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Policy Paper: Assessing prerequisites for market-based REDD+ activities 32
improved data availability in the near future. By contrast, institutional and legal readiness will prove even
more difficult to achieve. Installation of functional institutions able to successfully coordinate and oversee
REDD+ activities, development of strategies on how to deal with forest tenure and carbon rights as well as
the establishment of national safeguards and standards will in most cases only be possible with external assistance
and may take a long period of time. However, external support alone will not suffice to overcome
these challenges but a serious commitment of governments for achieving policy readiness through the correct
identification of drivers and the choice of respective policies is equally necessary. Here again, capacities are
still insufficient.
With REDD+ countries displaying large differences in their progress towards meeting the requirements for
participating in a market-based REDD+ mechanism, a general integration of REDD+ credits into carbon
markets is currently clearly out of reach. Without totally excluding the possibility of including REDD+ certificates
in future carbon markets, such step should be considered at a later point of time, possibly in 2020,
after a thorough assessment of the progress made by REDD+ countries has been conducted. Furthermore,
outstanding issues such as additionality and permanence will have to be solved if REDD+ certificates are to
be used for offsetting purposes.
The way forward
In the meantime, a separate REDD+ market could be established on a step-by-step basis. Following this
approach, countries meeting clearly defined admission requirements could successively be authorized to
enter the market to implement result-based REDD+ activities while countries not yet prepared for the market
would continue receiving readiness support on a fund basis. There are several advantages associated with
such an approach.
1. Fast-start activities that immediately reduce forestry-related emissions can be combined with the
goal of expanding the REDD+ market in the long-run.
2. Important insights into the functioning of a REDD+ market could be gained and current knowledge
gaps filled, without jeopardizing the integrity of the existing carbon markets.
3. REDD+ countries would continue receiving support in their activities related to all three readiness
building blocks.
4. REDD+ countries would be incentivised to implement the required steps, potentially triggering progress
towards market readiness.
5. The progress of readiness activities could be carefully monitored and evaluated, while experiences
with REDD+ implementation could be gained and implementation difficulties and potential solutions
be identified.
In pursuing such an approach, future REDD+ activities must ensure that progress in the realm of institutional
and legal readiness keeps up with the improvements of technical readiness. More generally, a well-balanced
treatment of all three readiness building blocks’ elements with due consideration of their particular implications
for achieving LEEE-outcomes should be the aim of any future REDD+ readiness activity.
Nicolas Kreibich, Christof Arens and Wolfgang Sterk
Wuppertal Institute