Multi-Level Policy Dialogues, Processes, and Actions: Challenges and Opportunities for National REDD+ Safeguards Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV)

Citation

Jagger, Pamela; Brockhaus, Maria; Duchelle, Amy E.; Gebara, Maria Fernanda; Lawlor, Kathleen; Resosudarmo, Ida Aju Pradnja; & Sunderlin, William D. (2014). Multi-Level Policy Dialogues, Processes, and Actions: Challenges and Opportunities for National REDD+ Safeguards Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV). Forests, 5(9), 2136-2162.

Abstract

REDD+ social safeguards have gained increasing attention in numerous forums. This paper reviews the evolution of multi-level policy dialogues, processes, and actions related to REDD+ social safeguards (e.g., Cancun Safeguards 1–5) among policy makers, civil society organizations, and within the media in Brazil, Indonesia and Tanzania, three countries with well advanced REDD+ programs. We find that progress on core aspects of social safeguards is uneven across the three countries. Brazil is by far the most advanced having drafted a REDD+ social safeguards policy. Both Brazil and Indonesia have benefited from progress made by strong sub-national entities in the operationalization of REDD+ safeguards including free prior and informed consent (FPIC), participation, and benefit sharing. Tanzania has weakly articulated how social safeguards will be operationalized and has a more top-down approach. We conclude that in all three countries, measuring, reporting and verifying progress on social safeguards is likely to be a complex issue. Stakeholders with vested interests in REDD+ social safeguards operate in polycentric rather than nested systems, suggesting that aggregation of information from local to national-scale will be a challenge. However, polycentric systems are also likely to support more transparent and comprehensive safeguards systems. Clear direction from the international community and financing for REDD+ safeguard MRV is essential if REDD+ social safeguards are to be meaningfully integrated into forest-based climate mitigation strategies.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f5092136

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2014

Journal Title

Forests

Author(s)

Jagger, Pamela
Brockhaus, Maria
Duchelle, Amy E.
Gebara, Maria Fernanda
Lawlor, Kathleen
Resosudarmo, Ida Aju Pradnja
Sunderlin, William D.

ORCiD

Jagger - 0000-0001-7148-432X