Context: Recently, the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition has come up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.
About LEAF Coalition

• It is an ambitious new public-private initiative designed to accelerate climate action by providing results-based finance to countries committed to protecting their tropical forests.
• It is an initiative with initial participation from the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States.
• It offers the financial assurance needed for countries to start prioritizing policies and investments that reduce deforestation and protect their tropical forests.

Objectives of LEAF Coalition

• It is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
• It aims to mobilize at least $1 billion in financing to the benefit of billions of people depending on them, and to support sustainable development.
• It provides a model for aggregating support from governments and companies for high-quality, verified Emissions Reductions.
• Its objective is to raise global climate ambition and contribute to halting and reversing tropical deforestation by 2030.

About REDD+ Mechanism

• It is a mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
• Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions.
• REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.