Making REDD+ Transparent: Opportunities for MobileTechnology

Adam Bumpus, Thu-Ba Huynh and Sophie Pascoe

Global Environmental Politics, 2019, vol. 19, issue 4, 85-117

Abstract: Transparency in climate finance mechanisms, such as Reducing Emissions fromDeforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), relies on the transfer ofinformation within a complex global web of state and nonstate actors. Suchinformation is required under internationally agreed REDD+ safeguards, includingmeasurement, reporting and verification (MRV) processes and free, prior, andinformed consent (FPIC), and works to establish substantive and normativetransparency. However, the sources of, access to, and outcomes from theseinformation flows are still contentious. To address these problems, REDD+project proponents are increasingly looking to information and communicationtechnologies, such as mobile devices, to improve information gathering,processing, and access. In this article we develop a model and provide tentativeexamples of how normative and substantive transparency are connected throughinput and output legitimacy within broader governance contexts. We highlightthat even though mobile devices are being used to bring forest communities intothe REDD+ process, substantive transparency for emissions reductions through MRVtends to be prioritized over normative dimensions associated with FPIC. Weconclude by highlighting the need to further understand the role ofdecentralized information flows in multilevel carbon governance andopportunities for how mobile technologies may be used to address transparencychallenges in the governance of REDD+.

Date: 2019
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