Making REDD + pay: Shifting rationales and tactics of private finance and the governance of avoided deforestation in I ndonesia

This paper presents an analysis of changing rationales and tactics among actors engaged in mobilising private finance for I ndonesia's emergent Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation ( REDD +) programme. Despite limited flows of private finance so far, private sector actors have been responsible for a great deal of development and innovation in the forest carbon sector in I ndonesia, and have thus played – and continue to play – an important part in shaping the country's REDD + programme. Drawing on extended field research and interviews with key actors engaged with REDD + in I ndonesia, we identify a variety of private investor motivations, strategies and tactics, many of which depart considerably from the common understanding of REDD + as avoided deforestation funded through carbon offsets. As non‐state actors increasingly shape emerging REDD + projects, they assume important roles as agents of environmental governance – working through a variety of private market and hybrid modes of forest/climate governance. We describe four general modes of engagement, centred around: investment in REDD + verified emissions reductions; corporate social responsibility; sustainable commodities; and impact investment. The research thus contributes to an improved understanding of the nature of private REDD + finance in I ndonesia, and the implications, potential and limits of private, market‐based climate governance.