Abstract

The mechanism of REDD is currently high on the agenda of international climate change negotiations. While REDD has potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainable development, it is also expected that the mechanism could lead to exclusion and disempowerment which have implications for the vulnerability of poor people. The recent years have therefore seen growing attention and proliferation of social and environmental principles—known as REDD safeguards—whose implementation is expected to avoid harm to local communities while ensuring that communities obtain multiple benefits from the scheme. While REDD safeguards have an intuitive appeal, the concept is riddled with ambiguity—and means different things to different people. This presentation proposes a framework to unpack the many faces of REDD + safeguards to guide their application and operationalization at national and local levels.