UN-REDD Programme

Organization Profile:

The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) is the UN knowledge and advisory platform on the forest solutions to the climate crisis.

The Programme’s goal is to help realise forest solutions to the climate emergency by avoiding carbon emissions and fostering carbon sequestration. In pursuing this international goal, UN-REDD promotes approaches that ensure the environmental integrity of carbon emissions reductions while supporting non-carbon benefits – from safeguarding biodiversity to supporting local livelihoods and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples. UN-REDD was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening capacity and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

UN-REDD works with 65 partner countries to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement, particularly Articles 5 and 6, in order to reduce deforestation, promote sustainable land uses, advance international cooperative approaches to climate mitigation and mobilise climate finance to turn the tide on tropical deforestation. UN-REDD supports nationally led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement (FPIC) of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities, in the implementation of REDD+ activities agreed under the UNFCCC.

REDD+ finance is one of the working areas of the UN REDD programme. The UN-REDD Programme has mobilized US$1 billion in REDD+ financing since inception, including US$350 million in results-based payments. UN-REDD is taking a two-pronged approach in this working area:

• Through UN-REDD's global reach, crowding in diverse funding sources and revenue streams for all three phases of REDD+, country by country, tailored to national circumstances and engaging the full range of in-country stakeholders; in concert with,
• At the regional and global levels, thought leadership and convening efforts, to facilitate a process of advocacy, dialogue and consensus-building that, if successful, would close more than half of the annual gap towards the Paris Agreement goals and contribute to realising the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

The REDD+ Academy is the UN-REDD Programme's capacity development initiative. As part of the Programme's knowledge management support to partner countries, it seeks to enable systematic, focused capacity development to deliver REDD+ on the ground. The REDD+ Academy currently offers two online courses (second edition 2018) in English, French, and Spanish, to which you can subscribe for free. You can also choose to download the lessons in pdf and study the course offline at your own pace.

Financing Instruments: Technical Assistance, Capacity Development

Recipient countries regions/country groups: Global

Recipient categories: Governments

Eligibility Criteria: Required to be UN-REDD+ partner countries; the UN-REDD Programme currently has 65 partner countries across Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Application Guidelines: Requests are sent to the Secretariat of the UN-REDD Programme through a country’s National REDD+ Focal Point. The Regional UN-REDD Programme Focal Points of the three participating UN agencies (FAO, UNDP and UNEP) are available to provide any necessary support and advice in preparing the proposal and it is highly recommended that the country consults them in this regard.

Last update: 21 August 2023