Abstract
Every policy solution is embedded in a certain “problem representation” that is taken for granted and assumed by policymakers. This paper examines how emission reductions and forest management have been problematized for policymaking and solution implementation from multiple actors’ perspectives. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), particularly Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) programs, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) serves as a demonstrative example. By applying the ‘What is the Problem Represented to be’ (WPR) approach as a poststructuralist method, this study first comparatively analyzes the general problem as represented by multiple actors, including the government, media, academia and civil society. In particular, queries such as what and how the “problem” is represented and what is not problematized are reflected during the analyses. Next, this research further examines the corresponding problematization gap based on drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and discusses the noncarbon benefits of FCPF in the rhetoric. The objective of the study is to not to find the best policy choice but to reveal the heterogeneity in problem representations formulated by multiple actors to yield space for alternative and disruptive change for future problem solving in emission reductions and forest management
Highlights
Science-based evidence, including the authoritative reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5, Pachauri et al, 2014), has increasingly confirmed the strong causal linkage between climate change and anthropogenic pressure on forests (Foley et al, 2005; Stern, 2007)
Based on the above three sections on problem representation analysis, several problematization gaps associated with REDD+ programs have been identified or revealed based on different data sources to create opportunities for innovation to be introduced for future policymaking
A myriad of “problem” dimensions associated with the Lao REDD+ program have been evaluated, and alternatives have been identified during this questioning process
Summary
Science-based evidence, including the authoritative reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5, Pachauri et al, 2014), has increasingly confirmed the strong causal linkage between climate change and anthropogenic pressure on forests (Foley et al, 2005; Stern, 2007). The study concludes with a set of policy reflections based on the results of the problem representation analysis to encourage policymakers or practitioners to self-reflect on the “problems” that are usually taken for granted, especially during the policy formulation or program proposal stages of climate change mitigation related to forest management, and to evaluate multiactor collaboration to include alternative problematization constructs for the collective goal of helping Laos achieve its forest cover target. Problem representation analysis is rooted in the poststructuralist observation that actors formulate "problems" differently, and these differences guide their corresponding actions, solutions, and beliefs and generates various impacts on the problem one wishes to tackle Such analyses are not performed to find the correct policy response to the complex policy issue, such as emission reductions, but to examine how REDD+ is "questioned, analyzed, classified and regulated"(Deacon, 2000) in the problematization pattern construct of various agents. By unraveling the heterogeneous methods of problem representation and dissemination, new approaches can be revealed and created to disrupt the existing structures while introducing or supplementing alternatives to innovative future governmentality
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