Operationalizing safeguards in national REDD+ architectures remains a major challenge in most REDD+ countries, particularly in the area of benefit sharing. Effective, efficient and equitable outcomes of REDD+ require effective, efficient and equitable implementation of safeguards. 

Autors: Maria Brockhaus, Grace Wong, Cecilia Luttrell, Lasse Loft, Thuy Thu Pham, Amy E Duchelle, Samuel Assembe-Mvondo, Monica Di Gregorio

Key Messages:

♦ Safeguards implementation will require priority setting inside national REDD+ architectures.

♦ Benefit sharing is a key element of national REDD+ architectures, and its implementation will require adherence

to safeguards to ensure that contextual, procedural and distributive equity are considered.

♦ Learning from challenges facing the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon indicates that a

stepwise approach is needed to operationalize safeguards.

♦ Steps forward should include a risk assessment for priority setting, a review of existing (and accessible) data, and improved assessment and reporting of safeguards through establishment of robust datasets and inclusion of feedback loops.

Benefit sharing is the distribution of direct and indirect net gains from the implementation of REDD+. It includes direct benefits (monetary gains or increased availability of forest ecosystem services and goods) as well as indirect ones (e.g. improved governance infrastructure provision) (Luttrell et al. 2013).

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