About
Protecting and restoring the world’s forests is essential to keeping global warming below 1.5oC. With this knowledge, the ambitious global strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation known as REDD+ has been at the top of the global climate agenda since 2007, as a way to promote both climate and development benefits from forests. CIFOR’s Global Comparative Study on REDD+ (GCS REDD+) began soon after, now the largest global research programme of its kind. From national-level policy work to district- and community-specific actions, CIFOR researchers have been collecting data, sharing experiences and analyzing research to determine what has worked and what hasn’t with REDD+ across 22 countries.
Fighting deforestation is challenging and complex. GCS REDD+ builds on 27 years of CIFOR science aimed at understanding the causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and what can be done to stop it, while securing the rights and livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Research themes
Effective, efficient and equitable REDD+ requires transparent and accountable forest monitoring, appropriate forest-friendly policies and actions adapted to different circumstances, as well as well-designed safeguards and benefit-sharing mechanisms. Moreover, forest-friendly policies need to balance competing policy objectives and stakeholder interests in order to support and promote transformational change.
Find out how GCS REDD+ is addressing five major global challenges with knowledge and actions.
REDD+ policies
For REDD+ to be successful, a transition away from the forces that drive, maintain and intensify business-as-usual deforestation and forest degradation is needed, both within and beyond the forestry sector.Jurisdictional REDD+
Since 2007, more than 50 countries have launched national REDD+ initiatives; more than 40 subnational governments have committed to ‘jurisdictional approaches’; and hundreds of local REDD+ projects have been implemented globally. However, their effectiveness is still unknown.Transparency framework
The Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement provides a clear guideline to track progress toward achieving the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) for mitigation and adaptation and to inform the Global Stocktake. However, it represents a major challenge to many tropical countries.Social inclusion and safeguards
Different REDD+ safeguard standards now exist. How different are they and what would it take for national and subnational jurisdictions to meet them? How can we encourage ambition to support the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) as well as women?REDD+ benefit sharing
As REDD+ finance increases, improved transparency, accountability and equity of the revenue flows from current and prospective REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanisms can help foster confidence among stakeholders and create political support for further investments in tropical forests.Countries
08 Jun 2023
High-integrity forest carbon markets: from global stock-taking to advancing science
04:15-05:30 PM CET, World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB)
16 May 2023
REDD+ social safeguards in Indonesia: Opportunities and challenges
08.30 – 12.00 GMT+7, CIFOR-ICRAF office, Bogor, Indonesia Invitation only
11 May 2023
Improving the forest carbon market confidence with quality blue carbon credits
14:00 – 15:30, Sheikh Zayed Centre
09 May 2023
Myths, realities, and solutions towards high-integrity forest carbon credits
15:30 – 17:00, Sheikh Zayed Centre
04 May 2023
Identifying effective policy interventions for different deforestation dynamics
9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (GMT-3), online
Funding partners
Phase 4
Phase 3
Phase 1 and 2
