Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS)

The pathway to a "green economy" will require the integration of Low (Greenhouse Gas) Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) options that span the national economy, including transport, energy efficiency, agriculture, water and renewable energy. FCMC will contribute to this goal by promoting natural resource management options that: a) reduce the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and b) foster sustainable production on recently deforested or otherwise degraded landscapes. FCMC can provide support to countries trying to reduce emissions from land use, and it can also support USAID missions that are implementing a USG "Enhancing Capacity for Low Emissions Development" (EC-LEDS) program. These efforts can provide a bridge between REDD+ and LEDS investments so that climate change mitigation and adaptation are integrated into a development trajectory that fosters economic growth and poverty reduction.

Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) are forward-looking national economic development plans that encompass low-carbon and/or climate-resilient economic growth. LEDS are intended to advance national climate change and development policy in a more coordinated, coherent and strategic manner. LEDS have been specifically mentioned in negotiating texts from COP 15 and beyond, as well as in the Copenhagen Accord, which recognized that a LEDS is indispensable to sustainable development.