Maximizing the Co-Benefits of REDD-Plus Actions: Discussion paper for a regional expert workshop supported by the German International Climate Initiative, September 27-29, 2011, Subic, Philippines

Since UNFCCC COP-16 in Cancún, promoting co-benefits and safeguards of REDD+ have been high on the international climate change agenda. Parties have been requested to share their views on guidance for systems that provide information on how safeguards are addressed and respected, including characteristics, design, provision of information, and potential barriers. By October 2011, 38 countries plus the EU and its member states had submitted their views to the UNFCCC secretariat.

The objective of the regional expert workshop on ‘Maximizing the Co-benefits of REDD-plus Actions’, organized by the International Climate Initiative (ICI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Government (DENR) of the Philippines, was to collaborate on these issues and to contribute to discussions under the forthcoming UNFCCC COP-17 in Durban in December 2011. It brought together representatives of 11 REDD+ demonstration activities and provided a platform for discussions on opportunities and constraints concerning REDD+ co-benefits and safeguards

The first part of this discussion paper (section 2) briefly introduces the status quo of discussions on safeguards and co-benefits on the multilateral level. Section 3 frames co-benefits expected from implementing REDD+. To avoid negative impacts, safeguards have to become an integral part of REDD+ strategy development, activity planning (section 4.1 and 4.2) and implementation (section 5). Furthermore, securing co-benefits and safeguarding negative impacts requires robust monitoring frameworks and information systems (section 6).