REDD+ and Business Sustainability

A Guide to Reversing Deforestation for Forward Thinking Companies

Brian McFarland

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351275668
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Ethics
• Index: Business

This book provides a detailed look at REDD+ business case studies and best practice and highlights the future of REDD+ in providing a promising mechanism for financing forest conservation while increasing the sustainability and profitability of forward-thinking companies.

How can sustainability leaders reverse tropical deforestation? What exactly are payment for ecosystem service forest conservation projects, otherwise known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), and how can these projects contribute to business sustainability and profitability?

Tropical forests are quickly disappearing – at a rate of nearly one football or soccer field every few seconds. REDD+ simultaneously offers a scalable conservation finance mechanism and a platform for business sustainability. This book focuses on the nexus between tropical forest conservation projects and the sustainability practices of major global businesses.

This book contextualizes the issues, defines REDD+ and focuses on its significance to business sustainability including: the role of REDD+ in mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions while reducing business risk to a changing climate; as part of a firm's philanthropic work; a mechanism to increase consumer loyalty; benefitting upstream local communities and ecosystem services; enhancing corporate social responsibility image and upholding corporate principles; and providing unique marketing opportunities and product positioning through private-sector support of charismatic REDD+ projects.

Chapter 1
The World's Forests and Global Deforestation and Degradation

WHERE ARE THE WORLD’S REMAINING FORESTS LOCATED? Is deforestation and degradation a major environmental issue? If so, where is such deforestation and degradation occurring and what are the main drivers of this deforestation and degradation?

Forest cover

Table 1 depicts the top 20 countries with the largest total forest area according to the State of the World’s Forests 2011 Report issued by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

TABLE 1. Top 20 forested countries as of 2010: Extent of forest area² (FAO data)

	Country	2010 Forest area (hectares)	2010 Forest area (acres)
1	Russian Federation	809,090,000	1,998,452,300
2	Brazil	519,522,000	1,283,219,340
3	Canada	310,134,000	766,030,980
4	USA	304,022,000	750,934,340
5	China	206,861,000	510,946,670
6	Dem. Republic of Congo	154,135,000	380,713,450
7	Australia	149,300,000	368,771,000
8	Indonesia	94,432,000	233,247,040
9	Sudan	69,949,000	172,774,030
10	India	68,434,000	169,031,980
11	Peru	67,992,000	167,940,240
12	Mexico	64,802,000	160,060,940
13	Colombia	60,499,000	149,432,530
14	Angola	58,480,000	144,445,600
15	Bolivia	57,196,000	141,274,120
16	Zambia	49,468,000	122,185,960
17	Venezuela	46,275,000	114,299,250
18	Mozambique	39,022,000	96,384,340
19	Tanzania	33,428,000	82,567,160
20	Myanmar	31,773,000	78,479,310

One can observe that among the top forested countries, the countries with the most total forest area tend...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Abstract
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms and Definitions
• Contents
• 1 The World's Forests and Global Deforestation and Degradation
• 2 The Importance of Mitigating Deforestation and Degradation and Preserving Ecosystem Services
• 3 What is REDD+ and How to Use It as a Tool for Accelerating Business Sustainability
• 4 Business Case Studies and REDD+ Best Practices
• 5 The Future of REDD+
• 6 Concluding Remarks
• Further Reading
• Related Resources
• Notes and References