National REDD+ policy networks: from cooperation to conflict

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is a financial mechanism aimed at providing incentives to reduce carbon emissions from forests and enhance carbon stocks. In most forest-rich developing countries, policy actors, i.e., state and nonstate as well as international and national, are designing national REDD+ policies. Actors' interests and beliefs shape patterns of interactions, ranging from cooperation to conflict, and these interactions influence a country's direction and progress in REDD+ policy formulation and implementation. We used a comparative policy network approach to analyze the power structures in national REDD+ policy domains in seven countries. We drew on the typology of power structures defined by two dimensions, namely the distribution of power in the policy arena and the dominant type of interaction, cooperative or conflictual, among actors, and we mapped the progress of national REDD+ decision-making processes against these power structures. We tested three hypotheses and found that (1) national ownership over the policy process is a prerequisite for progress. In addition, (2) the level of concentration of power in an actor group can facilitate progress in REDD+; however, particularly when concentration of power is high, progress will be possible only if the interests of the most powerful are aligned with the objectives of REDD+ and address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Furthermore, (3) although cooperation is perceived as ideal in any collective decision-making setting, a certain level of conflict is necessary for progress in REDD+ decision making. This applies particularly in more advanced national REDD+ domains, where, following a honeymoon phase during which most policy actors embrace the broad idea of REDD+, policy decisions must deal with difficult realities associated with negotiating established business-as-usual interests, which entails high political costs.

Social networks and environmental management at multiple levels: soil conservation in Sumatra

“…However, most of the work on humanand nature-coupled systems has been theoretical because the complex webs of interactions in these systems are difficult to identify in empirical, and particularly in quantitative, assessments . Promisingly, in recent years, researchers have begun to conceptualize these complex relationships successfully as empirically measurable networks (Johnson et al 2009, PahlWostl 2009, Crona and Bodin 2010, Bodin and Tengö 2012, Prell 2012, Dell'Apa et al 2013, Bergsten et al 2014, Brockhaus and Di Gregorio 2014, Carien De Villiers et al 2014, Deehr et al 2014, Lubell et al 2014, Moeliono et al 2014 and to quantify how social networks may influence environmental behavior such as farmers' practices (Solano et al 2003, Hoang et al 2006, Isaac et al 2007, 2014, Schneider et al 2009, Conley and Udry 2010, Bodin and Prell 2011, Spielman et al 2011, Isaac 2012, Matouš et al 2013b. However, it is less widely recognized that the effectiveness of diverse network structures may depend on the scale at which environmental problems are approached (Lebel et al 2010).…”

Implementing REDD+ in a Conflict-Affected Country: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo

“…Many are hopeful that REDD+ has the potential to recognize or expand the rights of forest-based people, but fear that it will impose externally designed rules and fail to defend and secure community tenure rights, with negative consequences for people's livelihoods and the environment [51]. This fear is not without foundation, while cooperation is often common in early stages of REDD+ implementation, power struggles emerge when policy actors must decide on the concrete details of REDD+ strategies [52]. The outcomes of such power struggles will very much depend on the REDD+ structure and process of institutional arrangements in a particular country [36].…”

“…Cadman et al [36] suggest that it is imperative that international institutions address such concerns so that REDD+ can meet its environmental, economic, and social goals. While a certain level of conflict or disagreement may be necessary for progress in REDD+ decision-making [52], in a country like DRC which is already experiencing a lot of conflict, it is even more critical that attention be paid to its structure and process at all levels so as not to create other sources of conflict.…”

REDD+ as a tool for state territorialization: managing forests and people in Laos

“…At the global policy level REDD+ was proposed as a climate change mitigation mechanism which creates financial value for the carbon stored in forests (Angelsen 2008;Angelsen et al 2009). The mechanism has been developed by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a series of meetings -known as the Conference of Parties (COP) -since 2005 (Angelsen 2017;Brockhaus and Di Gregorio 2014). Laos was one of the first 14 countries to become a REDD+ country participant under the FCPF in July 2008, and its REDD Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) grant was accepted in late 2010 (DoF 2010).…”