National Sovereignty on Mechanisms

A landowner (left) in North Lampung, Indonesia, discussing her perceptions of the benefits of reforestation of an Imperata grassland; Photo: Meine van Noordwijk

An effective mechanism for reducing carbon emissions through avoided deforestation would have related, but separate, mechanisms at the international and national levels. Between countries, political negotiations should be convened to establish commitments to baseline and target emission levels. Countries that attain superior performance in avoided carbon emissions through avoided emissions should be eligible for carbon offset payments or credits through multi-lateral or bilateral arrangements.

Within each non-Annex I country that voluntarily participates in the new REDD rules, there should be scope for flexible rules to create positive incentives for rural and forest-dependent people to benefit from more sustainable and clean development pathways. Such incentives would ensure the sustainability of the carbon stocks and reserve more of the country's national natural capital for the future. A number of countries have gained experience with such mechanisms already, and pilots exist elsewhere. Here we recommend that individual countries involved in the international mechanism should have the flexibility to meet avoided carbon emission targets through national mechanisms appropriate to their individual country conditions, following principles already established among Annex 1 countries.

Best practice is emerging on the types of national and local mechanisms that countries can apply to reduce carbon emissions from avoided deforestation, potentially with much lower transaction costs than current CDM projects. Incentive- and rights-based mechanisms can be put in place to reduce carbon emissions from avoided deforestation, while sustaining the asset base, rights and well-being of people dependent on those resources. Countries such as Costa Rica and Mexico already have substantial experience in implementing such mechanisms at the national and sub-national scale. Large-scale afforestation programmes, such as currently implemented in Indonesia, China and India, could be revised to better address avoided carbon emissions. Forest, landscape and watershed management projects can be revised to provide greater incentives to avoid carbon emissions through avoided deforestation. Case study evidence from across Asia and a pan-tropical synthesis show that realism, conditionality, voluntarism, and pro-poor are important criteria for evaluating the performance of incentive and rights-based mechanisms (www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/networks/rupes).

• http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/carbofor/_ref/home/index.htm
• http://www.worldagroforestry.org/es/default.asp
• http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Networks/RUPES/index.asp
• http://www.asb.cgiar.org/