Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation - For An Effective REDD+ Mechanism

For An Effective REDD+ Mechanism

The complexity of the issue could be better reflected in the way the question of agriculture is approached for the REDD+ mechanism at the international level. Although intensification – in other words the increase in productivity per hectare - is a key variable for long-term forest conservation, the problem cannot be resolved by this alone. The scientific findings previously presented all indicate that there is no simple, unequivocal relationship between changes in agricultural systems and tropical deforestation. However, the major trend to follow undoubtedly remains the increase in yields, without however basing this increase primarily on the provision of chemical inputs that increase the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

One solution could theoretically lie in the rapid dissemination of a type of intensive agriculture in certain countries or regions – notwithstanding numerous problematic consequences, for example geographical specialisation implying a restrictive approach to the conservation of natural resources for the developing world. This option tends to maximise use of favourable agricultural conditions in certain regions, in order to indirectly preserve other countries or regions with less favourable conditions (a strategy known as “common agricultural pools”). It remains to be determined how a REDD+ mechanism could represent an incentive for this global strategy, in the sense that areas that are unsuited to agriculture would see an economic advantage in reaping the benefits of REDD+ and minimising their agricultural areas, and vice versa for other regions.

Necessary public support policies

Public support policies are necessary. This may be understood in at least four different ways.

a) Fostering changes in agricultural technologies First, it means that we must not count on spontaneous changes in technologies that may contribute to forest conservation objectives. Farmers show a strong tendency to adopt extensive systems when land is abundant in order to compensate for the scarcity of other factors of production such as labour and capital. Consequently, counting on the spontaneous innovation and adoption of new agricultural technologies implies accepting an increase in clearing while forest resources are abundant, and waiting until this resource is almost depleted before farmers attempt to remedy the problem! A certain number of macro tools must therefore be implemented, for example management of the industry, taxation applied to the agricultural sector, or the creation of an area network with agencies responsible for disseminating technologies among their potential users.

b) Harmonising sectoral public policies The second way to interpret the need for public support policies amounts to accepting the importance of harmonising measures that have a direct or indirect impact on forest cover. These are the “forest-related policies”, which include all sectors of activity that have a significant impact: trade, taxation, infrastructure, regional control, and programmes encouraging human migration, etc. A strategy that is limited to just one sector of activity – here, agriculture – and not harmonised with the other sectors of activity, such as the construction of road infrastructure, would at best produce mixed, temporary results, and at worst be doomed to failure. Admittedly, some would argue that the “price signal” a carbon market would produce is itself capable of guiding decisions favourable to reducing emissions and therefore the harmonisation of policies if this harmonisation will lead to the objective being met. This idea is somewhat disconnected from reality, however, and political economy as well as governance issues must also be part of the analysis.

c) Adopting the PES principle The third way to interpret public support policies is central. Indeed, some major opportunities exist for giving the principle of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) the position it could well deserve in the future. The beneficiaries of an environmental service establish voluntary contracts with the providers of this service (who control the natural resource) and condition their rewards on the maintenance of the service. In the case in question, PES would consist in measures aimed at conditioning support for the adoption of sound agricultural technologies on the absence of excessive forest clearing on nearby land. Farmers and landowners would thus benefit from the possibility of using technologies capable of increasing their production and income, and at the same time the adverse consequences of forest clearing could be minimised. In other words, the principle is to benefit from REDD+ funding for an ecosystem service (climate regulation through CO2 emissions reductions), in order to foster an agricultural revolution that would serve the interests of poor populations suffering from undernourishment on the one hand, and on the other, would avoid losing precious time in meeting the food challenge (substantially higher global food production by 2050). PES would therefore make it possible to set up contracts aimed at covering the costs of investment and of the transition towards new agricultural technologies.

d) Acting on global demand The fourth way to interpret the need for support policies refers to the issue of demand for agricultural products. When production increases, demand also tends to rise in response to lower prices. This is known as the “rebound effect”. It is based on the behaviour of consumers and their tendency to increase their consumption when purchasing power enables them to do so. It seems there are few remedies to this, since it is undoubtedly unrealistic to restrict consumers in their consumption choices. It is sometimes suggested that action should focus on diets throughout the world, in both developing and developed countries in order to bring demand per capita into line globally, for example by attempting to reduce the share of dairy products and meat. Another alternative envisaged consists in setting up systems that would subject agricultural products to a kind of tax based on their carbon content but the implementation of such a system is still considered to be highly problematic.