Government of UK: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+)

The world’s total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares, or 31% of total land area.

Deforestation results in around 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This makes it the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and a larger source than global transport.

Although there is some debate over the share attributable to tropical deforestation, it could account for as much as 96% of global forest-related emissions.

REDD+ is a mechanism designed under the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to financially support developing countries that are willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation and invest in low carbon paths to sustainable development.

UK support for REDD+

Addressing deforestation is a priority for the UK’s £2.9 billion International Climate Fund (ICF). Forests have a critical role as carbon stores and they influence water, climate and weather systems. They build countries’ resilience to extreme weather events and help people adapt to a changing climate. Around 1.2 billion poor people directly depend on forests for their livelihoods. Forests are also home to an estimated 80% of the world’s species.

As part of a balanced allocation, the UK is working to make sure around 20% of its ICF commitment is used to fund forest programmes by 2015.

Through these programmes, the UK is playing its part to help save tens of millions of hectares of forest and boost the incomes of thousands of poor people who depend on forests for their jobs and livelihoods.

Trade in illegal timber is a significant cause of deforestation. Our efforts to control illegal logging and encourage trade in legally harvested timber over the past 10 years have already helped to protect an estimated 17 million hectares of forest - an area equivalent to England and Wales in size.

The UK’s ICF is managed by:

• Department for International Development (DFID)
• Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC)
• Department of Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra)

REDD+ projects

Multilateral programmes help the UK use public funds to leverage more funds from other donors. REDD+ funding from the UK covers the following programmes administered by multilateral organisations:

• Climate Investment Funds’ Forest Investment Programme (£100 million) – administered by the World Bank to help 8 countries scale up investments in action against deforestation
• Congo Basin Forest Fund (£50 million) – administered by the African Development Bank to help the 10 countries of the Congo Basin improve forest their management
• Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (£3.5 million to the FCPF Readiness Fund and £11.5 million to the FCPF Carbon Fund) – administered by the World Bank to help 37 countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation

We also support forestry and land management projects through direct or bilateral relationships with other countries. Our bilateral programmes help countries address the causes of deforestation by:

• improving the way forests are governed and landscapes managed
• enhancing community access to resources that support better livelihoods
• working to stop illegal logging and related corruption
• influencing consumer behaviour to change the markets for timber and other commodities associated with deforestation
• supporting best practice knowledge on these issues

Current UK bilateral programmes include:

• £15 million low carbon agricultural project with Colombia – will help cattle farmers plant trees on cattle-grazing land to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect forests, increase biodiversity and improve livelihoods
• £60 million Forests Governance Markets and Climate initiative – works in Liberia, Ghana, Indonesia and other countries to help stop illegal logging
• £20 million Forestry Knowledge and Tools (KnowFor) initiative – supports good practice forest management by working with leading international think tanks to influence policy and decision makers
• £20 million Nepal Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme – reduces rural poverty and maintains healthy ecosystems by helping local communities manage their forests
• £25 million to help Indonesia improve accountability for land use decisions, manage corruption in the system for issuing plantation and mining permits, and support spatial planning in Papua for sustainable economic development in Indonesia’s last undisturbed forest

In 2011 PwC published the independent strategic review, Funding for Forests: UK Government support for REDD+. We are using this review to inform further REDD+ projects.