After more than a decade of working toward qualifying for payments under the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions caused by Deforestation and Forest Degradation) scheme, Indonesia received its first results-based financial rewards last year.
REDD+, a policy initiative recognized under the U.N. Paris Agreement in 2015, was created as a way to provide incentives to conserve tropical forests and curb planet-warming greenhouse gases that are emitted when they are cut down.
Initially, it was conceived as a market-based means for industrialized countries to pay forest-rich countries for their emissions reductions and contributions to meeting overall global climate targets through financial credits.
Indonesia applied to receive REDD+ results-based payments (RBP) based on data illustrating its efforts to curb emissions under terms detailed in an Indonesia-Norway bilateral partnership and the GCF.