In the recent past, Uganda has made laudable strides towards environmental preservation, having become the first African country to present results for ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Navigating this commendable achievement demands an understanding of the mechanism of REDD+ and its significance, as well as the implications for other countries like India.
Understanding REDD+
REDD+ is a system formulated by attendees at the UNFCCC in 2005. The fundamental decisions related to REDD+ were finalized by 2013, with the remaining parts of the rules cemented in 2015. The “Plus” in REDD+ denotes the various methods countries have adopted for three activities: conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of forest carbon stock. REDD+ aims to mitigate climate change by encouraging forest conservation and is marked by three phases: readiness, implementation, and result-based actions.
The readiness phase comprises developing national strategies, plans, REDD+ mitigation actions, and building capacities. The implementation stage includes enacting REDD+ actions and national strategies that could further involve capacity building, technology development, and transfer. The final phase, result-based payments, offer financial incentives to developing countries that can verifiably prove they halted deforestation during a defined time period.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), established at Conference Of Parties (COP)-17 to function as the financial mechanism for the UNFCCC, presently funds REDD+ programs. Brazil was the inaugural country to receive $96.5 million under the results-based payments.
Uganda’s Significant Progress
Uganda has showcased remarkable progress with a 44% annual reduction in the country’s rate of deforestation between 2015 and 2017. By submitting its results to the UNFCCC, Uganda has opened the door for potential result-based payments. This will aid Uganda in receiving funds via the Green Climate Fund’s forest conservation scheme.
Africa’s Emphasis on REDD+
The submission of these results marks a noteworthy milestone for the African continent regarding REDD+. It will inspire other African nations to minimize carbon emissions by cutting down deforestation and forest degradation.
India’s Involvement in REDD+
The Paris Agreement on climate change urged countries to enforce and back REDD+. As stated in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, India plans to capture 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. Accordingly, India has developed its “National REDD+ Strategy” in 2018. Introduced by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, this strategy is designed to address the causes of deforestation and forest degradation whilst developing a roadmap for forest carbon stocks enhancement and achieving sustainable forest management through REDD+ actions.
The Road Ahead
Accomplishing REDD+ results is quite challenging due to the competing development priorities including agriculture, mining, energy and forestry, that are involved in driving deforestation. There is an imperative need to assist developing countries throughout all three phases of REDD+ – readiness, implementation, and result-based actions by providing tools and analyses to design, implement, and evaluate the outcomes of REDD+ action. This commitment will potentially position nations like India and Africa as forefront leaders of the forest conservation drive in the coming decade.
Last Modified: February 7, 2024