The extent to which REDD provides ecosystem benefits, and the possible risks, will depend in part on how REDD is designed. Issues surrounding the scope of REDD, the reference levels adopted, and the financing of REDD are all relevant here. For example, the inclusion of forest conservation as a REDD activity will be broadly beneficial to biodiversity, whereas the inclusion of carbon stock enhancement in the REDD framework might in some cases lead to policies that increase carbon sequestration at the expense of biodiversity and water regulation services. Several environmental groups protested against the possible inclusion of plantations in REDD at the 14th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Poznan in December 2008, expressing concern that natural forests could be destroyed and replaced with industrial tree plantations. There is also a risk of displaced pressures, whereby protection of high‐carbon forests leads to additional pressure to convert or degrade lower carbon ecosystems that may be important for biodiversity or flood regulation, such as wetlands. This is particularly relevant to non‐forest ecosystems, but may also affect low‐ carbon forests.  

The UN-REDD Programme understands the term 'multiple benefits' to include both the ecosystem and social benefits of REDD. This report is an output of the International Support Functions component of the UN-REDD Programme, relating specifically to the development of output 3.2: 'Tools to encourage the capture of ecosystem service co-benefits developed', focussing on the ecosystem aspects of multiple benefits.