REDD countries

Vietnam has a number of laws that support REDD activities including the Land Law, the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Biodiversity, and the Law on Forest Protection and Development. These laws provide guidance on land rights and tenure, and the types of development that can take place on land as well as enforcement measures for those who break the law. The law on biodiversity also has provisions that create a framework for the implementation of PES activities.

However, ownership of carbon in and prospective carbon credits from forests is as yet unclear in Vietnam. Many Special-use and Protection Forests are managed by management boards which, as non-profit and state-funded bodies, are not eligible to enter into economic transactions. This makes the establishment of voluntary or other carbon projects on forest land under their management legally difficult. This issue is being actively discussed, including in the recent meeting of the STWG on Private Sector Investment. It has also been raised in the STWG on the establishment of a Benefit Distribution System. Senior government officials are reported to be supportive of the further development of the appropriate legal frameworks for the accommodation of the voluntary market, and MONRE is in discussions with MARD for developing an interim policy framework to govern REDD+ pilot projects.