Posición sobre REDD (Reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación de los bosques)

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) declares its institutional opposition to REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), arguing that it commodifies forests, undermines the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and allows industrialized nations to avoid their responsibility to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

• FoEI rejects REDD and carbon markets because they do not address the root causes of climate change and allow polluting countries to continue emitting fossil fuels. The organization argues that carbon stored in trees is dynamic and non-permanent, unlike geological carbon from fossil fuels, making forest-based offsets physically incapable of achieving permanent reductions.
• The implementation of REDD is criticized for causing 'perverse effects,' including the displacement of people in Mexico and Kenya, the potential destruction of forests in Guyana and Indonesia, and the undermining of community resource control in Panama and Brazil.
• REDD is accused of violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities by ignoring traditional land tenure and failing to obtain free, prior, and informed consent. Specific instances of lack of consultation are cited in Mexico, Mozambique, Indonesia, and Costa Rica, while a project in Chiapas, Mexico, is noted for exacerbating existing community conflicts.
• The document argues that REDD commodifies forests, replacing diverse social, cultural, and spiritual values with a single market price. This shift risks creating 'green caciques' (cacicazgos verdes), where wealthy landowners benefit from the 'green business' while traditional practices—such as crop rotation or non-timber harvesting—are criminalized.
• FoEI warns that REDD may act as a long-term catalyst for deforestation. By replacing ancestral knowledge and values with monetary incentives, future generations may only value forests for their cash potential, leading to exploitation once project funding ends.
• The organization advocates for a transition based on climate justice and the recognition of the 'climate debt' of the Global North. Instead of market mechanisms, FoEI proposes strengthening the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to manage territories according to traditional practices, citing evidence that indigenous lands in the Brazilian Legal Amazon are in better condition than state-run conservation units.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). Posición sobre REDD (Reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación de los bosques). https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/redd-foei-paper-español.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Posición sobre REDD (Reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación de los bosques). n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/redd-foei-paper-español.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Posición sobre REDD (Reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación de los bosques) |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/redd-foei-paper-español.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{friendsoftheearthinternationalndposicin, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Posición sobre REDD (Reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación de los bosques)}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/redd-foei-paper-español.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }