Operationalising and Financing National REDD+ Strategies: from programming and financing implementation to results-based payments

A REDD+ National Strategy or Action Plan may not be sufficient to fully guide REDD+ implementation, and may need to be complemented by more detailed, operational document(s) at national and/or subnational level. As agreed in the Warsaw Framework for REDD+, a National REDD+ Strategy and/or Action Plan is one of the prerequisites for accessing results-based payments (RBPs) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These strategies present an overall vision, over the medium to long term, setting aspirational goals and outlining a general approach to achieving them. However, they often lack the operational elements required to fully frame REDD+ implementation: an explicit theory of change with clear priorities for implementation; a budget coupled with a financing plan and funding mechanism; and/or a REDD+ results framework with an associated monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This infobrief examines how to operationalise and finance National REDD+ Strategies from programming and financing implementation to results-based payments.