The economic case for prioritizing governance over financial incentives in REDD+

This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of public policies and financial incentives in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). It argues that the subordination of policies to results-based payments for emission reductions causes severe economic inefficiencies affecting the opportunity cost, transaction cost and economic rent of the programme. Such problems can be addressed by establishing sound procedural, land and financial governance at the national level, before REDD+ economic incentives are delivered at scale. Consideration is given to each governance dimension, the entry points for policy intervention and the impact on costs. International support must consider the financial and political cost of governance reforms, and use a pay-for-results ethos based on output and outcome indicators. This can be done in the readiness process but only if the latter’s legal force, scope, magnitude and time horizon are adequately reconsidered. In sum, the paper provides ammunition for the institutionalist argument that UNFCCC Parties must prioritise governance reform between now and the entry into force of the new climate agreement in 2020, and specific recommendations about how this can be done: only by doing so will they create the basis for the programme’s financial sustainability

The Legitimacy of Certification Standards in Climate Change Governance

This article explores the role of two private steering mechanisms, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), in REDD+, the climate change mitigation policy that aims to avoid deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. It does so by analyzing input and output legitimacy of the two certification standards at the global level, and at national and local levels in Peru. The findings show an increasing interest among REDD+ actors in using these standards, and a relatively large number of Peruvian REDD+ projects that are certified by the FSC or CCBA. The findings also suggest intrinsic linkages between input and output legitimacy of the FSC and CCBA within single governance levels and across different scales. The article also demonstrates the added value of studying the legitimacy of policy instruments, such as the FSC and CCBA, in a specific context such as REDD+. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environmen