Know Your Rights Related to REDD+

This guide, published by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in May 2014, provides indigenous and local community leaders with information on human rights and legal tools to defend their interests during the implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiatives.

• REDD+ is an international solution to climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) designed to reduce global carbon emissions by providing incentives to developing countries to stop or reverse forest loss.
• The UNFCCC established seven REDD+ safeguards in 2010 to minimize environmental and social risks. These include ensuring actions are consistent with national forest programmes, maintaining transparent governance, respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, ensuring full stakeholder participation, conserving natural forests and biodiversity, addressing reversal risks, and reducing emissions displacement.
• Participating governments have specific obligations when implementing REDD+, including the development of national strategies or action plans, the creation of a national forest monitoring system (NFMS), and the establishment of a safeguards information system (SIS).
• Indigenous Peoples and local communities possess several critical rights relevant to REDD+, most notably the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). This right allows communities to give or withhold consent before activities affecting their lands, territories, or resources are implemented, provided they receive timely information without coercion.
• The guide identifies multiple avenues for seeking justice when rights are violated, ranging from national judicial processes to international bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Human Rights Council.
• International financial institutions have their own independent oversight bodies to handle complaints regarding REDD+ projects, such as the World Bank Inspection Panel, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) for IFC and MIGA projects, and the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (ICIM) for the Inter-American Development Bank.
• Legal precedents from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, specifically the cases of Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua (2001) and Saramaka People v. Suriname (2007), establish that governments cannot exploit natural resources of indigenous or tribal communities without consultation and must recognize collective property rights.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Know Your Rights Related to REDD+. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/REDD_Guide_May2014.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Know Your Rights Related to REDD+. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/REDD_Guide_May2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Know Your Rights Related to REDD+ |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/REDD_Guide_May2014.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndknow, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Know Your Rights Related to REDD+}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/REDD_Guide_May2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }