Making REDD+ pay: Shifting rationales and tactics of private finance and the governance of avoided deforestation in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of changing rationales and tactics among actors engaged in mobilising private finance for Indonesia's emergent Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme. Despite limited flows of private finance so far, private sector actors have been responsible for a great deal of development and innovation in the forest carbon sector in Indonesia, and have thus played -and continue to play -an important part in shaping the country's REDD+ programme. Drawing on extended field research and interviews with key actors engaged with REDD+ in Indonesia, we identify a variety of private investor motivations, strategies and tactics, many of which depart considerably from the common understanding of REDD+ as avoided deforestation funded through carbon offsets. As non-state actors increasingly shape emerging REDD+ projects, they assume important roles as agents of environmental governance -working through a variety of private market and hybrid modes of forest/climate governance. We describe four general modes of engagement, centred around: investment in REDD+ verified emissions reductions; corporate social responsibility; sustainable commodities; and impact investment. The research thus contributes to an improved understanding of the nature of private REDD+ finance in Indonesia, and the implications, potential and limits of private, market-based climate governance.

Evaluation of Appropriate Identification of Deforestation Agents and Drivers for Designing REDD+ Readiness Activities through an Examination of the Area around Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia

“…As a part of REDD+ readiness in Indonesia, various policy-related and project-based pilot activities have been implemented (Dixon & Challies, 2015;McNeill, 2015). Because these initiatives of project-level REDD+ under complex socioeconomic conditions will be common challenges in Indonesia, this study examined how identification of agents and drivers of deforestation through socioeconomic surveys can be utilized for instituting the REDD+ activities design in readiness phase.…”

Challenges for REDD+ in Indonesia: a case study of three project sites

“…The case of Harapan most clearly illustrates the difficulties in securing sufficient long-term funding, an issue both recognized in the literature (Phelps et al 2011, Streck 2012, Busch 2013, Dixon and Challies 2015, Vijge et al 2016) and widely reported by respondents from our research outside of these three case studies. In an experience similar to what has been reported in the literature (UN-REDD Programme 2013) and by many other of our interviewees, project organizers initially thought that funding could be secured through the carbon market, the Norway money, or the U.N. REDD+ program itself, but later when financing did not materialize, funding alternatives had to be sought.…”

“…One particularly striking example can be found with the United Nations' REDD+ Pilot Project in Indonesia, which lists a lack of funding as one of the two main reasons for its eventual demise (UN REDD Programme 2013). Although all of the projects included in this case study had secured some level of funding, the process of obtaining long-term and sufficient funding was one of the most frequently mentioned challenges by the stakeholders included in our fieldwork (Dixon andChallies 2015, Well andCarrapatoso 2016).…”

“…Across countries, challenges toward effective outcomes are also found in conflicting stakeholder perceptions, complexities surrounding equity, and tenuous interest in REDD+ (Pasgaard et al 2016). Nonetheless, the extensive body of literature on REDD+ in Indonesia (Santosa et al 2013, Dixon and Challies 2015 and elsewhere (e.g., Naughton-Treves and Day 2012, Sills et al 2014, Sunderlin et al 2014a indicate there is still more to learn as REDD+ projects continue to develop in many places.…”

Rainforest carbon financing in New Zealand: A case study of REDD+ on Māori land

“…This article is part of a wider study exploring the political ecology of rainforest carbon financing (e.g. McGregor et al ; Astuti & McGregor ; Dixon & Challies ; Howson & Kindon ; McGregor et al ; Weaver ).…”