The great REDD climate illusion

At a press conference at COP29, activists issue a call to end REDD.

At a press conference last week in Baku at COP29, representatives from Indigenous Environmental Network, Acción Ecológica in Ecuador, WALHI in Indonesia, and the Global Forest Coalition issued a call to end REDD. They highlighted the failure of REDD to address deforestation and its “devastating consequences” for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Instead of REDD, they argued for governments to recognise the collective land rights and self-governance of communities.

The press conference promotes the Global Forest Coalition’s new report: “The Great REDD+ Climate Illusion: A flawed equation for forests, people, and planet.” The report includes case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

At the press conference, Souparna Lahiri of Global Forest Coalition points out that REDD has failed to address deforestation over a period of more than 15 years. “Where are we right now at the end of 2024?” Lahiri asks. “The rate of deforestation is still alarming and in some regions it is rising.”

The three countries that have received the most money for implementing REDD programmes are Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are all in the top four countries for tropical primary forest loss in 2022 and 2023, along with Bolivia.

Instead of reducing deforestation and forest degradation, REDD allows Big Polluters to continue polluting and profiting.

Uslaini of WALHI Indonesia adds, “We, in Indonesia, reject carbon trading as a solution to the Indonesian climate crisis.”

Ivonne Yanez of Acción Ecológica says,

“More than 60 years ago, oil companies knew already that global warming was caused by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. They invented a lot of things, they put billions of dollars in order to hide this reality. Also they put a lot of money in order to destroy the real solution to climate change, which is to leave fossil fuels in the ground.”

Tom Goldtooth, the Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network goes back even further. “In 1854, the great Indigenous visionary, Chief Seattle, from northwest what is called now United States, asked the question, ‘How can you buy or sell the sky?’ Now, 170 years later, the sky is being bought and sold on carbon markets, stock markets, all over the world.”

Here is the press release about the event in Baku:

Indigenous Leaders and Environmental Advocates Call for an End to REDD+ Mechanism Amid Rights Violations and Deforestation

New briefer exposes inherent flaws in REDD+

November 15, 2024, BAKU – At a joint press conference today from the UN climate summit, representatives from the Indigenous Environmental Network, Acción Ecológica Ecuador, WALHI Indonesia, and the Global Forest Coalition issued a united call to dismantle the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism. The event highlighted the program’s ongoing failures to reduce deforestation and its devastating consequences for Indigenous peoples and local communities, calling on governments to instead recognise the collective land rights and self-governance of communities.

REDD+ is among the so-called nature-based solutions that groups are calling out as a false solution to the climate crisis, which countries are gathered in Baku to address under the UNFCCC. These false solutions allow big polluters to keep profiting, passing the burden for change on to developing countries and marginalized communities. It avoids real and urgent emissions cuts, which countries have repeatedly failed to deliver.

Since 2008, nearly $10 billion of public finance has been pledged to REDD+. Now, they say REDD+ needs $15 billion annually. Funding has come from entities like the World Bank, Green Climate Fund, Norway, Germany, the UK, and the US, facilitated by the UN-REDD Programme. Yet despite this huge flow of finance, deforestation rates have failed to drop, and in some regions, continue to rise, as evidenced in the recent Global Forest Coalition briefer, The Great REDD+ Climate Illusion.

Yet Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo — top recipients of REDD+ funding — continue to experience some of the highest deforestation rates globally. The use of REDD+ programs as a forest carbon offset mechanism has exacerbated the problem, leading to the replacement of biodiverse ecosystems with monoculture plantations and causing severe impacts on Indigenous peoples, women, and children, including documented human rights abuses.

“REDD+ programs have transformed into forest carbon offsets. Forests have been logged, and monoculture plantations have replaced biodiverse ecosystems under the guise of REDD+ projects,” said Souparna Lahiri, Senior Climate and Biodiversity Policy Advisor at the Global Forest Coalition. “These projects have huge negative impacts on Indigenous communities, women, and children, including instances of sexual violence.” 

A Mechanism in Crisis  

REDD+, originally conceptualised to reduce deforestation and enhance sustainable forest management, has been criticised for fostering rights violations, displacement, and environmental degradation. Since its inception, over $10 billion has been funneled into the program, with little measurable impact.  

“Over the last 15 years, REDD, and now REDD+, have been embedded in UN frameworks, including Article 6.4,” said Ivonne Yanez, founder and President of Acción Ecológica, Ecuador. “Oil companies have known for over 60 years that climate change is caused by the extraction and burning of oil, and they have made considerable efforts to hide it. With the complicity of governments and the United Nations, they created carbon offsets, in which forests are included and understood as carbon sinks, including REDD+. Carbon credits come at the cost of human rights and the rights of nature.”

Yánez continued: “While these efforts have succeeded in institutionalizing offsets, people are not fools. Many understand what is happening. Transnational conservation corporations are exploiting impoverished and vulnerable communities, including some Indigenous peoples. They offer small payments for what these communities have done for millennia: protect the forests.”

Uslaini, of WALHI Indonesia, went on to describe the huge negative environmental and human rights impacts in Indonesia, one of the largest receivers of REDD+ funding and projects globally. Carbon trading allows corporations and Annex I countries to exceed emission limits by offsetting in markets instead of reducing emissions, she explained, adding that in Indonesia, policies and implementation have failed to slow down deforestation.

“In Indonesia, we reject carbon markets. Offsetting, instead of reducing emissions, has led to the expansion of the extractive industries, which undermine customary land rights and have contributed to extreme weather events that have caused the deaths and displacement of over 5,000 people in our country,” Uslaini said. “REDD+ allows polluters to continue their activities and also fuels other injustices, such as land grabbing and the criminalization of Indigenous and social leaders.”

“Instead of safeguarding forests, REDD+ projects have allowed the logging of primary forests, promoted monoculture plantations, and led to violence against Indigenous communities, particularly women and children,” explained Uslaini. “Extractive industries remain at the root of our climate crisis. . . . Carbon trading only serves to protect extractive industries while violating human rights. It lets corporations and wealthier nations avoid meaningful emissions reductions by offsetting instead of cutting pollution at its source. This is not a climate solution; it’s perpetuating the very crisis it claims to solve.”

Indigenous People Demand Alternatives  

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, emphasized the systemic harm of REDD+ projects, stating: “REDD+ is a form of ‘carbon capitalism’ that exploits Indigenous lands, creates internal divisions within communities, and even endangers lives through intimidation and violence. In Brazil, Indigenous leaders who question REDD+ face death threats.” 

“This system raises serious concerns. While REDD+ supporters often claim these projects protect forests, evidence demonstrates otherwise. REDD+ provides a way for the fossil fuel industry and other polluters to continue business as usual. There is documented evidence of fraudulent credits and violations of the rights of Indigenous peoples,” continued Goldtooth.

“Many REDD+ projects have failed to fully adhere to the international principles of free, prior, and informed consent. There is already evidence of land grabbing and divisions caused within Indigenous and local forest-dependent communities. These are just some examples of how REDD+ projects have created problems on Indigenous lands and territories.”

Urging a Paradigm Shift  

The speakers proposed a shift toward empowering Indigenous peoples and local communities, who have stewarded forests for millennia.  

“Governments and donors must prioritise recognising collective land rights and self-governance for Indigenous communities,” said Yanez. “Support must come without strings attached — no carbon credits, no offsets — just direct resources to sustain their traditional practices.”

Tom Goldtooth underscored the broader implications of REDD+: “REDD+ and carbon markets don’t just fail to reduce emissions; they are built on the exploitation of nature and people. We need to leave fossil fuels in the ground and support Indigenous-led solutions instead.”  

The coalition concluded by calling on global leaders, policymakers, and the public to reject false solutions to climate change and advocate for genuine, community-driven approaches to forest conservation.

For more information, see the new report: The Great REDD+ Climate Illusion, available in English, Spanish, and French.