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July 21, 2010
For a combined 38 years, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society have been leaders in piloting 17 on-the-ground REDD demonstration projects. Through these projects, we have helped pioneer and further the state of knowledge of forest carbon measurement, carbon accounting methodologies, conservation strategies, and community involvement approaches.
This casebook draws on four specific experiences in Bolivia, Madagascar, and Indonesia. The report examines the principal aspects of demonstrating REDD credibility (e.g., baselines and additionality, measuring and monitoring, leakage, impermanence, etc.). For each issue, a project is examined in depth, describing how the challenges were dealt with and lessons learned for the future. The bottom line is simple: These projects demonstrate that REDD can produce credible carbon benefits, often with positive effects on local people and biodiversity.
This report explores the primary challenges in demonstrating this credibility, including:
- Demonstrating that the climate benefits from REDD are additional (i.e. would not have happened anyway). (Section 1)
- Setting realistic baselines (i.e. business-as-usual scenarios). (Section 1)
- Measuring, monitoring, reporting and verifying the carbon stocks preserved in forests and actual emissions avoided. (Sections 2 and 5)
- Addressing leakage (i.e. the shifting of emissions elsewhere). (Section 3)
- Managing risks to the permanence of the emissions reductions generated (i.e. strength in avoiding potential reversals). (Section 4)
- Ensuring the involvement of and benefits to local and indigenous peoples. (Section 6)
- Ensuring such efforts enhance, rather than undermine, environmental co-benefits. (Section 7)
- Expanding the scale and scope of REDD efforts. (Section 8)
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