Maria Brockhaus, Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, Jenniver Sehring, Monica Di Gregorio, Samuel Assembe-Mvondo, Andrea Babon, Melaku Bekele, Maria Fernanda Gebara, Dil Bahadur Kahtri, Hermann Kambire, Felicien Kengoum, Demetrius Kweka, Mary Menton, Moira Moeliono, Naya Sharma Paudel, Thuy Thu Pham, Ida Aju Pradnja Resosudarmo, Almeida Sitoe, Sven Wunder, Mathurin Zida. CIFOR Working Paper no. 196. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in tropical forest countries. This paper examines the national political context in 13 REDD+ countries in order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of countries’ REDD+ policies and measures. The analysis builds on a previous qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of various countries’ progress with REDD+, conducted in 12 REDD+ countries in 2012. A follow-up survey in 2014 was considered timely because the REDD+ policy arena, at international and country levels, is highly dynamic and undergoes constant evolution, which affects progress with REDD+ policy making and implementation. In this paper, we examine whether the ‘promise’ of performance-based funds has played a role in enabling the establishment of REDD+. The results show a set of enabling conditions and characteristics of the policy process under which REDD+ policies can be established. Two key findings of our analysis, the importance of already initiated policy change and the relevance of available performance-based funding in combination with strong national ownership of the REDD+ process, may help guide other countries seeking to formulate REDD+ policies that are likely to deliver efficient, effective and equitable outcomes.
