Arjuna Dibley, Martijn Wilder AM

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 10 (2016), Issue 3, Page 202 - 214

The global community has agreed to the concept of reducing greenhouse gases emissions through forest sequestration in the post-2020 international climate change regulatory framework. While the concept is included in the December 2015 Paris Agreement, significant legal questions remain about how domestic legal systems will adapt the necessary regulatory frameworks to recognise and protect forest carbon rights, which are fundamental to the operation of a forest sequestration scheme. This article analysis some of the world’s first forest carbon regulatory frameworks, in Australia and New Zealand. Drawing lessons from the establishment and development of these regulatory frameworks, this article proposes principles upon which policymakers and others can rely in developing forest carbon regulatory frameworks in the post-Paris Agreement context.

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, Elizabeth Dooley

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 9 (2015), Issue 2, Page 143 - 155

This article discusses two key issues in REDD+ design and implementation at the national level – carbon rights, and benefit sharing. Both carbon rights and benefit sharing can be understood as new legal concepts (although they build on existing law), and as legal concepts they offer a framework for addressing related areas of REDD+ policy. Many countries are currently considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing issues, including Cambodia and Kenya. Both of these countries host existing forest carbon projects and are also in the process of designing national REDD+ programmes. This article uses a conceptual framework for carbon rights and benefit sharing derived from legal analysis to consider the cases of both Cambodia and Kenya, and also includes a general discussion of the challenges countries might encounter when considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing in the context of REDD+ implementation.

Sophie Chapman, Martijn Wilder, Ilona Millar, Arjuna Dibley

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 9 (2015), Issue 2, Page 101 - 112

Around the world, many developing countries are considering the practicalities of implementing REDD+ at the national level. As a starting point, the requirements outlined by the UNFCCC and other international schemes (such as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility or different voluntary standards) provide guidance regarding what a national REDD+ policy needs to contain. This article discusses such requirements and guidance at the international level in order to provide countries with a summary of key considerations when addressing their domestic governance arrangements for REDD+.