REDD+ Initiative by UNFCCC | UPSC
HEADLINES:
Uganda becomes first African country to submit REDD+ results, paves way for payments
WHY IN NEWS:
The mechanism by the United Nations calls for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:REDD+ : UNFCCC
LEARNING:
For PRELIMS grasp REDD+ initiative and the commitment . Remember Uganda and Brazil too .
For MAINS prepare a beautiful short answer on How REDD+ initiative solve the issue of sustainable management of forest ?
ISSUE:
REDD + INITIATIVE
- It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
- Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions.
- REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
REDD+ AND UGANDA
- The results submission to the UNFCCC has paved the way for potential results-based payments to the country.
- Results-based payments comprise the final REDD+ phase.
- This is done through rigorous UN-backed technical evaluations.
- The country’s forest cover had depleted to 8 per cent from 24 per cent in the 1990s, largely attributed to human encroachment, including for charcoal, timber and agriculture.
- The document submitted by the government will help Uganda receive funds through the Green Climate Fund’s forest conservation scheme.
[wc_highlight color=”yellow” class=””]Uganda claimed it reduced emissions by 8,070,694 tonnes of carbon dioxide for 2015-2017[/wc_highlight] in a document prepared by its Ministry of Water and Environment, the REDD+ Secretariat and National Forestry Authority.
DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION
- Deforestation accounts for approximately 11 percent of carbon emissions, more than the entire global transportation sector and second only to the energy sector.
- In order to constrain the impacts of climate change within limits, global average temperatures must be stabilized within two degrees Celsius.
- This will be practically impossible to achieve without reducing emissions from the forest sector.
REDD+ strategy launched in 2017:
- Developing plans and options for forest management to reduce carbon emissions
- Maintain valuable ecosystem services such as biodiversity
- Water supply
- Soil protection
- Wealth creation for sustainable livelihoods.
ARRESTING DEFORESTATION
- The REDD+ results showed deforestation reduced to 28,095 hectares (ha) per year over a two-year result period (2015-17) from a 50,147 ha per year average over a 15-year reference period (2000-15).
- This meant a 44 per cent reduction in the country’s rate of deforestation annually between 2015 and 2017, compared to estimates for 2000-15 and the protection of 20,052 ha every year on an average during 2015-2017.
- These estimates were drawn on data collected by the National Forest Authority.
REDD+ IN UGANDA
- In Uganda, the REDD+ program forms a part of the country’s National Climate Change Policy that aims for a harmonised and coordinated approach towards a climate-resilient and low-carbon development path for sustainable development.
- The country had launched its REDD+ programme in 2013.
SIGNIFICANT FOR AFRICA
- The submission of the is a significant development on REDD+ for Africa.
- This will encourage other African countries to reduce carbon emissions by decreasing deforestation and forest degradation.
- Achieving REDD+ results in the continent is challenging, as there are other development priorities — with agriculture, mining, energy and forestry — driving deforestation.
- Africa had the greatest annual rate of net forest loss, at 3.9 million ha, across the world in this decade.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REDD+ AND UN-REDD ?
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Supporting African countries through all three REDD+ phases — readiness, implementation and result-based actions — by providing tools and analysis of how to design, implement and measure the results of REDD+ action is key to reversing these trends.
- This will, in turn, position Africa as the forest champion of the next decade.
SOURCES:DownToEarth | REDD+ Initiative by UNFCCC | UPSC
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