Redeeming REDD: Policies, Incentives and Social Feasibility for Avoided Deforestation

Forests are major sinks for carbon and it is now well accepted that deforestation is a key source of greenhouse gas emissions and of climate change. As a result, a major initiative for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has been set up and widely endorsed by policy-makers. A key issue is the feasibility of carbon trading or other incentives to encourage land-owners and indigenous people, particularly in developing tropical countries, to conserve forests, rather than to cut them down for agricultural or other development. This book presents a major critique of the aims and policies of REDD, particularly in terms of their social feasibility. It is shown how the claims to be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as enhance people's livelihoods and biodiversity conservation are unrealistic. There is a naive assumption that technical or economic fixes are sufficient for success. However, the social and governance aspects of REDD, and its enhanced version known as REDD+, are shown to be too weak. Instead the author provides a roadmap as to how a more realistic REDD policy might work.