ABSTRACT
With their dwindling forest cover, the problem of massive deforestation in tropical forest countries has come center stage in addressing climate change, accounting for 13–17% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The Bali Action Plan launched the designing of a mechanism to compensate tropical forest countries for keeping forests standing and thereby to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) as part of the ongoing post-2012 climate change negotiations. UN-REDD supports countries in developing and implementing national REDD+ strategies and the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility funds partner countries to get ready for REDD+. REDD+ will not be effective in avoiding deforestation without causing social and environmental harm unless a number of crucial governance challenges at levels of international design, global consumption, and in-country implementation are sufficiently addressed.
