REDD+ MRV and results-based payments

Reporting of REDD+ results (MRV for REDD+ activities)

For developing country Parties implementing REDD+ activities (referred to in paragraph 71 of decision 1/CP.16), to obtain and receive results-based payments, anthropogenic forest-related emissions by sources and removals by sinks, forest carbon stocks, and forest carbon stock and forest-area changes resulting from implementing those actions (REDD+ results) should be fully measured, reported and verified. The COP recognized the importance and need to develop capacity for measuring, reporting and verifying those forest-related emissions.

The REDD+ results of implementing REDD+ activities are expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year and measured against forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels. The data and information for estimating REDD+ results should be transparent, and consistent over time and with established forest reference emissions levels and/or forest reference levels. Developing country Parties implementing REDD+ can use a stepwise approach and are encouraged to improve data and methodologies over time, while maintaining consistency with established forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels. 

Developing countries seeking to obtain and receive payments for results-based actions are requested to voluntarily submit the data and information for estimating REDD+ results through the biennial update reports as its technical annex, taking into consideration the additional flexibility given to the least developed countries and small island developing States. These data should follow the guidelines provided in the annex to decision 14/CP.19.

Under the Paris Agreement, the REDD+ results are submitted, on a voluntary basis, in a technical annex to biennial transparency reports.

Technical analysis of REDD+ results

The MRV for REDD+ activities is a two-step process: first, there is a technical assessment of the proposed forest reference emission level and/or forest reference level (FREL/FRL). Second, the actual results compared to the assessed FREL/FRL are submitted in a technical annex to the biennial update report or biennial transparency report of a developing country Party seeking to obtain and receive payments for results-based actions, and these results undergo a separate technical analysis. The LULUCF experts undertaking the technical analysis check whether the data and information provided in the technical annex is transparent, consistent, complete and accurate; consistent with the assessed FREL/FRL and guidelines for technical annexes with REDD+ results; and that results are accurate, to the extent possible.

As part of the technical analysis, the LULUCF experts analyze:

• Consistency in methodologies, definitions, comprehensiveness and information between assessed FREL/FRL and REDD+ results;
• Transparency, completeness¹ and accuracy of the data and information provided in the technical annex;
• Consistency of the data and information provided in the technical annex with the guidelines included in the annex to decision 14/CP.19;
• Accuracy of REDD+ results.

As an output of the technical analysis, the LULUCF experts will develop, under their collective responsibility, a technical report to be published by the secretariat. Links to the technical annexes to the biennial update reports or biennial transparency reports and final technical analysis reports are provided in the Lima REDD+ Information Hub.

Results-based payments

In order to obtain and receive results-based finance for results from the implementation of REDD+ activities, developing country Parties should have the following in place:

• A national strategy or action plan;
• An assessed forest reference emission level and/or forest reference level;
• A national forest monitoring system;
• A system for providing information on how the safeguards are being addressed and respected;
• And the results-based actions should also be fully measured, reported and verified (MRV).

In this context, the COP affirmed that the progression of developing country Parties towards results-based actions occurs in the context of the provision of adequate and predictable support for all phases of REDD+ implementation. The COP also reaffirmed that results-based finance provided to developing country Parties for the full implementation of REDD+ may come from a variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources.

Entities financing REDD+, including the Green Climate Fund in a key role, are encouraged to collectively channel adequate and predictable results-based finance in a fair and balanced manner, taking into account different policy approaches, for the implementation of REDD+. Entities financing REDD+ are also encouraged to work with a view to increasing the number of countries that are in a position to obtain and receive payments for results-based actions.

Lima REDD+ Information Hub publishes information on the results of the REDD+ activities and corresponding results-based payments.

Most relevant COP decisions:1/CP.16, 12/CP.17, 9/CP.19, 13/CP.19, 14/CP.19, 1/CP.21 (Adoption of the Paris Agreement)

More information: Party submissions related to REDD+ results, Lima REDD+ Information Hub

See also: Tackling Global Deforestation. Insights from the REDD+ MRV process. Status after five years, REDD+ infographics and REDD+ video