With extensive experience in designing jurisdictional REDD+ programs, the Earth Innovation Institute (EII) provided technical and operational inputs to the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and representatives from 12 states during the workshop “Implementation of Jurisdictional REDD+ Programs in Brazil in the Context of Law 15.042/2024.” Held in Brasilia on August 20 and 21, the initiative brought together members of the federal government with state secretaries of the environment, state prosecutors and legal advisors, technical partners, and state-owned companies. The workshop discussed and suggested proposals that could provide legal certainty and climate and social integrity to the implementation of jurisdictional REDD+ programs in the regulation of Law 15.042/2025, which deals with the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (SBCE).

At the meeting, more than 80 participants debated technical and legal aspects of Law 15.042/2024 on issues related to ownership, double counting, sales contracts, socio-environmental safeguards, and benefit sharing. At the opening, Roberta Cantinho, Director of the Department of Deforestation and Fire Control Policies of the MMA's Special Secretariat for Deforestation Control and Territorial Environmental Planning, highlighted the new responsibilities that the law brought to the National Commission for REDD+ (CONAREDD+), emphasizing the agency's efforts to ensure the integrity of the carbon market in Brazil.

“We will be heard regarding safeguards in the accreditation of methodologies for the Brazilian Emissions Trading System, as well as having a registry of state and jurisdictional REDD+ programs. We have made progress in these discussions to ensure transparency and avoid double counting,” added Roberta Cantinho.

In Brazil, EII initiatives related to jurisdictional REDD+ programs are present in six states—Acre (AC), Goiás (GO), Mato Grosso (MT), Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Pará (PA), and Tocantins (TO). Working on the design of its jurisdictional REDD+ programs and its strategies for sustainable development to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the entity shared its work experiences and provided assistance in identifying the guiding questions that defined the working groups, which consequently resulted in convergent proposals for the implementation of REDD+ under Law 15.042/2024.

"The EII has been contributing to strengthening the dialogue between the MMA and state governments. REDD+ jurisdictional programs are an important tool as a source of resources for states to contribute to the achievement of NDC targets, and as such, it is important to ensure the implementation of REDD+ while respecting socio-environmental safeguards and the national regulatory framework," noted Mônica de Los Rios, Director of EII Brazil.

At the workshop, representatives from the states of Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Pará, Piauí, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins shared their experiences in implementing jurisdictional REDD+ programs. In addition to EII, the event was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), through the Floresta+ Amazônia Project, coordinated by the MMA; the Legal Amazon Interstate Consortium, GCF Task Force, and GIZ Brazil, through the Action4Forest project.

Jurisdictional REDD+

Developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), REDD+ seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as encourage forest conservation, sustainable management, and increased carbon stocks.

In practice, it enables countries and states that protect their forests and reduce deforestation to generate internationally recognized results. In the jurisdictional model adopted in Brazil by the Amazonian states, governance occurs at the state level in order to capture climate finance and integrate it into public policies, with a market-oriented approach. Its credits are measured at the state level, without individualization by rural property or community. The funds are not allocated directly to individuals, but rather applied to public policies targeting different sectors of society, such as indigenous peoples, quilombolas, traditional communities, family farmers, rural producers, and government entities.

About the Earth Innovation Institute (EII)

The Earth Innovation Institute (EII) is a non-profit research institute led by Daniel Nepstad, PhD in Forest Ecology from Yale University, who has been working in the Amazon since 1984. Since 2010, EII has promoted sustainable rural development through innovative approaches to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, with activities in tropical regions around the world. The Institute provides technical support for low-carbon strategies and jurisdictional REDD+ programs. The goal is to achieve verified emissions reductions in accordance with international standards, supporting jurisdictions in their pursuit of sustainable growth.