Call for Chapter Proposals - REDD+ Governance in Africa: Practical design and implementation options

Forest degradation and deforestation are major causes of global environmental change. The
combined emissions from deforestation and degradation account for an estimated 20% of
global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest
Degradation (REDD+) is a global agreement on climate change mitigation through reduction
in GHG emissions and increases in GHG removals. REDD+ also seeks to provide socioecological
co-benefits (e.g. biodiversity protection, pro-poor development, human rights and
enhanced forest governance). African countries facing high levels of deforestation and forest
degradation (e.g. DR Congo, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania) are engaged in REDD+ to
address deforestation and pursue low carbon development paths. Therefore, these countries
are engaged in a number of multilateral and bilateral agreements on forest governance and
management. These engagements and development provide a foundation for the
implementation of REDD+ in Africa as these countries have put in place fairly innovative
institutional and policy frameworks for sustainable forest governance and management.

On the other hand, conventional and emerging challenges such as weak forest governance,
nebulous mechanisms for equitable benefit sharing, and ineffective enforcement of forest laws
and regulations are likely to affect the effective implementation of REDD+ across Africa. This
book thus seeks to document the practical experiences and lessons learnt in developing and
implementing REDD+ programmes in Africa. These experiences and lessons are critical to
guiding an effective development and implementation of REDD+ programmes in African
countries desiring to implement REDD+ programmes while providing a rich pool of
reference for countries in the preparation phase to draw on. The editors invite chapter
proposals (abstracts) offering both theoretical and practical contributions, with the aim of
advancing academic discourses and thinking, policymaking and implementation from
REDD+ negotiators, carbon market actors and sustainable finance experts, project
developers, scholars, researchers, and other leading experts.

The contributions should be on
but not limited to the following thematic areas with particular focus on Africa:
 REDD+ rationale and governance framework: theory and concept
- The nexus between deforestation, forest degradation, climate change and the
rationale for REDD+
- The Warsaw Framework and effective REDD+ governance
o Stakeholder participation: consultation and engagement, and gender
mainstreaming;
o Institutional and legal frameworks for REDD+ implementation
(institutional arrangements and coordination, tenure, carbon rights,
emission reduction rights, benefit sharing);
o Modalities for national forest monitoring systems; and measuring,
reporting and verification (MRV);
o Models and approaches for safeguards and information system; and
feedback and redress mechanism;
o REDD+ financing options (private sector, emission reduction and the role
of carbon markets);

 Experiences and lessons from selected REDD+ countries in Africa
- National case studies and localized experiences on:
o Stakeholder participation (participation in REDD+ decision-making;
practical approaches and tools to determining and effectively engaging
relevant stakeholders; and overcoming pitfalls to stakeholder
participation);
o Approaches and design of institutional and legal/policy frameworks for
REDD+ implementation;
o Benefit sharing mechanisms for REDD+;
o National forest emission monitoring system (challenges, practical
approaches and tools to designing effective forest emission monitoring
system);
o Safeguards and information system/feedback and redress mechanism
including human rights and gender mainstreaming in REDD+ design and
implementation;
o Transparency and accountability in REDD+ design and implementation;
and
o REDD+ finance beyond the pilot phases:
 Unlocking private sector finance for REDD+
 Emission reductions and the role of carbon markets
 Risk and risk management in private sector investment in REDD+

Chapter proposals of 200 words covering specific issues and research themes outlined above
including keywords (maximum 5 words), research methods/approach, and preliminary
findings; short author(s) bio (including affiliation and contact details) should be submitted to
Dr. Michael Addaney, michael.addaney@uenr.edu.gh and copy Mr. William Dumenu,
wdumenu@csir-forig.org.gh. Deadline for abstract submission is Friday, 15th October 2021.
Decisions on abstracts will be communicated by Friday, 29 October 2021. Full draft chapters
(5000-6000 words including reference list) of accepted abstracts are expected by Sunday, 30
January 2022. All accepted full chapters will be subjected to a two-stage single-blind peer
review process before final inclusion in the book.