REDD+ "The Win-Win" Solution?: Operationalizing REDD+ Safeguards in Indonesia and Malaysia's National Policy Arenas

Abstract: Over the past decade UNFCCC’s climate scheme, “REDD+”, has gained precedence in climate policy spheres; Its immaculate ‘win-win’ solution—to institute a global market- based system for climate change, whereby developed nations pay individual forest users to espouse more sustainable forestry practices—has drawn in the lion’s share of critical debates amongst policymakers, civil society organizations, and scholars alike. As REDD+ has unfolded into diverse contexts, however, its prospect as a ‘win-win’ solution has been reframed to include better forest governance as part of its objective. In this study, I explore REDD+’s prospect as this ‘win-win’ solution by observing how REDD+ is adopted into national forest policies of Indonesia and Malaysia. More specifically, I analyze how these countries adopt social concerns as part of REDD+’s objective, by looking at how they operationalize social safeguards in their national safeguarding information strategies (SIS- REDD+). This serves as a useful lens for comprehending how REDD+’s objectives are being shaped in differing contexts and what implications these have for global environmental governance discussions. The findings of the study indicate, first, although both countries address the same social safeguards, they do so in ways, which reflect different conceptions of REDD+. While both countries promote transformative governance reforms as possibilities of REDD+, they remain relatively passive in stipulating such changes. Their neutrality underscores the constricted position the state has in this capacity building phase of REDD+. At the same time, however, Malaysia does express a greater focus on equitable governance standards than Indonesia. This governance emphasis can, at least partially, be attributed to Malaysia’s history of sustainable forest governance, which has laid its foundation for REDD+. In light of these finding, as of now, the prospect of REDD+ as ‘win-win’ in Malaysia is more feasible than in Indonesia—for reasons that can be attributed to the areas’ different historical contexts and institutional capacities.