Open Letter: Global South Voices in Support of REDD+
- Media Manager
- May 8, 2023
- 2 min read
Peoples Forests Partnership
Open Letter
Published: May 9th, 2023
Despite historically contributing the least to climate change, our communities in the Global South bear the brunt of its impact. We shoulder this burden while simultaneously serving as guardians of what is left of Mother Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Using the knowledge passed down from our ancestors, we have effectively managed the Earth’s natural capital for generations and now are the ones preventing the climate crisis from teetering to the point of becoming cataclysmic.
Globally, Indigenous and community lands hold at least 22% of the carbon stored in tropical and subtropical forests, 17% of the total carbon stored in forests, and 80% of the world’s biodiversity. If we are to halt deforestation and keep global warming to 1.5°C by achieving a net-zero world, high-integrity climate finance must be scaled and channeled to Indigenous-led conservation efforts. It is only by respecting our rights, tradition, and ancestral knowledge that the international community will be able to preserve the planet for future generations of all communities and peoples.
As it stands now, there are very few ways for our communities to access the finance that we are due for our efforts and successes in protecting nature. REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) projects provide one of the only proven avenues available to our communities to access the finance required to not only conserve and protect our environments, but also to drive sustainable development for our communities that are shaped by our traditions and values. Recent criticisms on the validity of REDD+ as a conservation mechanism have ignored these positive benefits and have put this critical source of finance at risk–ultimately putting the well-being of our communities at risk.
Not only has the scientific analysis underpinning the critique been repeatedly rebutted, but once again, the voices from our communities were nearly absent from the narrative. In our eyes, well-implemented conservation projects using the REDD+ model are some of the most powerful ways for businesses and governments in the Global North to effectively channel much-needed finance directly to communities in the Global South. This transfer of resources from North to South will ultimately protect climate-critical forests while also prioritizing the livelihoods and needs of our people, bringing forth sustainable development to local communities, and preserving our traditions, cultures, and knowledge. Those who doubt the potential of REDD+ to deliver nature conservation have claimed that the positive impacts of these projects are being overestimated. Yet, no one asked those of us who live on the land in question, what the impacts are, and how we can become partners to strengthen and improve high-integrity climate finance mechanisms, including REDD+ crediting programs, to achieve net zero and protect our land. Whatever new measurement methods yield, they simply cannot stand up to what we see everyday living in and next to what remains of Earth’s natural habitats. Those interested in knowing the impacts of REDD+ projects should be incorporating our knowledge and observations into their analysis if they want an accurate picture.
