Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-14 (section)

==== 14.3.2.6 Conservation of Sinks and Reservoirs, Including Forests ====

<div id="h3-11-siblings" class="h3-siblings"></div>

Article 5 of the Paris Agreement calls for Parties to take action to conserve and enhance sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases, including biomass in terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems, and encourages countries to take action to support the REDD+ framework under the Convention. The explicit inclusion of land use sector activities, including forest conservation, is potentially, while cautiously, a ‘game changer’ as it encourages countries to safeguard ecosystems for climate mitigation purposes ( [[#Grassi--2017|Grassi et al. 2017]] ). Analyses of Parties’ NDCs shows pledged mitigation from land use, and forests in particular, provides a quarter of the emissions reductions planned by Parties and, if fully implemented, would result in forests becoming a net sink of carbon by 2030 ( [[#Forsell--2016|Forsell et al. 2016]] ; [[#Grassi--2017|Grassi et al. 2017]] ).

A key action endorsed by Article 5 is REDD+, which refers to initiatives established under the UNFCCC 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. It remains an evolving concept and some identified weaknesses are being addressed, including the issues of scale (project-based vs sub-national jurisdictional approach), problems with leakage, reversal, and benefit sharing, as well as safeguards against potential impacts on local and indigenous communities. Nevertheless, REDD+ shows several innovations under the climate regime with regard to international cooperation. The legal system for REDD+ manages to reconcile flexibility (creating consensus) and legal security. It shows a high standard of effectiveness ( [[#Dellaux--2017|Dellaux 2017]] ).

Article 5.2 encourages Parties to implement and support the existing framework for REDD+, including through ‘results-based payments’, that is provision of financial payments for verified avoided or reduced forest carbon emissions ( [[#Turnhout--2017|Turnhout et al. 2017]] ). The existing REDD+ framework set up under decisions of the UNFCCC COP includes the Warsaw Framework for REDD+, which specifies modalities for measuring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions and removals. This provides an essential tool for linking REDD+ activities to results-based finance ( [[#Voigt--2015|Voigt and Ferreira 2015]] ). Appropriate finance support for REDD+ is also considered critical to move from its inclusion in many countries’ NDCs to implementation on the ground ( [[#Hein--2018|Hein et al. 2018]] ). Since public finance for REDD+ is limited, private sector participation is expected by some to leverage REDD+ ( [[#Streck--2012|Streck and Parker 2012]] ; [[#Henderson--2013|Henderson et al. 2013]] ; [[#Pistorius--2015|Pistorius and Kiff 2015]] ; [[#Seymour--2016|Seymour and Busch 2016]] ; [[#Ehara--2019|Ehara et al. 2019]] ). Article 5.2 also encourages Parties’ support for ‘alternative policy approaches’ to forest conservation and sustainable management such as ‘joint mitigation and adaptation approaches’. It reaffirms the importance of incentivising, as appropriate, non-carbon benefits associated with such approaches (e.g., improvements in the livelihoods of forest‐dependent communities, facilitating poverty reduction and sustainable development). This provision, along with the support for non-market mechanisms in Article 6 (discussed below), is seen as an avenue for cooperative joint mitigation–adaptation and non-market REDD+ activities with co-benefits for biodiversity conservation ( [[#Gupta--2018|Gupta and Dube 2018]] ).

<div id="14.3.2.7" class="h3-container"></div>

<span id="cooperative-approaches"></span>