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Forests and Climate Change Negotiations

Fact Sheet

Rainforest of the Western Region of Ghana

A complex history

Forests have had a complex history in the international climate negotiations. The Marrakech Accords explicitly excluded deforestation from the Clean Development Mechanism, owing to a number of concerns over technical feasibility, risks of leakage (i.e. simply shifting deforestation from one site to another) and emphasis on the need for development countries to take a lead in reducing their emissions.

Fortunately, many of these concerns have been addressed through subsequent technical improvements in monitoring forest cover through satellite imagery and a shift to focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) at a national level.

Putting REDD back on the UNFCCC agenda

The Bali Action Plan, which emerged from COP13 in late 2007, officially put REDD back on the UNFCCC agenda. But under the Action Plan, if REDD is to be included in the post-2012 framework, decisions about the scope of REDD, who will pay for it, and how a mechanism will be structured must be agreed upon at COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.

The way forward

REDD is a vital component of the global emission reductions required. A global objective of zero net emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by 2020 should be adopted.

It is essential that a robust, effective REDD mechanism be formally adopted in the post-2012 UNFCCC framework. Forests have a critical role to play and reducing deforestation and forest degradation must be part of the solution to the global climate change problem.

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