Governance of REDD+

Governance of REDD+ covers the decisions, actors, processes, governance arrangements and policy tools needed to design and carry out REDD+ strategies and programmes. This involves global and local actors from a wide range of sectors.

Governance refers to many factors that will determine how successful REDD+ can be, such as the way priorities and expectations related to REDD+ are negotiated, the way policy incentives and responsibilities are assigned and how actors involved are held to account.

Governance also refers to the way decision-making powers are organized across tiers of government (both vertically and horizontally) and control over financial resources. The basis for these can be found in negotiated UNFCCC decisions and provisions.

Governance for REDD+

Governance for REDD+ relates to governance enablers and/or challenges that influence how emission reduction from deforestation and forest degradation will take place. These issues often go beyond the forestry sector and cover policies linked to changes in land-use change.

Governance for REDD+ will be vital in order to better understand and deal with different drivers of deforestation. For example, managing the political and economic pressure on forest lands caused by agricultural sprawl or mining requires solid governance processes to be in place. How relations between authorities, capacities and incentives vary depending on their location, so how these are governed is highly important. Putting REDD+ strategies or programmes into practice is made easier where governing institutions are strong, tenure rights clearly defined and the protection of minority rights respected.

UN-REDD Programme Support Activities: towards effective and inclusive national governance systems for REDD+
The UN-REDD Programme supports partner countries to establish governance systems of and for REDD+, through UN-REDD Programme national programmes, backstopping and targeted support. The Programme supports governance interventions that build government and national stakeholder knowledge and capacities on areas they have identified as priorities, such as:

I. REDD+ strategy building, including through analysing from a governance perspective the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation 

II. Participatory governance and institutional context assessments

III. The design of national REDD+ funds

IV. Mainstreaming anti-corruption

V. Mainstreaming gender

VI. Legal preparedness

VII. Tenure and rights

VIII. Grievance mechanisms