Reducing Emissions in the Forest Sector Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: A New Opportunity for Biodiversity Conservation?

Abstract

This article analyses the scope for enhanced coordination in achieving the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in the forest sector. The two conventions encourage forest conservation and sustainable management from different perspectives. Although concerted action has so far been limited, the debate on the establishment of a mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) under the UNFCCC has greatly augmented the scope for cooperation. Decisions on the design and implementation of REDD will determine where and how much tropical forest is preserved, with important consequences for biodiversity conservation. The article summarises the potential biodiversity benefits and risks of REDD and reviews the debate on biodiversity safeguards in light of developments in late 2011 and concludes that safeguards provide an unprecedented opportunity to ensure consistency between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation in the forest sector.

Keywords: Forest, Climate change, REDD, Biodiversity