As countries increasingly qualify for payments under the REDD+ process and schemes in return for reducing their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, a new UN-REDD/FAO report highlights the need for legal clarity on who owns emission reductions and who is entitled to benefit from those payments.
Comparative legal study focusing on carbon rights in the context of REDD+ countries: Legal trends and case studies from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America explains that since the Warsaw framework for REDD+ was established in 2013, verified emission reductions derived from forests have effectively become an intangible asset that may be traded internationally to allow third parties, including governments, to achieve mitigation targets and be compensated for their emission reductions, in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
However, with no common definition aiming to clarify the legal nature of emission reductions, the report highlights the need for better understanding of diverse approaches to defining carbon rights and different legal conceptualizations depending on national contexts.
“There is an urgent need for legislation to ensure that all those who work to reduce a country’s emissions from deforestation and forest degradation reap the rewards, including Indigenous Peoples and rural communities who care for forests,” said Tiina Vähänen, Deputy Director of FAO’s Forestry Division.
Legal solutions
The report sums up the challenges of defining who holds the rights to the carbon in forests and the reductions in forest emissions achieved.
In some cases, forests and lands are owned by the state, while in others, they are managed by private landowners or communities. Parties entitled to hold rights to emission reductions could include the government, forest landowners, private actors or non-state actors who worked to reduce emissions, according to the report.
It explains that few countries have passed laws explicitly on this issue and that most countries are working with existing legislation to develop solutions.
The report sets out the progress made and legal solutions found by more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, as well as mechanisms for distributing results-based payments fairly. It identifies trends and provides recommendations on how countries can improve their legislation.
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REDD+ and results-based payments
The REDD+ process, and related results-based payments and finance, was set up to encourage developing forest countries to contribute to mitigation actions in accordance with their nationally determined contributions and the common but differentiated responsibilities principle under the UNFCCC.
To access results-based payments, countries need to fulfil specific requirements, including the development of policies and strategies, complying with social and environmental safeguards, and put them into action to achieve results and report emissions reductions in a verifiable way.
To date eight countries – Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, Indonesia, Ecuador and Paraguay – have accessed REDD+ results-based payments from the Green Climate Fund REDD+ results-based payment pilot programme.
While calling for long-term, adequate and predictable results-based payments, forest countries with certified emission reductions are also exploring and progressing towards other results-based payments options (as in the case of the World Bank Carbon Fund) and initiatives, such as the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition, or carbon market opportunities, the report says.
Schemes that issue payments for REDD+ results require clarity on ownership rights over emission reductions and how government entities will obtain those rights, as well as fair and just benefit sharing mechanisms. Directing benefits to local communities, smallholders, and Indigenous Peoples is key to building trust among the parties in this area, according to the publication.
The report calls for countries to update their legislation or agree upon how rights associated with emission reductions will be established on a contractual basis with landowners and resource rights holders in compliance with the law.
Want to know more?
- If you have 3 hours to spare, we invite you to delve into our recently launched publication, "Comparative Study of Carbon Rights in the Context of Jurisdictional REDD+ Case Studies from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean": Link
- If you have 1 hour, you can watch the recording of the UN-REDD webinar, which provides a comprehensive overview and discussion of the study and its findings and additional reflections on the topic from countries and international experts: Link
- If you have 10 minutes, we encourage you to review the slides from the presentation about the Comparative Study: Link
- For a quick overview in just 2 minutes, consider reading our news story about the Comparative Study on REDD+: Link
Other relevant links:
