Carbon righteousness – how to ensure the poor benefit from REDD

IIED report on REDD

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has issued a new reports on REDD+: Carbon righteousness: how to lever pro-poor benefits from REDD+

This briefing discusses the opportunities and challenges involved in the creation of a new form of private property that can be bought and sold in domestic and international markets — the ‘carbon right’. It looks at how equity and fairness can be built into this new commodity so that carbon trading schemes and REDD+ projects support the rural poor who rarely hold formal land ownership or tenure rights but are key players in putting sustainable forest management into practice on the ground.

Introduction: A growing focus on mitigating climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD and REDD+) is prompting the creation of a new form of private property — the ‘carbon right’ — that can be bought and sold in domestic or international markets. But to make REDD+ work for the poor, carbon trading schemes will have to ensure that a wide range of forest-dependent groups and communities benefit. In part, this means carefully assessing how carbon rights are assigned — to ensure they support the rural poor who rarely hold formal land ownership or tenure rights but who are key players in putting sustainable forest management into practice on the ground. It also means rethinking eligibility criteria for REDD+ projects so that they include economic, social and environmental standards and co-benefits.

Author: Mongabay

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