​This paper presents a thorough synthesis of available data to show the current global state of finance for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). It contributes to a growing field which seeks to understand the size and composition of finance for REDD+ initiatives, as well as the delivery of climate finance more generally. 

The analysis shows that aggregate pledges of both public and private finance are significant, at more than US $8.7 billion for the period between 2006 and March 2014, but the pace of new pledges slowed after 2010. 

The public sector contributes nearly 90% of reported REDD+ finance, with the majority of funding concentrated among a relatively small number of donors and recipient countries. 

The paper analyses early experience with performance-based finance, although such finance represents less than two-fifths of pledges to date. 

The extent to which new institutions in the climate finance architecture such as the Green Climate Fund will provide a new and effective channel for increasing support for REDD+ remains to be seen.

Marigold Norman and Smita Nakhooda