From reference levels to results reporting: REDD+ under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Abstract

This report provides an update on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Plus1 (REDD+) forest reference (emission) levels (FREL/FRLs) and REDD+ results submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and relevant developments under the Green Climate Fund concerning REDD+ results-based payments. It illustrates the choices countries have made when constructing their FREL/FRLs and areas for improvement identified during technical assessments. Such information can help countries to learn from each other’s experiences and thus facilitate South–South knowledge exchange on REDD+. As of September 2020, the following FREL/FRL milestones had been achieved: • Fifty countries had submitted 60 FREL/FRLs to the UNFCCC for technical assessment. • These FREL/FRL submissions collectively cover a forest area of approximately 1.35 billion ha (33 percent of global forest area) and the countries that submitted a REDD+ FREL/FRL to the UNFCCC are responsible for around 75 percent of global deforestation. • 82 percent of the FREL/FRLs were national in scale, and 80 percent used historical average emissions/removals to construct their FREL/FRL. • Deforestation is the most frequently included REDD+ activity in FREL/FRLs and the scope of activities in FREL/FRLs is expanding over time. • The reporting of uncertainties in FREL/FRL submissions is increasing over time. As of September 2020, the following REDD+ results milestones had been achieved: • Thirteen countries had reported REDD+ results to the UNFCCC through 17 results submissions (in the REDD+ technical annex of their biennial update reports). • Results have been reported for all REDD+ activities, although no single country covered all REDD+ activities. • The majority of all reported results came from reducing emissions from deforestation (98 percent). • The combined REDD+ results reported total 9.03 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2 eq). Most of these (90.4 percent) are emission reductions reported by Brazil. • The net annual emission reductions from emitting REDD+ activities reported consist on average of a 34 percent reduction against the FREL, meaning emissions over the results period are on average 34 percent lower than emissions in the FREL. The 1 The plus stands for the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. x-emission reductions per country range from –32 percent (or an increase in emissions against the FREL) to 69 percent reduction against the FREL. • The net annual removal increase from plus activities reported consist on average of 7 percent increase against the FRL, meaning removals over the results period are on average 25 percent higher than removals in the FRL. The removal increases per country range from –83 percent (or a drop in removals compared against the historical period) to 85 percent removal increase against the FRL. The following milestones have been achieved as a result of the UNFCCC technical assessment and technical analysis: • The UNFCCC had published 45 FREL/FRL technical assessment reports, and 14 technical analysis reports of REDD+ results. • For 43 of the 45 finalized technical assessments (96 percent), countries had submitted a modified FREL/FRL, and 33 of these 43 modified FREL/FRL submissions (77 percent) changed the FREL/FRL value as a result of the technical assessment. Finally, as of September 2020, the following Green Climate Fund results-based payment milestones had been achieved: • Six funding proposals (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia and Paraguay) for REDD+ results-based payments had been approved by the Green Climate Fund, totalling USD 361 million.