“Emerging climate change regimes such as the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) are increasingly aiming to engage developing countries such as those in Africa in sustainable development through carbon markets. The contribution of African countries to the global climate decisions determines how compatible the negotiated rules could be with existing socioeconomic and policy circumstances of African countries. The aim of this paper
is to explore the agency of Africa (African States) in the global climate change negotiations and discuss
possible implications for implementing these rules using REDD+ as a case study. Drawing on document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews, our findings suggest that although African countries are extensively involved in the implementation of REDD+ interventions, the continent has a weak agency in the design of the global REDD+ architecture. This weak agency results from a number of factors including the inability of countries to sponsor large and diverse delegations to the negotiations; inability to generate and transmit research evidence.”
