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Decision support tool on incentive allocation for integrated REDD+ accounting

9am, January 07th, 2016

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) countries are required to develop approaches that ultimately operate at national scale. However, as an interim measure, many countries already have in place or are establishing subnational and project- level REDD+ activities and entities to fulfill aims such as building capacity for REDD+ implementation or generating early emissions reductions and removals in defined geographical or administrative areas. To move towards a complete national REDD+ framework, projects and subnational efforts need to be integrated into national systems. The development of such integrated REDD+ systems will require consideration of how incentives will be allocated.

Incentive allocation is a central component of REDD+ and involves the transfer of monetary or non-monetary incentives to enable or motivate actors to implement activities that result in emissions reductions or removals. Though upfront finance is often required to cover start-up costs of activities aimed at generating carbon revenues, REDD+ incentives at the national level and within projects are, or will be, received in return for achievement of results in terms of CO2 emissions reductions and removals measured against a baseline. These results-based payments will in turn need to be distributed to lower levels in an economically efficient, equitable, and environmentally effective manner, either in return for emissions reduction or some other related measure.

This decision support tool seeks to guide allocation of financial or in-kind incentives to achieve maximum emissions reductions taking into account project and subnational-level REDD+ initiatives. Drivers of forest change and consideration of in-country capacities in forest-related monitoring, financing and governance form the starting point in this guidance rather than more abstract considerations.

Download the tool here: Decision support tool on incentive allocation for integrated REDD+ accounting

Image credit: Curt Carnemark / World Bank

Institutions Involved

  • USAID Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forest (LEAF)
  • Winrock International
  • The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC)
  • SNV – Netherlands Development Organization and Climate Focus

Authors

John Costenbader, Jeremy Broadhead, Lauren Stanley
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