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The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Programme) is a collaboration between FAO, UNDP and UNEP. A multi-donor trust fund was established in July 2008 that allows donors to pool resources and provides funding to activities towards this programme.

REDD is one of the hot topics in the negotiations leading up to a new global climate agreement in Copenhagen Summit in 2009, and in particular it is the rights of indigenous and local communities who live in the world's rainforests that is at stake. Representatives of indigenous groups have long expressed concern that a mechanism to protect the world's rain forests may be ineffective and lead to social conflicts if it does not recognize the rights of the communities that have traditionally used and protected forest.

In previous negotiations rounds have Bolivia and other Latin American countries fought hard to have these concerns to be taken seriously in the negotiations.  Among other things, they suggested that a future agreement on reducing deforestation must be based on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and that representatives of indigenous and local communities must be actively involved in efforts to design REDD.

An alliance of the United States, New Zealand, Canada and Australia has resisted references to indigenous peoples’ rights, but at present there is an opening for indigenous people’s participation in the negotiation process. Other issues around REDD are technical questions about the measurement and reporting of emissions from deforestation.

Norway’s REDD contribution
The USD 2,7 billion dollar commitment from Norway to help reduce deforestation in tropical countries during the period 2008-2012 is the direct result of a Norwegian NGO proposal. The two organizations behind the initiative, Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) and Friends of the Earth Norway (FoEN), are presently engaged in influencing the set-up of a credible and efficient implementation mechanism for the grant, and challenge all other NGOs to put pressure on their governments for joining the Norwegian initiative. The two organisations believe that REDD can be a crucial means to reduces green house gas emissions, but that international pressure is needed in order to make the framework conditions include indigenous peoples interests.

Links:
www.undp.org/mdtf/un-redd/overview.shtml

unfccc.int/methods_science/redd/items/4531.php

The article was last updated on: 07.10.2009