The international mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the Role of Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks in Developing Countries (REDD+) formed in 2010. The international negotiation of this REDD+ mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now largely settled following 2013’s Warsaw Framework for REDD+, noting also that the recent meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (June’s SBSTA 42, in Bonn) closed the agenda item on methodological guidance. Included in this framework are the basic principles for introducing REDD+ - basic standards for creating a baseline forest reference level, for measuring, reporting and verifying emissions in forest areas, for financing REDD+ activities, principles for safeguarding REDD+ activities and a set of national policies and measures to be introduced by countries when implementing REDD+. Although there is some uncertainty regarding how this REDD+ mechanism (which is currently outlined in decisions of the Conference of the Parties, or “COP”), will be utilised in a new climate change agreement, it is clear that the success of REDD+ will depend on effective implementation at a domestic level and a successful flow of REDD+ finance.

The UNFCCC framework encourages countries to develop strategies for REDD+ implementation which mirror the principles set out in the COP decisions on REDD+, but which also suit each country's unique national circumstances. Numerous developing countries are currently considering how to achieve this, and issues of legal reform and capacity building are an important part of preparations to implement REDD+ domestically. Many of the issues that must be reviewed as part of REDD+ implementation are already considered in other areas of sustainable development planning (for example, land tenure issues and forest governance), although other issues are specific to REDD+ (such as the legal arrangements for facilitating carbon trading, if a country chooses to adopt this approach). The task of reviewing “REDD+ law” involves close analysis of the extent to which existing legal regimes related to, inter alia, land, forests and natural resource management can be used to address REDD+ policy goals, and to what extent any reform is required for this purpose. Careful consideration of how any existing project-level activities will be managed within broader jurisdictional approaches is also required in order to ensure that early investments made by the private sector and conservation groups are sustained. The process of legal review and reform is likely to be extensive and ongoing, managed by national legal experts with the assistance of the international community.

This special issue of the CCLR aims to assist countries to navigate the complex task of reviewing their governance arrangements for REDD+. What is the starting point, and what issues will need to be addressed in the process? In the first paper, “Implementing REDD+ Under the UNFCCC: Basic Requirements and Guidance for Developing National Policy and Legal Frameworks”, Sophie Chapman, Martijn Wilder, Ilona Millar and Arjuna Dibley focus on REDD+ implementation at the domestic level. This article consolidates recent work by Baker & McKenzie’s Global Climate Change and Environmental Markets Practice to provide an overview of how countries can introduce the UNFCCC’s requirements for REDD+ implementation into their national legal frameworks, also commenting on how these compare to parallel schemes under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The second paper by Christina Voigt and Felipe Ferreira, “The Warsaw Framework for REDD+: Implications for National Implementation and Access to Results-based Finance”, provides an overview of the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ and some of its key features, including that it centralises the process for REDD+ implementation in a domestic focal point which can interact with global mechanisms for REDD+. The third paper, “Legal Frameworks for Implementing REDD+ in Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania: Opportunities for a Sustainable Landscapes Approach” by Caroline Haywood, Andrew Wardell, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger and Peter Holmgren further examines national approaches to REDD+ implementation, drawing on case studies from Africa. This paper argues that REDD+ must be considered within the wider context of sustainable land use and investment by discussing the “landscape approach” to REDD+ implementation. Together, these three papers collect together some key information and perspectives for countries to consider when making choices regarding their national approach to REDD+ implementation.

Countries must also consider how to address issues specific to REDD+ implementation, which will require a sound understanding of how existing regimes interact with REDD+ in addition to how new rules or mechanisms will operate. The complex and controversial issues of carbon rights and benefit sharing within a specific country context are discussed in the fourth paper by Sophie Chapman, Martijn Wilder, Ilona Millar, Arjuna Dibley, Donal Yeang, Joe Heffernan, Kirtiman Sherchan, Rowena Maguire, Caroline Wanjiku Kago, Nelly Kamunde-Aquino, Leah Kiguatha, Yvonne Nana Afua Idun, Mona Doshi, Gretchen Engbring and Elizabeth Dooley, “A Legal Perspective of Carbon Rights and Benefit Sharing Under REDD+: A Conceptual Framework and Examples from Cambodia and Kenya”. The important and ongoing discussion regarding how to ensure compliance with the UNFCCC’s safeguarding principles is explored by the last two papers, one focusing on principles related to social protection and the other focusing on the principles related to environmental protection. Sophia Carodenuto and Kalame Fobissie’s paper, “Operationalising Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for REDD+: Insights from the National FPIC Guidelines of Cameroon”, considers how the Government of Cameroon has sought to implement social safeguard protections using guidelines on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and some of the regulatory hurdles faced in that process. In the final paper, “Putting REDD+ Environmental Safeguards into Practice: Recommendations for Effective and Country-specific Implementation”, Blaise Bodin, Elina Väänänen and Harro van Asselt discuss how countries can understand what is required in order to implement Cancun safeguard “e”, considering issues of both content and process.

By considering the details of the international framework for REDD+ alongside examples of how specific issues can be dealt with at the national level, this set of papers highlights some of the challenges involved when translating international principles into domestic law and policy. In doing so, the authors collectively explore ways in which countries can respond to such challenges using their domestic legal frameworks and governance arrangements. In order to ensure the future success of REDD+ and support the flow of REDD+ finance, it is essential for REDD+ host countries to work through legal challenges at an early stage of implementation.

The editors look forward to following future developments in this important area of international climate change policy as more countries engage with the process of implementing REDD+.

Martijn Wilder, Sophie Chapman and Arjuna Dibley