UN emission reduction mechanism ties officials in knots

REDD-plus is a carbon emission reduction scheme for countries like Nepal to get climate finance from developed countries
KATHMANDU, DEC 13 -
Nepali officials are at a loss whether the much-talked about UN emission reduction mechanism, developed to provide money for sustainable forest management, would reflect the interests of the country and its local beneficiaries.

Even after more than four years since the discussions on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus (REDD-plus), experts are not able to disseminate proper information to the actual beneficiaries, including the local forest communities. REDD-plus is a carbon emission reduction scheme for the developing countries like Nepal to get climate finance from the developed nations for their efforts in protecting forest from degradation and deforestation started at the national level.

Experts say due to the approach undertaken since the initiation process where donors emphasised and funded pilot projects or programmes through a bottom-down approach, adequate local representation is not guaranteed through the current practices in policy setting and project development.

Presenting his joint research paper titled, Policy Network Analysis, a study of organisational actors involved in REDD+ policymaking in Nepal, Dil Bahadur Khatri of Forest Action Nepal said the external actors, including INGOs and donors, have more impacts on REDD+ policymaking and are driving the process to a large extent.

The direct involvement of most civil society organisations (CSOs) in policymaking is low and even influential CSOs, Federation of Community Forestry Users’ Nepal (Fecofun) and National Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin), have weak representation in official decision-making forums. For instance, the REDD Working Group formed under the government has just two of 12 positions.

The idea behind the scheme that was put forward by developing countries during the UN negotiations held in Copenhagen in Denmark in 2009 that mainly focuses on how the forest dependent local communities could both protect their forests and get funds for reducing harmful green house gases such as Carbon dioxide, which would ultimately contribute to enhance their livelihoods for better.

Dil Raj Khanal, who is involved in legal policies at Fecofun, hinted at a gap in sharing right information about the process and ensure the participation of indigenous and local partners while developing and implementing REDD projects. Since the beginning of the projects, locals’ representation and enhancement of the capacities to engage in planning and decision making have been inadequately addressed, he said.

While some communities who have been involved in pilot projects on REDD and are benefited through the project funds are of the view that REDD is all about getting money. However, the communities, who are not from the pilot project areas, have felt that their efforts in forest conservation have been ignored.  Some others think that the implementation of REDD plus would curtail their rights over the forest resources in which they are dependent.

During the recent the UN climate meet held in Warsaw, Poland laid foundation for the work on REDD plus framework stating that it needs adequate funding. Nepal is also working in preparing a national REDD plus strategy.

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