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This paper explores the policy need and legal case for including social safeguards in a post-2012 agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). One serious charge laid against so called 'market-based' approaches to REDD is the potential for forest dwelling communities to be dispossessed from their land and to lose other rights afforded to them in international human rights law. Rather than criticise current REDD proposals as being inherently negative for forest dwelling communities, this paper asks firstly, whether REDD can potentially work in their favour and secondly, how such an opportunity could be realised in a future REDD agreement. After reviewing current REDD proposals and related threats, this paper argues for the inclusion of social safeguards within the post-2012 agreement on REDD. The primary cause of forest dwelling communities vulnerability is not REDD itself but the potential for REDD to operate in the absence of social safeguards. This paper presents four mutually reinforcing safeguards to protect forest dwelling communities in the context of a future agreement on REDD. This paper finds that a REDD market which requires minimum international standards of social protection is likely to benefit forest dwelling communities.

Should "avoided tropical deforestation" be used to alleviate climate change? It is hotly debated today whether the reduction of tropical deforestation should be encouraged by means of a mechanism within the Convention on Climate Change. This mechanism ("avoided deforestation") would benefit developing countries which voluntarily reduce their deforestation rates, thereby generating at least two positive impacts: (i) an increase in the financial resources available to curb tropical deforestation, with expected positive side-effects on biodiversity conservation, the environmental services provided by these forests, and sustainable development as a whole, (ii) improved effectiveness of the global fight against climate change since tropical deforestation contributes extensively to world carbon emissions. Several proposals were designed for such a mechanism, yet their implementation poses significant methodological problems: (i) baselines calculated ex ante lack accuracy due to insufficient knowledge concerning the direct and underlying causes of deforestation, (ii) baselines calculated ex post lack legitimacy as they only refer to past trends, and (iii) uncertainty as to the actual possibility of relating a reduction in the deforestation rate to public policy options in the host country. Drawing lessons from our analysis, we recommend not promoting mechanisms based on financial rewards for an assumed voluntary reduction of national tropical deforestation rates. Two reasons justify our standpoint: the mechanism would probably generate fake reductions ("hot air") and undesirable side-effects would appear that are detailed in this paper. Rather, we encourage industrialized countries to better use already existing multi- and bilateral instruments, which focus on bettering governance deficiencies in countries hosting tropical forests. Besides, "perverse incentives" should be suppressed from public policies in tropical countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the climate change coping strategy in Brazil expressed in the federal government policy up to 2012, seeking to identify the implicit concept of development in light of the overall goal of sustainability. Besides the National Policy on Climate Change (NPCC), the development plans of the following sectors were also analyzed: combat to deforestation, energy, agriculture and transport. The methodology was based on content analysis of the official documents, which was supported by literature review and information obtained in interviews with qualified informants. The results showed that the NPCC favors mitigation actions over those directed to adaptation. The contradictions of this strategy become apparent in areas such as the sub-salt exploration, investment in large-scale farming, and no consideration of social inequality. The conclusion indicates that the consideration of climate change issues by the government is secondary, being the main objective to promote a development model anchored on economic growth.