BONN, Germany, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Negotiators reached a surprise resolution to thorny issues relating to forest protection at U.N. climate talks yesterday, increasing the odds it will be included in a new global climate deal due to be agreed in Paris in December, experts said.
Forest researchers said they had not expected progress in Bonn on tough questions surrounding the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme.
One of the issues was how projects to protect forests can show they are respecting the rights of indigenous people and other forest communities, and producing benefits for them.
There have been examples, from Panama to Kenya, where local people have opposed forest carbon projects that failed to consult them, displaced them from their lands, or have not provided a fair share of revenues.
In Bonn, Brazil – which had previously held back discussions on so-called “safeguards” – supported a quick resolution as negotiators did not want the issue to drag on into Paris and beyond, said Rosalind Reeve of the Ateneo School of Government in Manila.
Developed countries also backed a compromise because they wanted to see a complete package on REDD+ in place before Paris.
By finalising the scheme now, “it is easier then to embed it into the (new climate) agreement”, Reeve said.
While the details of the REDD+ mechanism are fixed on paper, the Paris deal must make sure it works on the ground, said Gustavo Silva-Chavez of Forest Trends, a group that supports putting a value on ecosystems.
“REDD+ must be able to generate significant amounts of finance to (forest-rich) countries, do so with environmental integrity, and contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as possible,” he said.
The decisions on REDD+, which still need to be approved at the U.N. climate conference in Paris, cover the transparency and quality of information countries must report on how they are implementing “safeguards” for indigenous rights and biodiversity in their forest protection programmes.