Abstract
The question of who is entitled to benefit from transactions under the United Nations framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) remains one of the most controversial issues surrounding cooperative efforts to reduce deforestation in developing countries. REDD+ has been conceived as an international framework to encourage voluntary efforts in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon removals from forest activities. It was designed as an international framework under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to enable the generation of emission reductions and removals (ERRs) at the national—and, provisionally, the subnational—level and is, thus, primarily a creature of international law. However, in defining forest carbon ERRs, the international framework competes with national emission trading systems and domestic REDD+ legislation as well as private standards that define units traded on the voluntary carbon market. As results-based and carbon market systems emerge, the question remains: Who can claim participation in REDD+ and voluntary carbon market projects? The existence of different international, national and private standards that value ERRs poses a challenge to countries that participate in REDD+ as well as to communities and private actors participating in voluntary carbon market projects. This paper seeks to clarify the nature and limitation of rights pertaining to REDD+ market transactions. It also links the notion of carbon rights to both carbon markets and government’s decision on benefit sharing. Applying a legal lens, this paper helps to understand the various claims and underlying rights to participate in REDD+ transactions and addresses ambiguities that can lead to conflict around REDD+ implementation. The definition of carbon rights and the legal nature of carbon credits depend on local law and differ between countries. However, by categorizing carbon rights, the paper summarizes several legal considerations that are relevant for regulating REDD+ and sharing the financial benefits of transacting ERRs.
Highlights
Markets and Entitlement to REDD+ BenefitsTropical forest countries that engage in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and participate in the international framework on REDD+ must put in place policies and incentives to address drivers of deforestation while safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples and vulnerable communities
In defining forest carbon emission reductions and removals (ERRs), the international framework competes with national emission trading systems and domestic REDD+ legislation as well as private standards that define units traded on the voluntary carbon market
As results-based and carbon market systems emerge, the question remains: Who can claim participation in REDD+ and voluntary carbon market projects? The existence of different international, national and private standards that value ERRs poses a challenge to countries that participate in REDD+ as well as to communities and private actors participating in voluntary carbon market projects
Summary
Relevant to the discussion of benefit sharing and carbon rights are efforts to link REDD+ to carbon markets This link is being made in one of two ways: either by embedding avoided deforestation (AD) projects into public REDD+ programs—at the national or subnational level—or by making said programs themselves meet the standards of carbon markets by creating a fungible currency based on forest-related emission reductions and removals (ERRs). While such programs remain scarce, an increasing number of tropical forest countries have developed or are in the process of developing
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