February 2013: The UN Environment Programme Riso Centre (UNEP Riso), in collaboration with the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), published a report on the economics of forest and forest carbon projects.

The report is based on REDD+ case studies from Brazil, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico and Senegal. Based on the case studies, the report concludes that public-private partnerships that reduce investment risk are most successful at attracting the private sector, and that carbon credits act as only a secondary source of income. Furthermore, the report highlights the potential efficiencies and other advantages that can be realized through a national approach to REDD+, while stressing the importance of local community involvement for long-term sustainability.

The report highlights that so far, forest investments do not attract the same level of investment as other carbon projects and that financial risk is a major obstacle to scaling up forest carbon projects. To increase investments in forest carbon, the report underscores the importance of: redistributing benefits to local communities; reducing the risk-adjusted discount rate; providing guidance on quantifying costs and benefits; and increasing mitigation commitments so as to increase demand for REDD+ credits. [UNEP-Riso Press Release] [Publication: The Economics of Forest and Forest Carbon Projects – Translating Lessons Learned into National REDD+ Implementation]