A new UN-REDD Programme Info Brief examines “REDD+ and adaptation: Identifying complementary responses to climate change”. The brief highlights the complementarities and potential trade-offs between REDD+ and adaptation actions.

The brief suggests that ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change (EBA) may help to achieve REDD+ objectives, in different ways. For example, conserving mangrove forests to counter damage from storm surges can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation actions can change future drivers of land-use change, and so decrease the risk of reversals of emission reductions resulting from REDD+. The risk that climate change itself causes forest carbon stocks to decline can be countered by adaptation actions that maintain more resilient forest ecosystems. Furthermore, the implementation of REDD+ activities can maintain and enhance ecosystem services that can support societal adaptation, and REDD+ actions may also influence aspects of adaptive capacity.

Despite these complementarities, there are both shared challenges and potential trade-offs between REDD+ and adaptation. The application of social and environmental safeguards can help to address some of these. Furthermore, integrating both adaptation and mitigation into wider forest policy and the strategies and plans of related sectors, at local to national scales, can help maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs.

Experience of joint REDD+ and adaptation actions is still limited. Countries may wish to look for opportunities to link adaptation and mitigation actions and funds, and to document and articulate the benefits at a national level so that these experiences can be further shared and learned from by others. The Info Brief suggests that practical guidance on the implementation of joint actions could be developed based on such experiences.

For further information, please contact ccb@unep-wcmc.org