project-based initiatives (Larson and Ribot 2009). Neither term makes it clear which subnational actors will, or ought to be, engaged with REDD+, or what their influence will be in the transition toward a national approach These decisions, which are being shaped primarily around technical questions such as MRV methods, are fundamentally political, and must be accompanied by an understanding of the interests and power relations among actors at different levels. We discuss the findings in the context of transitioning towards a national approach to REDD+
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