These documents are outputs of a collaboration on REDD+ between WWF’s Forest and Climate Programme and Wageningen University and Research Centre’s REDD@WUR Network.


Policy Brief No. 3: Maximizing Synergies between the Sustainable Development Goals and REDD+ (September 2015) 
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have raised a collective international ambition to conserve forests, including a target to halt deforestation by 2020. Given that the land sector represents a quarter of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, this ambition is also highly significant for the UNFCCC. Developed countries are asked to work both domestically and in collaboration with developing countries to halt tropical deforestation.  REDD+ can be a useful means to deliver on the SDGs in developing countries – not just with respect to forests, but also on other related goals such as the promotion of sustainable agriculture and poverty eradication. The SDGs, in turn, provide an additional institutional incentive to pursue effective REDD+ actions. This brief looks at the links between SDGs and REDD+, and how the promotion of non-carbon benefits, in particular, can expand the scope of REDD+ actions for progress on SDGs.

Policy Brief No. 2: The Contribution of Forests and Land Use to Closing the Gigatonne Emissions Gap by 2020 (September 2014) 
In 2010, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions were already 5 gigatonnes (GtCO2e) higher than they should be in 2020 to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 or 2°C. This "gigatonne gap" grows ever larger. All current mitigation actions still leave us set to have a gap of 8-12 GtCO2e in 2020. This means a pathway of potentially increasing global temperatures by as much as 7.8°C by 2100, with devastating consequences to the Earth's ecosystems and human populations. Action needs to be urgent; it cannot wait for post-2020 commitments to be agreed upon in 2015.

This brief explores the contribution that agriculture, forestry and other land uses (the AFOLU sector) can make to start reducing emissions immediately. We take a comprehensive approach that regards forest conservation and other land uses not as isolated activities, but as integrated systems that need to become sustainable. The brief discusses why the AFOLU sector is key, what can be achieved through action on it, existing barriers, and some ways forward.


Policy Brief No. 1: Promoting Non-carbon Benefits in REDD+ Actions (June 2014)
This brief explores the concept of non-carbon benefits (NCBs), one of the ongoing items of discussion at international REDD+ negotiations and in the elaboration of domestic implementation strategies. We look into how NCBs can be understood and various ways they can be assessed and incentivized. We argue that NCBs play a crucial role reducing the risk of reversals, supporting carbon permanence, and in improving the overall outcomes of REDD+ actions. The brief uses concrete experiences to illustrate these points, and it provides a number of recommendations for what can be done at international and domestic levels to effectively promote NCBs.

For more information, please contact:

Josefina Braña-Varela, WWF Forest and Climate Programme

Dr. Mairon Bastos Lima, Environmental Policy Group, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, and REDD@WUR Network, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)