Climate Action 2014-2015

DEFORESTATION AND REDD+
LANDSCAPE
RESTORATION
A WINNING
STRATEGY IN A
WARMER WORLD
By Dr Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the World Resources Institute
Estimates suggest that deforestation is responsible for between 12 and 20 per cent of global
emissions. The various techniques of landscape restoration can reduce that significant
percentage – and also improve the productivity and living conditions of the inhabitants of the
restored landscapes. Examples from different parts of the world give confidence that much
more can be done, if the international political will responds to this opportunity.
Imagine that we have the chance to cut
greenhouse gas emissions, boost household
incomes and increase crop yields, while
making vulnerable areas more resilient to
severe weather and improving the lives
of people in some of the world’s poorest
regions. The fact is, we could do all this and
more by restoring the world’s degraded
landscapes to productive, sustainable use.
As it stands today, deforestation accounts
for as much as 20 per cent of the world’s
greenhouse gas emissions and an even
larger share in regions such as Latin
America. Yet WRI’s research finds that over
2 billion hectares of land – an area twice
the size of Europe – have been degraded,
making them ripe for restoration.
There is only one catch, but it’s a big
one: we need the international political
will to make it happen.
As climate negotiators and government
officials gather for COP20, there is an
opportunity to build the political will
and momentum to make large-scale
restoration a reality.
LANDSCAPE RESTORATION
AS PART OF A PARIS
AGREEMENT
Protection of forests and restoration of
degraded lands should be a fundamental
part of a strong, universal climate
agreement to be finalised at the COP
in Paris in 2015. Standing forests and
other plant-rich landscapes store climatewarming
carbon dioxide, keeping it out
of the atmosphere, making forests an
important component of both national
and international efforts to curb global
warming. Maintaining natural forests
is only part of this plan; the other is
restoring, managing and conserving
degraded forest lands.
To do this, the UN’s Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation (REDD+) programme
aims to put a financial value on the
carbon stored in forests, giving incentives
for developing countries to reduce
emissions from forested lands and invest
in low-carbon sustainable development.
REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and
forest degradation, and includes the role
of conservation, sustainable management
of forests and enhancement of forest
carbon stocks. Restoration of forest lands
– by wholesale replanting, by so-called
‘mosaic’ replanting to pinpoint locations
where trees can do the most good, or by
moving agriculture and other industry
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