Legal Preparedness for REDD+ in Mexico

This report on Legal Preparedness for REDD+ constitutes one of three Country Studies conducted in Mexico, Zambia and Vietnam to review existing laws and institutions relevant to REDD+ at the domestic level. It seeks to identify and analyze challenges and innovations for REDD+ implementation with the ultimate aim of drawing generic options and recommendations to support REDD+ countries in strengthening capacity. Laws and institutions not only prohibit or incentivize but they also provide an overall enabling framework that guides public and private sector activities toward desired ends. They can thus eliminate challenges to REDD+ activities, promote social and environmental co-‐benefits as well as improve overall implementation by enabling positive steps toward new low emission pathways. This is particularly important for countries motivated to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation without compromising the essential ecosystem services that forests provide to the economy and local livelihoods.

The strong need for Legal Preparedness for REDD+ has been highlighted in recent years with gains made in the international community as to what a future REDD+ mechanism may entail. The Cancun Agreements reached at the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set out a basic framework for REDD+ activities, guidance and safeguards, which form the analytical foundation for these Country Studies. This is supplemented by an increasing wealth of sources on the legal and institutional aspects of REDD+ from experts in law, governance and natural resource sectors across the world. Building on these prior sources, it is hoped that the current project will identify key messages for country policy-‐makers based on lessons learned through the review of laws, policies and regulations and multi-‐stakeholder consultations at the domestic level.

The results of this one Country Study on Legal Preparedness for REDD+ in Mexico underscore the cross‐sectoral and multi-jurisdictional nature of REDD+ implementation. Although it is of primary significance, REDD+ not only concerns the forestry sector but also crosscutting issues of land tenure, land use planning, protected areas, easements, land acquisitions, and trade and commerce as well as sectoral laws concerned with the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, such as energy, agriculture and mining. The breadth is wide because laws create rights, responsibilities and hierarchies in interests that affect issues such as carbon ownership and use, the risk of reversals and displacements, participatory decision-‐making, results-based benefit distribution, and incentives to relieve forests of ecosystem services that can be substituted with low‐emission alternatives.

As in many other countries, preparations for REDD+ implementation in Mexico are young.  Although the country is on the way to a stand-‐alone REDD+ strategy, it has not been published yet. When the strategy is ready, Mexico will still have to contend with existing laws and institutions that impact REDD+ implementation. Moreover, new draft policies and legislation in the forestry sector prepared with REDD+ in mind refer to future collaborations across all jurisdictions. However, a key challenge that remains will be to encourage other sectors to work together on different goals toward the same objective to meet the exigencies of REDD+ activities, guidance and safeguards.

This Country Study was based on a variety of generic legal instrument options to implement REDD+ drawn from a wealth of sources in the international community. Nevertheless, Mexico could still benefit from further country-‐ driven research and assessment, technical assistance and capacity building. Those three needs are frequently associated with the scientific aspects of REDD+, such as forest reference emission levels and verification of carbon sequestration. However, this Country Study demonstrates that they also have distinctive legal aspects. In conclusion, next steps in REDD+ preparations in Mexico or elsewhere could consider how those three needs are met so as to ensure both equality and effectiveness in the REDD+ implementation.