Editorial

Beyond Copenhagen: REDD+, agriculture, adaptation strategies and poverty

Transnational climate change initiatives have increased in number and relevance within the global climate change regime. Despite being largely welcomed, there are concerns about their ability to deliver ambitious climate action and about their democratic legitimacy. This paper disentangles the nature of both authority and legitimacy of a specific form of transnational networks, transgovernmental networks of subnational governments. It then investigates how a major transgovernmental initiative focusing on tropical forests, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force, attempts to command authority and to build and maintain its legitimacy. The paper illustrates the particular challenges faced by initiatives formed primarily by jurisdictions from the Global South. Three major trade-offs related to authority and legitimacy dimensions are identified: first, the difficulty of balancing the need for increased representation with performance on ambitious climate goals; second, the need to deliver effectiveness while ensuring transparency of governance processes; and third, the limited ability to leverage formal authority of members to deliver climate action in local jurisdictions, while depending on external funds from the Global North.

Forest biomass is one of the significant components for assessing the productivity and sustainability of the forest's ecosystem. In the present study, the mapping and estimation of above ground biomass (AGB) was performed using field observations employing allometric equations and C band Sentinel 1A and L band Advanced Land Observation System (ALOS) Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) remote sensing satellite images for the parts of north eastern Himalayan forests, Arunachal Pradesh. Total 57 transects of 500 m × 10 m size was laid in West Kameng and Tawang districts (altitude range: 1047–4161 m) of Arunachal Pradesh, in which a total of 12203 individuals of 67 tree species (Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) range: 3.18–235.45 cm) was recorded. The study exhibited higher tree density (428 individuals' ha⁻¹) and basal cover (7658.63 m²ha^-1) in the studied forests. The highest above ground biomass was contributed by Castanopsis indica (103.82 t ha⁻¹) followed by Pinus roxburghii (46.24 t ha⁻¹) and Quercus semicarpifolia (23.14 t ha⁻¹). Further, AGB was estimated using the Horizontal-Horizontal (HH), Horizontal-Vertical (HV) polarizations acquired by the ALOS PALSAR 50 m mosaic (2008) dataset and Vertical-Vertical (VV), Vertical-Horizontal (VH) polarizations acquired by the Sentinel 1A dataset. The relationship between field based AGB and radar backscatter for selected sample plots was established using pair wise correlation. While comparing the two satellite-based SAR images, it is observed that high correlation between radar backscatter and field based AGB was observed in ALOS PALSAR as compared to Sentinel 1A SAR. This is due to higher sensitive to backscatter values and higher penetration level of L band ALOS PALSAR as compared to C band Sentinel 1A SAR. The correlation study indicates high correlation of HV polarizations in ALOS PALSAR (HV polarization R² = 0.63; HH polarization R² = 0.58) as compared to Sentinel 1A (VV polarization R² = 0.054 and VH polarization R² = 0.044). The most accurate and reliable method to estimate AGB is the field based method, but it is time consuming and tedious. Whereas, AGB estimation by L band SAR remote sensing is time effective and can be used for larger area in comparatively less time. The present study exhibited poor species diversity in higher altitudes northeast Himalayan forests as species diversity decreases with increase in altitudes. On the other hand, the higher AGB in the studied forests may be due to favorable environmental conditions including less temperature and more nutrient availability as well as less biotic interferences in terms of anthropogenic disturbances, herbivory and grazing. The study signifies the potential use of L and C band backscatter information in the reliable estimation of spatial AGB in sub-tropical to alpine forests of Arunachal Pradesh.

Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important factor for tracking global carbon cycle to tackle the impact of climate change. Among all available remote sensing data and methods, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data in combination with decision tree based machine learning algorithms has produced favourable results in estimating higher biomass values. Suitability of this method for dense tropical forests has not been properly checked with an adequate number of studies. In this study, aboveground biomass was estimated for two major tree species, Shorea robusta, and Tectona grandis, of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, a tropical forest situated in northern India. Aboveground biomass was estimated by combining C-band SAR data from Sentinel-1A satellite, texture images generated from Sentinel-1A data, vegetation indices produced using Sentinel-2A data and ground inventory plots. Decision tree-based machine learning algorithms were used in place of parametric regression models for establishing a relationship between fields measured values and remotely sensed parameters. Using random forest model with a combination of vegetation indices with SAR backscatter as predictor variables shows the best result for S. robusta forest, with a coefficient of determination value of 0.71 and an RMSE value of 105.027 t/ha. In T. grandis forest best result can be found in the same combination but for stochastic gradient boosted model with a coefficient of determination value of 0.6 and an RMSE value of 79.45 t/ha. This study shows that Sentinel series satellite data has exceptional capabilities in estimating dense forest AGB and machine learning algorithms can be very helpful to do so.

In recent years, the provision of economic incentives through carbon financing and carbon offsetting has been central to efforts at forest carbon mitigation. However, notwithstanding their potentially important roles in climate policy, forest carbon offsets face numerous barriers which have limited widespread implementation worldwide. This paper uses the case study of the Canadian province of British Columbia to explore the barriers associated with achieving widespread implementation of forest carbon offsets in the next several decades. Drawing on interviews with experts from government, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and First Nations, six main barriers are identified and discussed: (1) deficiencies of carbon markets, (2) limited economic benefits, (3) uncertain climate effectiveness, (4) negative public opinion, (5) limited and uncertain property rights, and (6) governance issues. While respondents from different sectors agreed on various points, divergence was also observed, notably on the trade-off between generating environmentally sound offsets and promoting cost-effective ways to achieve mitigation. We discuss these differences in the context of the goals and objectives of different actors, and offer insights for understanding the uptake (or not) of carbon offset policies.

This paper investigates the adoption of discourses on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) across different national contexts. It draws on institutional theories to develop and test a number of hypotheses on the role of shared beliefs and politico-economic institutions in determining the discursive choices of policy actors. The results show that win–win ecological modernization discourse, embraced by powerful government agencies and international actors, dominates national REDD+ policy arenas. This discourse is challenged primarily by a minority reformist civic environmentalist discourse put forward primarily by domestic NGOs. We find evidence that countries with a less democratic political system and large-scale primary sector investments facilitate the adoption of reconciliatory ecological modernization discourse, which may not directly challenge the drivers of deforestation. Policy actors who believe in and are engaged in market-based approaches to REDD+ are much more likely to adopt ecological modernization discourses, compared to policy actors who work on community development and livelihoods issues.

REDD+ is a global scale climate change mitigation program aiming at creating financial values for carbon stored in forests. According to the proponents, REDD+ is an effective, efficient, and equitable mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Some scholars question this assumption, and some call for further analysis to understand how REDD+ can contribute to economic, environmental, and social goals, and what are the synergies and trade-offs between them. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate about whether REDD+ projects can be brought to accommodate economic (efficiency), environmental (effectiveness), and social (equity) concerns at the same time by drawing on own field results from a REDD+ project in Cambodia. The paper follows three tracks. The first is to develop and explain the conceptual and analytical framework for our empirical investigations. The second is to explain the field results. The third track is to discuss what general lessons can be learnt. Our case illustrates some of the mechanisms that are likely to work against the willingness and ability of REDD+ projects to ensure local people’s net-gains, and the risk that effectiveness and equity will suffer if REDD+ projects rely solely on the private market. Our case thus indicates a tension between the objectives of creating financial value from carbon stored in trees through the private market, and environmental and social equity concerns. However, we call for more comparative studies of REDD+ projects, and hope our conceptual framework can assist such studies.