A Review of Global Policy Mechanisms Designed for Tropical Forests Conservation and Climate Risks Management

Abstract

Deforestation and forest degradation of tropical forests are major global concerns due to their ecological, social, and economic roles. In the wake of climate change and its diverse global effects, fragmentation and degradation of tropical forests have jeopardized their ability to support livelihoods and regenerate climate regulating services. Concerted efforts by local, national, and international players, which are primarily scientific, technological, or economic, have borne minimal results in safeguarding these forests from destruction, necessitating a more integrated and inclusive approach. The Rio Earth Summit (1992) brought together world leaders to set targets and priorities on the global sustainability agenda and laid a strong foundation for international policy cooperation in the future. This study employed a systematic review of articles published between 1992 and 2020 to establish how various policy mechanisms have been developed and evolved to bridge forests and climate change discourse in tropical forests while highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. The initial search of peer-reviewed publications and gray literature yielded 2622 records, which were subjected to inclusion and exclusion criteria based on The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta Analyses guidelines, resulting in a final list of 65 records for in-depth qualitative analysis. The study establishes that the mechanisms in place have contributed mainly to more coordination and incentives to manage climate risks, primarily through tropical forests conservation. However, hurdles such as inadequate participation and involvement of the local and indigenous people, insufficient national and local policy frameworks and bureaucracies around emissions monitoring, measuring, reporting, and verification processes continue to slow tropical forest conservation. Thus, there is a need for more integrated, multilevel, and diverse stakeholder engagement to achieve the set global targets effectively.

Global soil nitrogen cycle pattern and nitrogen enrichment effects: Tropical versus subtropical forests

“…Soil N cycle was conservative in tropical forests with ratios of gross nitrification (GN) to Tropical and subtropical forests are characterized by a rapid turnover of elemental cycles and are home to 43% of the world's total trees (Ehrenberg, 2015). They are the most diverse and carbon (C)-rich forests and are critical for C sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and climate regulation (Houghton, 2004;Koch & Kaplan, 2022;Muthee et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2006). Nutrient cycling is a key factor driving the productivity of these biomes (Cleveland et al, 2011;Hedin et al, 2009).…”

International climate finance mechanisms: A review with focus on Africa

“…The engagement of international climate finance mechanisms with domestic policy instruments in countries like Ethiopia, Madagascar, and South Africa demonstrates the diverse ways in which climate finance interacts with national policies (Štreimikienė et al, 2021). Furthermore, the involvement of various stakeholders and the need for geopolitical consensus and compromises are highlighted as common occurrences in international negotiations aimed at developing policy mechanisms and crafting climate finances (Muthee et al, 2022). This underscores the complexity and multi-stakeholder nature of successful engagements of international climate finance mechanisms.…”

Climate-Neutral Agriculture?

“…It is estimated that of all timber traded worldwide, 15-30% comes from illegal logging in protected forests [56]. The weakness of national forest protection frameworks and neglect or even maltreatment of local populations negatively impact the actual reduction in GHG emissions linked to forest conservation [57]. There is also the occurrence of leakage: the induction of activities that have the opposite effect of greenhouse gas emission reduction, as they are associated with additional emissions of GHGs [58,59].…”