Abstracts Category : Other

Opportunities for REDD+ to minimise forest carbon emissions and mitigate climate change in Southeast Asia

by Victoria F Graham

Tropical forests are large reservoirs of carbon, containing around half of the carbon stored in forests worldwide. Annual gross tropical deforestation is estimated at over 100 million hectares for the period 1990-2010, which contributed ~15% of total anthropogenic carbon emissions over that period. In recognition of the substantial emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics, global agreements have emerged to incentivise the maintenance of carbon stocks in standing forests. Indonesia is one of the world's largest sources of net carbon emissions from land-use change. Most tropical forests are in developing countries, where trees themselves, along with non-timber forest products, represent a valuable natural resource for local communities.A prominent international financial mechanism for supporting emissions reduction targets in developing countries is REDD+ (for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus conserving, sustainably managing forests and enhancing forest carbon stocks). The mechanism channels monetary incentives to nations that preserve or enhance tropical forest carbon stores. REDD+ offers multiple benefits; by providing a degree of protection for threatened forests and attracting new streams of international investment. As with all policies, the financial and political support for REDD+ will depend on it being cost-effective, therefore, drawing attention to the financial competitiveness of different options for reducing emissions, could increase political support.REDD+ has received widespread support and at the same time suffered much criticism since its inception in 2005. In particular, the economic viability of REDD+ depends on whether the financing it generates is sufficient to off-set lost revenues from extractive activities, which in Southeast Asia includes highly profitable logging and oil palm production. The general consensus from the literature is that REDD+ will be of limited utility for reducing emissions from oil palm because the revenues from converting forest into oil palm far outweigh the revenues from trading the carbon credits on voluntary markets. However, by focusing almost exclusively on reducing emissions from oil palm expansion into forested areas, these papers have overlooked potentially more cost-effective strategies for REDD+. To better allocate REDD+ resources, it is important to consider both activities that reduce emissions as well as activities that sequester carbon. It is equally as important to consider the spatial context in which projects are implemented, as costs and carbon incentives vary according to site specific factors. If restoring and sustainably managing forests offer cheaper avenues for reducing forest-based emissions, they could significantly alter the uptake of REDD+ within Southeast Asian nations and its role in global emissions reductions.The primary goal of my thesis was to inform policy-makers regarding financially appropriate ways forward for REDD+ in Southeast Asia, by applying