Seeing the forest but missing the problem: National policy responses to drivers of deforestation and forest degradation

Summary

Developing countries have pursued policy approaches and positive incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) under the global climate agreements. This thesis explores how global environmental policy agendas such as REDD+ address underlying drivers of environmental degradation, when confronted with the fragmented cross-sectoral and multi-level policy processes at national levels. Reviewing examples from Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil and Myanmar, the thesis explores to what extent national-level REDD+ policy responses identify or conceptualize the problem of drivers, and how they overcome cross-sectoral and multi-level governance challenges in the fragmented policy arena. The findings illustrate how countries often fail to identify the direct and underlying drivers, and explores the implications of that for effectiveness of the policy solutions implemented. Theoretical contributions of the thesis stem from the observed absence of the conceptualization of direct and underlying drivers as a subject of assessment in the environmental governance literature reviewed.