Beyond opportunity costs: who bears the implementation costs of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation?

• Published in: Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 291 - 310
• Main Authors: Luttrell, Cecilia, Sills, Erin, Aryani, Riza, Ekaputri, Andini Desita, Evinke, Maria Febe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.02.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences; carbon; Climate Change Management and Policy; Cost analysis; cost effectiveness; Costs; Deforestation; Degradation; Developing countries; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Emissions; Emissions control; Environmental Management; Forest conservation; Forest management; Forests; global change; Greenhouse effect; LDCs; Opportunity costs; Organizations; Original; Original Article; Public sector; stakeholders; Tropical climate; Tropical forests; Costs of REDD; Cameroon; Opportunity costs of forest conservation; Subnational REDD; REDD; Tanzania; Brazil; Tropical deforestation; Peru; Costs of climate change mitigation; Benefit sharing; Indonesia
• ISSN: 1381-2386; 1573-1596; 1573-1596
• DOI: 10.1007/s11027-016-9736-6

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries is based on the premise that conserving tropical forests is a cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions and therefore can be fully funded by international actors with obligations or interests in reducing emissions. However, concerns have repeatedly been raised about whether stakeholders in REDD+ host countries will actually end up bearing the costs of REDD+. Most prior analyses of the costs of REDD+ have focused on the opportunity costs of foregone alternative uses of forest land. We draw on a pan-tropical study of 22 subnational REDD+ initiatives in five countries to explore patterns in implementation costs, including which types of organizations are involved and which are sharing the costs of implementing REDD+. We find that many organizations involved in the implementation of REDD+, particularly at the subnational level and in the public sector, are bearing implementation costs not covered by the budgets of the REDD+ initiatives. To sustain this level of cost-sharing, REDD+ must be designed to deliver local as well as global forest benefits.