Carbon Pipelines Negative T

2NC—REDD+

The US recently dedicated $1 billion to reforestation efforts worldwide

USAID 10 (“Addressing Climate Change by Conserving and Restoring the World’s Forests: The United States Launches REDD+ Strategy” USAID, November 2 2010, http://kosovo.info.usaid.gov/climate/redd/) MLR
The U.S. Government is proud to announce the release of the United States’ strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and increase carbon sequestration by forests in developing countries. This is commonly referred to as REDD+. This U.S. government-wide strategy outlines how the United States will allocate and invest the $1 billion dedicated for REDD+ announced by the Obama Administration in Copenhagen in December 2009 at the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The strategy was developed through an interagency process facilitated by the White House National Security Council (NSC) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Two stakeholder meetings were held to collect information on private sector and civil society concerns and interests. USAID participated actively throughout the process and is proud of the significant contributions the Agency made to the strategy. The strategy was created to guide budgetary decision making of the Administration and to guide programming design. It delineates criteria that feed into decisions about which countries the United States supports with bilateral programs. Because REDD+ assistance is a “whole of government” program, the strategy will help ensure all U.S. government agencies work toward common objectives. In addition, the REDD+ strategy has been distributed to USAID field programs around the world to guide program design. It will also be useful in explaining U.S. government assistance priorities for climate change financing to USAID country counterparts and other partners.
REDD+ has international momentum—it’s key to combat climate change

Rowe 11 – post-graduate degree in journalism from City University (Mark, “REDD+ or dead?” Geographical Magazine, June 2011, http://www.geographical.co.uk/Magazine/Dossiers/Forests_-_Jun_11.html) MLR
Some rare good news for the world’s beleaguered forests emerged from the environmental conference in Cancun, Mexico, late last year. Environment ministers – some more willingly than others – committed to pay developing countries to stop cutting down their rainforests. At last, it seems, a deal is in place to replenish our global stock of forests, protect biodiversity and recognise the work that forests do to bolster the planet against climate change and support local indigenous people. After all, we can all surely agree that planting forests is a Good Thing. Optimists argue that this is a firm step in the right direction in the battle against climate change; there’s little dispute that carbon emissions from forests that have been logged and cleared – mainly for palm oil, pulp, cattle and soya – need to be hauled in swiftly. Forests cover 30 per cent of our planet’s land area, and deforestation and forest degradation are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that logging contributes to roughly 17 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than transport and third only to the energy (26 per cent) and industrial (19 per cent) sectors. The Cancun framework agreement, known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), is a scheme under which developing countries would be paid not to cut down trees, and to replant and regenerate some that have already been felled. This includes reforestation, the re-establishment of forest on land where forest or plantations have been cut down (and which brings about no change in forest area), and afforestation, the planting of new trees where there were none before. All of this goes beyond merely planting trees, however, and aims to enhance carbon stocks, sustainable forest management and forest conservation. REDD+ is backed by the UN and the World Bank, and has secured agreements with 29 countries in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. So far, US$97million has been committed – the major part of it, US$83million, from Norway – and at first glance, it reinforces the perception that the fortunes of the world’s rainforests, after decades of abuse, have taken a turn for the better.
REDD+ is underway globally—it’s a key cost effective way to combat warming

Myers 11 – former captain of the sailing vessel Makulu II and led a 3-year educational expedition and global circumnavigation, currently specializes in the role of forests in mitigating climate change (Erin C., “Climate Change and Forestry: A REDD Primer” Ecosystem Marketplace, February 28 2011, http://www.katoombagroup.org/documents/cds/uganda_2011/REDD/Climate%20Change%20and%20Forestry_%20A%20REDD%20Primer.pdf) MLR
Forests play an integral role in mitigating climate change. Not only are they one of the most important carbon sinks, storing more carbon than both the atmosphere and the world's oil reserves, they also constantly remove carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, which converts atmospheric carbon to organic matter. But while forests are working diligently to clean up the carbon we have emitted through burning fossil fuels, deforestation is pumping carbon right back into the atmosphere. The Drivers of Deforestation Deforestation in developing countries is frequently driven by agriculture, logging, and road expansion. Rising prices for soy, palm oil, and beef make it increasingly profitable for landowners in developing countries to clear forests and convert the land to agriculture. Often, burning is the cheapest and easiest way to clear the land. Contrary to popular belief, when logging occurs, only a fraction of the wood that is cleared ends up as dimensional lumber and eventually in housing and other structures. The majority of the forest vegetation ends up as waste, and thus the majority of the carbon from the forest ends up in the atmosphere. And it's getting worse as policies that expand road infrastructure provide access for loggers, farmers and homesteaders to the previously inaccessible forest interior. Deforestation Highest in Indonesia and Brazil Deforestation is not evenly distributed around the world. In fact, Indonesia and Brazil account for 50% of the world's deforestation emissions. Because of these deforestation emissions, Indonesia and Brazil are ranked third and fourth among the top greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting countries. If Indonesia and Brazil were able to abate their deforestation, their ranking would fall to 15th and eighth, respectively. The irony is that we normally associate high GHG emissions with development and increasing GDP, but the activities that drive deforestation generally have low economic returns. Thus, Indonesia and Brazil are among the top GHG emitters, but their emissions are from low-return activities. Low-Cost Emission Reductions Analyses examining the cost of REDD activities indicate that abating deforestation is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. In their conservative calculations, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that approximately 25% of deforestation emissions can be abated at a cost of less than $20 per metric ton of carbon dioxide (tCO2). By comparison, the market price for carbon on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was $35/tCO2 in the first quarter of 2008. It is important to note that the IPCC's cost estimates are based on the opportunity cost of probable land uses and don't include transaction costs such as monitoring, enforcement, and capacity building. 2/28/2011 Ecosystem Marketplace - Climate Chan… ecosystemmarketplace.com/…/article.… 1/5 The Role of REDD Given the magnitude of deforestation emissions and the low cost of abating those emissions, REDD is poised to play a very important role in the global strategy to abate GHG emissions. "We cannot solve the climate problem if we do not include forests," said Stuart Eizenstat in testimony before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. A former Under Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration, Eizenstat now advocates the need to include market-based incentives for REDD activities in any future climate-change policy.
US is pursuing REDD objectives across the globe in the status quo

US Department of State, et al. 10 (“U.S. REDD+ Programs: Addressing Climate Change by Conserving and Restoring the World’s Forests” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Agriculture (including U.S. Forest Service), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, U.S. Department of the Interior (including U.S. Geological Survey), December 2010, http://kosovo.info.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/climate/docs/UnitedStatesREDD+Brochure.pdf) MLR
The strategy lays out the U.S. long-term objectives for REDD+ investments. By working together with the international community, the United States expects to make significant progress through its contribution during this initial three year period. Objective 1: REDD+ Architecture: Creating and supporting an efficient, effective, and coordinated international system to help countries deliver REDD+ outcomes. Focus of architecture investments: The United States will support the creation of a framework that drives policies and programs with evidence of impact by generating, evaluating, and analyzing outcomes and providing coordinated, transparent, and effective financing and technical support to developing countries. The United States will target investments to support a coherent global approach to REDD+. This REDD+ “architecture” includes well-functioning multilateral funds, enhanced donor coordination, application of effective methodologies and technologies, shared best practices, and cost-efficient access to data. The architecture should also ensure transparency of mitigation actions and forest carbon data, effective application of safeguards, and provision and effective use of financing. The United States will support the following types of activities under this objective: Participation in selected multilateral REDD+ funds, and other international REDD+ related processes, to advance the coherence and coordination of REDD+ efforts, while seeking to ensure that multilateral efforts are consistent with U.S. policies and approaches. • Assessment of modalities for measuring REDD+ GHG mitigation, dissemination of best practices, sharing of data, and access to tools for decision making, including through applied research, training, publications, and regional and global platforms. • Regional and global approaches to capacity building for national GHG land use inventories, consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodologies and guidance. • Strategic coordination with other donors and multilateral efforts, aimed at forging a deliberate “division of labor,” harmonizing our approaches, increasing efficiencies and ensuring that our efforts are transparent, focused squarely on sustainable outcomes, and informed by data and evidence. • Responding to the ongoing UNFCCC negotiations on environmental and social safeguards and on approaches to making REDD+ emissions reductions and removals measurable, reportable, and verifiable (MRV), by helping to implement those global framework decisions as they are agreed. Objective 2: REDD+ Readiness: Helping countries become ready to participate in pay-for-performance programs and take complementary domestic actions. Investments will help countries become ready at the national level to undertake actions at a scale that can significantly reduce emissions or increase sequestration, enable access to pay-for-performance financing, including future carbon markets, and meet ambitious domestic mitigation commitments. Sustained progress requires that developing countries build the capacity to design, manage and implement their own REDD+ plans and incorporate low emissions strategies into their broader economic growth and development plans. This objective therefore supports country readiness for both domestic actions and pay-for-performance opportunities, in the context of ambitious national REDD+ plans. Actions under this REDD+ readiness objective will help build the capacity of our partners in the developing world and support the creation and implementation of national policies for REDD+. This includes creating incentives for local forest mitigation results and facilitating access to a wide range of public and 5 private-sector financing, from both domestic and international sources. U.S. investments will include the following types of activities: Support for host countries’ development of REDD+ strategies, i • n particular those being developed as part of an economy-wide low emissions development strategy (LEDS). • Support for REDD+ readiness activities at the local government level. This includes assistance with sub-national REDD+ strategies, benefit sharing and safeguard systems, emissions inventories, and land use planning and monitoring. • Support for development of robust national greenhouse gas inventories. • Support for the development of national forest carbon inventories, and the piloting of reference scenarios, within the framework of national greenhouse gas inventories. • Promotion of national standards and systems for effective environmental and social safeguards for REDD+ activities. • Provision of technical assistance on national legal, regulatory, and financial structures necessary for enabling private sector finance for low emissions development and participation in any future carbon market; for example, to manage benefit-sharing from results-based payments. Implementation of readiness elements within a country’s national REDD+ strategy, if a strategy exists. This might include strengthening the aspects of national forest governance, national technical management capacity, and national land and tree tenure policies that are directly necessary to achieve emissions reductions and sequestration at scale. Support to help countries design and carry-out national level policy reforms that are part of low emissions development strategies and change economic incentives toward reduced net emissions. Examples include policies for payments for ecosystem services, changes to subsidies and tariffs to facilitate decreased net emissions from land use, national land use and land planning especially related to reducing agricultural pressures on forests, and forest management reforms, including improved forest governance. Objective 3: REDD+ Demonstration: Achieving cost-effective and sustainable net emissions reductions. Investments will support programs that achieve, or that demonstrate scalable approaches to achieving significant, cost-effective net emissions reductions.
International consensus exists that REDD+ is key to solve emissions through reforestation and conservation

Virgilio, Marshall, Zerbock, and Holmes 10 – Forest Carbon Specialist, Forest Carbon Development Team - Global Climate Change Team; Managing Director for The Nature Conservancy's Global Climate Change Team; Advisor, Climate Change Initiatives; Wildlife Conservation Society (Nicole, Sarene, Olaf, and Christopher, “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): A Casebook of On-the-Ground Experience.”The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society. 2010. http://www.hedon.info/docs/REDD_Casebook-TNC-CI-WCS.pdf) MLR
Forests have a critical role to play in addressing climate change. About 15 percent1 of annual global carbon dioxide emissions are caused by deforestation and forest degradation (van der Werf, et al., 2009; Canadell, et al., 2007) and it will be extremely difficult to solve the climate change problem without reducing these emissions.2 Recognizing the importance of and providing incentives for conserving (as well as restoring and better managing) forests provides an effective way to mitigate climate change while offering a cost-effective and near-term option to ease the transition to low carbon economies (Stern, 2006; Eliasch, 2008). Within the current policy context, there is interest in including the full scope of forest carbon activities in an overall REDD framework— Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Forest Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Carbon Stock Enhancement3—dubbed REDD Plus. Despite this potential, nearly all regulatory climate policy frameworks and markets still fail to include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) as a tool for climate change mitigation. The failure to include REDD within regulatory frameworks is a legacy of previous concerns regarding the additional, verifiable and permanent climate benefits of REDD activities. Ongoing work to resolve these concerns should help policy makers incorporate robust REDD strategies into climate change plans at the local, national and international level. Although no legally binding agreement was reached at the December 2009 United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen, REDD Plus was one of the areas where there was strong agreement in both the importance of addressing emissions from deforestation and degradation and the need for creation of an international REDD Plus framework.
REDD+ efforts are gaining international traction

Virgilio, Marshall, Zerbock, and Holmes 10 – Forest Carbon Specialist, Forest Carbon Development Team - Global Climate Change Team; Managing Director for The Nature Conservancy's Global Climate Change Team; Advisor, Climate Change Initiatives; Wildlife Conservation Society (Nicole, Sarene, Olaf, and Christopher, “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): A Casebook of On-the-Ground Experience.”The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society. 2010. http://www.hedon.info/docs/REDD_Casebook-TNC-CI-WCS.pdf) MLR
Lessons for moving to national scale While project-scale REDD initiatives, as most of the efforts profiled in this report are, can produce credible carbon benefits, there is an emerging interest, especially in climate policy dialogues, in moving to national REDD Plus schemes. Lessons learned and methodologies developed from earlier on-theground pilot efforts, such as those detailed in this report, among others, can help inform these larger scale efforts. The interest in national-scale efforts is in part because of the magnitude of the positive climate impact that such nation-wide programs could have, but also because of the advantages of such large-scale efforts in engaging governments and dealing with certain technical challenges across whole countries. Establishing national carbon accounting, for example, would likely enable simpler and more cost-effective methods for dealing with baselines than at the project scale (which generally relies on complex modeling), while capturing any potential intra-country leakage. Similarly, efforts that are broader in scope, such as REDD Plus—which could include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Forest Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Carbon Stock Enhancement—are gaining traction, not only for their potential to result in more carbon benefits, but their ability to ensure the sustainability of carbon benefits by maintaining production and access to resources for local communities. REDD Plus was included in the Copenhagen Accord, which came out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP-15 held in December 2009, and many governments, including the United States, provided significant financial support to expand the scope of REDD to the abovementioned activities.