REDD document library

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), which EDF helped pioneer, is based on establishing economic incentives for people who care for the forest so forests are worth money standing, not just cleared and burned for timber and charcoal. The best way to do this is to allow forest communities and tropical forest nations to sell carbon credits when they can prove they have lowered deforestation below a baseline.

This is a collection of key documents on the REDD program.

International climate policy & REDD

• FCPF, FIP, UNREDD Summary [PDF] (October 2012. 3 pages) Summary of UN-REDD, Forest Inverstment, and Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Programs.
• REDD overview [PDF] (June 2009. 2 pages) Brief, non-technical summary of what REDD is, how it works and what benefits it provides.
• REDD Factsheet [PDF] (April 2010. 2 pages) Brief summary of the necessity of REDD in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving indigenous forest peoples' traditional lifestyles. This two-page factsheet also discusses the co-benefits of REDD to domestic and international communities.
• Diagram of Carbon Credits for Reduced Deforestation (REDD) [PDF] (March 2010. 1 page) See step-by-step how carbon credits for reduced deforestation are created, financed, verified, purchased, and ultimately provide sustainable economic alternatives for forest communities.
• REDD Initiatives Around the World [PDF] (March 2010. 1 page) REDD initiatives are happening around the world. Support for REDD is gaining traction in national and sub-national climate change policy in developed and developing countries. This map highlights several examples of where and how this is happening.
• Getting REDD Right [PDF] (Updated: Jan 2008. 8 pages) In-depth description of the 7 essential components of a successful REDD policy.
• A Day in the Life of a REDD Credit [PDF] (Updated: Nov 2009. 2 pages) Description of production and transfer of REDD credits to U.S. companies to use for compliance with a domestic climate law.
• Integrating agriculture, forestry and other land use in future climate regimes: Methodological issues and policy options [PDF] (Trines, Eveline, et al. Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. October 2006. 154 pages.) This report presents five policy options which, if voluntarily employed by non-Annex 1 parties, will lead to a broader and deeper participation under a possible post-2012 climate regime, promote development, and enable Annex 1 parties to adopt commitments that lead to deeper cuts in emissions.
• Q & A on Deforestation: Forest Carbon and Climate Protection [PDF] (Jan 2006. 9 pages.) In-depth discussion of key REDD issues, including forest carbon measurement, additionality, leakage, economics of REDD and REDD in carbon markets.
• Rainforest Credits [PDF] (Carbon Finance, Dec 2005/Jan 2006 1 page) EDF predicted deforestation would become a key issue in global climate policy when carbon credits from reduced deforestation emerged as a surprise topic at the 2005 climate talks in Montreal.
• Tropical Deforestation and the Kyoto Protocol: An Editorial Essay [PDF] (Santilli et al. Climatic Change. Jan 2005 10 pages) This landmark essay provided the first overview of REDD’s precursor, compensated reduction, a policy approach that would compensate nations that reduced deforestation below historical levels, and proposed inclusion of forest credits in a post-2012 climate agreement
• Why REDD Matters [PDF] (Updated: Jan 2007. 2 pages) Overview of how REDD can help keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius and a brief description of the components of a successful REDD policy

U.S. climate legislation & REDD

• Tropical Forest and Climate Coalition The TFCC is a groundbreaking alliance, of major U.S. businesses, non-governmental organizations—including EDF—and scientific institutions working to protect tropical forests as part of the solution to climate change. The TFCC website contains information about the coalition, its founding unity agreement and other resources from the coalition and its members.
• Tropical Forest and Climate Unity Agreement [PDF] (TFCC. May 2009. 3 pages.) List of 14 key REDD provisions that must be included in U.S. climate legislation, as agreed by the 20 member organizations of the Tropical Forest and Climate Coalition.

The economics of REDD

• REDD Financing: Different Approaches for Different National Circumstances [PDF] (Aug 2008. 2 pages) Brief overview of why market-based REDD financing is important and how it can be more effective in the long-run than public aid
• Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries [PDF] (May 2008. 13 pages) Groundbreaking economic analysis of REDD credits in global carbon markets, showing why credits won’t flood the market or crash carbon prices

Tropical deforestation

Biodiversity

• Carbon Payments as a Safeguard for Threatened Tropical Mammals [PDF] (Venter, Oscar et al. March 2009. Conservation Letters. 7 pages.) University of Queensland study showing that REDD could protect threatened wildlife. Suggests including REDD in future climate agreements could help protect endangered species
• Challenges for a business case for high-biodiversity REDD projects and schemes [PDF] (Ebeling, Johannes. EcoSecurities. Feb 2009. 59 pages.) Report showing the best way to create a strong business case for high-biodiversity REDD is through an efficient and effective incentive framework by creating a strong business case –for REDD itself. Commissioned by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Incentives to Sustain Forest Ecosystem Services [PDF] (Bond, Ivan, et al. IIED. Jan 2009. 62 pages.) Study reviewing aspects of REDD, including economics, forest carbon measurement and REDD’s role in international agreements. Commissioned by Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Case studies

• National- and State-level REDD in Brazil (Sept 2009. 6 pages.) Case study of Brazil’s successful efforts to reduce deforestation in certain hotspots Executive summary [PDF], Report [PDF]

Economics

• The Role of REDD in Stabilizing Greenhouse Gas Concentration [PDF] (Lubowski, Ruben. CIFOR info brief. Nov 2008. 6 pages.) Informative overview of how different economic modeling approaches affect REDD costs as well as REDD's impact on carbon prices and overall strategies for reducing emissions

Indigenous rights

• REDD in Indigenous Territories of the Amazon Basin [PDF] (Instituto Socioambiental [ISA], et al. Sept 2009. 9 pages.) Paper discussing how carbon credits that result from forest projects developed in indigenous lands belong to the indigenous peoples, groups or communities that hold the right to permanent possession and exclusive right to use the lands’ resources
• Manaus Declaration [PDF] (April 2008. 3 pages.) A pledge to work to improve indigenous peoples' rights through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement, signed by indigenous peoples' representatives from Latin America, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Measuring and monitoring

• Measuring Carbon Emissions from Tropical Deforestation—An Overview [PDF] (Asner, Gregory P. Carnegie Institution for Science. May 2009. 11 pages.) Comprehensive overview of latest technologies and techniques for measuring and monitoring carbon emissions from deforestation. Prefaced by a look at deforestation’s contribution to global warming
• Improved Monitoring of Rainforest Helps Pierce Haze of Deforestation [PDF] (Kintisch, Eli. Science. April 2007. 2 pages.) Science article describing advances in remote deforestation monitoring; highlights uncertainties in CO2 released by deforestation
• Technical Feasibility of REDD Mapping and Monitoring [PDF] (EDF, et al. Jan 2008. 2 pages.) Brief overview of the latest technologies and techniques for measuring and monitoring deforestation, indicating areas that need improvement
• Tropical Deforestation and Climate Change [PDF] (Paulo Moutinho & Stephan Schwartzman, eds. Dec 2005. 131 pages.) Detailed exploration of why policies to compensate reduced deforestation are critical to international efforts to preserve tropical biodiversity and to slow global warming. Compilation of papers

Science

• Linking Mid-century Concentration Targets to Long-Term Climate Change Outcomes [PDF] (Wang, et al. IASA. Aug 2007. 26 pages.) Explains how a REDD program implemented in the near-term can help nations achieve long-term temperature goals. Analyzes potential atmospheric CO2 concentrations in 2050 and relates them to rates of temperature increase