Tackling deforestation and climate change, not without good governance

Good governance has received little attention in the global agenda for climate change.  Yet, it seems that it is making its way, at least on climate change issues related to deforestation and forest degradation -which account for about 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A study recently published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IEED) states that "in many areas where deforestation and degradation are at their highest, governance is weak and is an underlying cause of deforestation and degradation."

IEED's study aimed at understanding whether paying people to protect forests -an approach called payments for ecosystem services, PES- could work as a good strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).  After reviewing several schemes in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa, the conclusion was that PES projects "can create incentives for reducing emissions. They are, however, not a universal panacea."  Payments alone are not enough, according to the report, because successful implementation of REDD-type programs depends on government's capacity and willingness to govern their forests effectively.

Governance issues in REDD activities were also discussed in one of the side events at the Bonn Climate Change Talks.  During the session "Going beyond carbon: good governance, biodiversity conservation and demand-side management in REDD," Patrick Alley from Global Witness Limited opened the debate by talking about the Bugatti Veyron -a million euros car that consumes more fuel per kilometer than any other car, and that can reach a speed of 407 km/hr. According to Alley, the Minister of Forest of Equatorial Guinea -who receives a salary of US$4,000 per month- treated himself to three of these cars.  Other misgoverance examples in the forest sector, such as the rising trend of illegal timber imports to the US and EU (see page 7 here), were discussed at the session. 

While good governance might not the core issue of many development problems, it is definitely among the necessary ingredients that can "grease the wheels" of long-term development and growth.