Local Governance, Anti-corruption and REDD+ in Latin America and the Caribbean: Exploring Synergies to Strengthen Transparency and Accountability

This study looks at the role of local governance institutions in preventing corruption risks in the forest sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The 2010 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report Staying on Track: Tackling Corruption Risks in Climate Change provided recommendations for how to address such risks in the context of REDD+ and indicated the need to ”strengthen transparency and accountability of local governance institutions and systems.”1 The present study complements this report by 1) examining two case studies to see how local governments in LAC have tackled corruption risks and 2) to find lessons learned from their experiences that may be applied in the context of REDD+. The study focuses on three issues, all important to UNDP: climate change, anti-corruption and local governance. It aims to provide inputs to REDD+, and also to the Democratic Governance Practice Area.