Launched at the UNFCCC climate summit in December 2008 The Little REDD Book is a guide to the UN negotiations on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). REDD aims to help halt deforestation, which causes around 20% of the world’s carbon emissions – more than the entire global transport sector. In addition, the mechanism could help fight poverty while conserving biodiversity and sustaining vital ecosystem services.
REDD has evolved rapidly since it was introduced to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2005. With 6 months to go until the landmark meeting in Copenhagen where agreement must be reached, over 30 governmental and non-governmental proposals are on the table. The Little REDD Book aims to bring clarity to this complex and rapidly-evolving area by providing insights and information on the process in non-technical language.
The Little REDD Book has recently been updated to reflect the latest research and submissions on REDD and includes a new analytical framework. This second version has also been translated into Bahasa Indonesia, French, Portuguese and Spanish and a further translation is planned into simplified mandarin. These versions can be downloaded from the links below.
The IPCC estimate of emissions from tropical deforestation in the 1990s was 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon per year equating to 20% of global carbon emissions. To create a mechanism that addresses this problem, many differing proposals to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) have been put forward to the UNFCCC, which has resulted in some confusion. This non-partisan guide to the proposals is intended to accelerate understanding.
What is the Little REDD Book and who is it for?
The Little REDD Book is a guide to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) within the UNFCCC process. It includes a comparative analysis of 33 key country and NGO/Scientific proposals. It aims to help the broad audience of forest stakeholders participating in or observing the UNFCCC process, including people who live and work in tropical forests, Parties to the UNFCCC, NGOs, the scientific community and the media.
What does the Little REDD Book contain?
The Little REDD Book sets out to bring clarity – without over-simplifying – to a complex and rapidly-evolving area. To do so, it focuses on providing a framework for understanding any REDD proposal (past, present or future) and presents comparative information through well-designed graphs and icons within a clear layout. While principally aimed at non-specialists it will also provide negotiators with a concise and practical overview for quick reference.
Who are the partners in this analysis?
When was the book presented?
The first edition of the book was presented at COP 14 in Poznan in December 2008. A single agreement must be adopted at COP 15 in Copenhagen, and pressure is mounting on countries and organisations with different interests to build on areas of common ground. To help inform this ongoing negotiation, international research is increasingly being focused on making sense of REDD’s complex technical landscape – this publication serves as a non-partisan guide to that work.
How will the Little REDD Book develop in the countdown to COP 15 in Copenhagen?
The Little REDD Book will be simultaneously published online, and after Poznan its comparative graphs and tools will continue to be updated with any new and evolving proposals. At SB 30 in Bonn in June, the second edition of the Little REDD Book was released with updates to reflect the latest research and submissions on REDD and translations into Bahasa Indonesia, French, Portuguese and Spanish. It is hoped that the Little REDD Book publications will serve as a much-needed platform for the many groups committed to consensus-building at this critical time for forests.
Contact:
For further copies of The Little REDD Book + to be sent to your country please contact:
Cate Mackenzie
Global Canopy Programme
John Krebs Field Station
Wytham
Oxford OX2 8QJ, UK
E-mail: c.mackenzie (at) globalcanopy.org
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 724 333
We would welcome your
comments and feedback. Please send these to Charlie Parker: c.parker (at) globalcanopy.org
