Since 2005, negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have focused on deforestation in developing countries. These negotiations led to the global initiative Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), an incentive based program to provide finance and technical support to developing countries for mitigation initiatives in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector. REDD+ has rapidly evolved into a complex array of policy reforms, initiatives and demonstration projects in approximately 60 countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa, funded primarily from multilateral climate funds and bilateral development assistance. Under UNFCCC rules and funding agreements, participating countries are required to develop national REDD+ strategies and actions, design funding and benefit distribution mechanisms, and develop robust measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems. In addition, governments should implement social and environmental safeguards, such as engaging with local communities and resolving tenure issues, improving governance in the forest sector, and protecting biodiversity. However, the international REDD+ framework is incomplete and it remains at the discretion of participating countries to initiate policies and activities that address local drivers of deforestation, and meet domestic priorities.