Can REDD+ turn rainbow?: REDD+ and climate change adaptation policies in Vietnam

© 2013 Dr. Thu-Ba Thi HuynhThis thesis aimed to explore the processes involved with the development of REDD+ in Vietnam, to understand the effects of REDD+ on Vietnam forestry policies and institutions and to assess the extent to which REDD+ policies and programmes can assist in livelihood development in the context of adaptation to climate change. The thesis found that the process of policy development for REDD+ in Vietnam was incremental but not conservative. There was a significant shift towards more interactive decision making, with the processes for REDD+ creating a foundation for more experimentation with new ideas and mechanisms and contributions from new policy actors, such as national and international NGOs, than had previously been the case with forest or natural resource management policy. However, despite this positive shift, the policy making process is still far from fully inclusive. Whereas, REDD+ may have offered the opportunity to change the rhetoric surrounding the interactions between the state and NGOs and created a conducive environment for NGOs to further penetrate the policy making arena in Vietnam, both state and non-state actors have not taken full advantage of their capacities to achieve better policy outcomes. In examining REDD+ implementation and adaptation behaviour at local level, the thesis found that REDD+ activities could contribute to effective adaptation via sub-national planning and boost social capital and enhancing knowledge collective actions were common. These were likely to be useful social assets in responding to and coping with weather-related disturbances. The thesis contributes to theoretical knowledge on the process of environmental policy formulation and implementation and the links between mitigation and adaptation through a REDD+ and climate change adaptation policy and institutional analysis; a nuanced examination of factors that influence social vulnerability including local people’s resource use and access; ethnic differentiation and responses to past climate variability and hazards