integrate REDD+ into a green economy transition - Unredd.net

Executive summary
The concept of a green economy that ‘results in improved human well-being and social
equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities’ is
gathering support (UNEP, 2011a). The role of forests and land use in the context of natural
capital is included in growing discussions of a transition to a green economy (e.g. OECD,
2011; World Bank, 2012). However, the full potential of REDD+ – reducing emissions
from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable
management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks – is rarely elaborated (see
UNEP, 2011b; Sukhdev et al., 2010). As REDD+ aims to address market, policy, and
institutional failures that undervalue the climate change mitigation service provided by the
forest ecosystem, while protecting the rights of those who rely on the forests, there are clear
links between REDD+ objectives and green economy objectives, both of which call for a
change in the business-as-usual economic development in order to slow the loss of natural
capital.
This paper outlines a rationale for integrating REDD+ within the green economy transition
and initiates thinking on how this might be achieved. It brings together the existing
literature to consolidate conceptual issues, presents key examples of progress, and
highlights the potential challenges and opportunities of including REDD+ in the transition
to a green economy. Intended to support the discussions of the Global Symposium on
REDD+ in a Green Economy, held in Indonesia in June 2013, the target audience of this
paper is the communities of practice both in REDD+ and green economy; this includes
policy-makers, civil society organisations and academia.
A clear rationale for REDD+ integration in a green economy
transition
Over the years, there has been a growing need for and recognition of the multiple benefits
of REDD+. These relate to the enhancement of ecosystem services and the potential
delivery of wider social objectives (e.g. Dickson and Osti, 2010; Peskett et al., 2008).
Although emission reductions and, therefore, climate change mitigation will remain at the
core of REDD+, there are many other ecosystem services flowing from forests that
contribute to human well-being and can be enhanced through REDD+ activities and
investments. These include watershed protection, building of soils, supporting fisheries in
swamp forests, protecting coastlines with mangrove forests, and many others (MA, 2005;
TEEB, 2010a). These services are largely underpinned by biodiversity, which also supports
ecosystem resilience, which in turn could contribute to human adaptation to climate change
(Miles et al., 2010; Graham, 2011).
The multiple benefits of REDD+ also include potential wider social gains in forest
governance. Many of the world’s forests have unclear or contested tenure (Springate-
Baginski and Wollenberg, 2010). Clarifying land tenure will provide investor confidence in
REDD+ and play a role in determining accountability for the delivery of emission
reductions and in distributing benefits (Robledo et al., 2008). Equally important is the
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