The benefits of working with REDD and the need and benefits of getting more ambitious by accepting REDD+, which is about finding financial value for carbon stored in standing forests which therefore incentivises the positive elements of conservation is also elaborated here.

India has more than 70 million hectares under forest cover and while other countries are losing forests, India has been able to add 3 million hectares of forest cover in the last decade. These neutralize approximately 11% of India’s green house gas emissions. Besides being a carbon sink, over 200 million people are dependent on forests for their livelihood. India sees that the protection and expansion of forests has enormous national and international benefits as it not only is a cost effective way to mitigate climate change but also improves water security, conserves biodiversity etc.

The difference between REDD and REDD+ is explained. REDD is a global programme to create incentives so that developing countries have more reasons to protect and manage their forests and thus contribute to fighting climate change. On the other hand, REDD+ tries to convert reduction in deforestation and improvement in quality and expanse of forest cover into financial incentives. This is done by calculating the monetary value of carbon stored in these forests.

The other notable features of REDD+ is that it looks at benefits of forest conservation which are livelihoods improvement, biodiversity conservation and food security services.

According to the document, India and the planet will greatly benefit if REDD+ is accepted and implemented globally. The financial rewards from this global recognition would incentivise more conservation which would go a long way in protecting communities dependent on forests. Further, the money so obtained would be passed to local communities involved in protection and management of the forests. Further, REDD+ would capture approximately 1 billion tonnes of additional CO2, if not more, over the next 3 decades in India.

India believes that REDD needs to be broadened to include the goals that are defined in REDD+. REDD sees deforestation, conservation and improvement of forests as different issues while REDD+ looks at all these as one. REDD+ is based on the principal of fairness which implies that a unit of carbon saved by checking deforestation should be treated at par with carbon saved through conservation and afforestation efforts.

To further the REDD+ agenda internationally India has submitted documents on this to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). At the national level, India has set up a technical group to  develop methodologies and procedures to assess and monitor efforts under REDD+, a national REDD+ coordinating agency has also been established. More importantly, the Green India Mission under the National Action Plan for Climate Change has been formed with a budget of Rs 46,000 crores; the aim of the mission is to increase the forest cover by 5 million hectares and improve quality of forest cover in another 5 million hectares.

This MOEF document shows that there is no magic bullet to fight climate change and needs the inclusion of all sectors. More importantly, it points out to the fact that there is need to include local communities in the climate change mitigation efforts.

Download the document here: