Effective research on forests and climate change mitigation

Providing evidence, tools and analysis to support REDD+ policy making

Accounting for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, deforestation represents a major contributor to climate change. In an effort to tackle this problem, many countries plan to adopt policies aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (known as REDD+).

The UN, World Bank and many donors support REDD+ pilot initiatives in developing countries. With more than 330 REDD+ initiatives underway there are many varied approaches to the issue.

“CIFOR’s step-wise approach has become the main method used to guide countries to improve their capacity to carry out REDD+ programs.”

Since 2008, CIFOR’s Global Comparative Study on REDD+ has examined this experience in 15 tropical forest countries. Researchers have studied how REDD policy is made; analyzed the media debates about it; investigated the effects of REDD+ pilot projects on people’s livelihoods and forest carbon; studied how baselines, monitoring and accounting systems are established; and examined the ways REDD+ is integrated with broader development objectives.

In 2014 and 2015, a team from the Overseas Development Institute, Royal Roads University and CIFOR carried out a joint evaluation of the Global Comparative Study of REDD+. According to the report, released in October 2015, CIFOR’s research provided key recommendations that informed the international climate negotiations towards a global REDD+ agreement; was used in the design and implementation of national-level REDD+ activities, and helped increase the efficiency and effectiveness of national-level REDD+ policies in several countries.

CIFOR is now recognized as a top source of sound evidence, integrated analysis and tools to help policy makers and practitioners design REDD+ mechanisms that are effective, efficient and equitable, and that are integrated with other development objectives.

>330
REDD+ initiatives globally
>350
papers produced to date from the Global Comparative Study
Funding partners
  • Australian Aid
  • European Union
  • FFEM
  • Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
  • Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)
  • The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
  • Federal Ministry for the Environment
  • Nature Conservation
  • Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
  • UKAID
  • USAID
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