Abstract:
REDD+ social safeguards have gained increasing attention in numerous forums.
This paper reviews the evolution of multi-level policy dialogues, processes, and actions
related to REDD+ social safeguards (e.g., Cancun Safeguards 1–5) among policy makers,
civil society organizations, and within the media in Brazil, Indonesia and Tanzania, three
countries with well advanced REDD+ programs. We find that progress on core aspects of
social safeguards is uneven across the three countries. Brazil is by far the most advanced
having drafted a REDD+ social safeguards policy. Both Brazil and Indonesia have benefited
from progress made by strong sub-national entities in the operationalization of REDD+
safeguards including free prior and informed consent (FPIC), participation, and benefit
sharing. Tanzania has weakly articulated how social safeguards will be operationalized and
has a more top-down approach. We conclude that in all three countries, measuring,
reporting and verifying progress on social safeguards is likely to be a complex issue. Stakeholders with vested interests in REDD+ social safeguards operate in polycentric rather
than nested systems, suggesting that aggregation of information from local to national-scale
will be a challenge. However, polycentric systems are also likely to support more transparent
and comprehensive safeguards systems. Clear direction from the international community
and financing for REDD+ safeguard MRV is essential if REDD+ social safeguards are to
be meaningfully integrated into forest-based climate mitigation strategies.
