The Sound of Falling Trees: Integrating Environmental Justice Principles into the Climate Change Framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the principles of environmental justice not only as they apply to inequalities regarding the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, but also as they extend to the environmental injustices that arise from policymakers' responses to climate change. Following this introduction in Part I, Part II provides brief background information on the recent developments in international climate change policy and discusses the emergence of deforestation as a central issue in post-2012 negotiations on the UNFCCC. The section focuses on the trend toward "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries," now known as "REDD" negotiations. The section then overviews the principles of environmental justice and explains how they have been applied at the international level. Part III identifies and analyzes environmental justice principles that should be integrated into a future REDD agreement. Part IV compares a carbon-trading approach for REDD with a non-carbon-trading approach and analyzes each approach's environmental justice implications for indigenous peoples.

Keywords: climate change, environmental justice, REDD