Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, as well as Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks (REDD+) is a voluntary initiative established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to create financial incentives for developing countries to reduce forest-related greenhouse gas emissions. 1 REDD+ activities have the potential to deliver a wide range of benefits to the climate, to biodiversity and to communities that depend on forests. By the same token, REDD+ poses risks of negative impacts, particularly if the rights of local communities are not respected, if a gender-sensitive approach is not taken and if REDD+ activities are not embedded in the overall framework of the environment. 2 Uganda's REDD+ Programme, which is implemented as a National REDD+ Process, is a national effort to contribute to the mitigation of climate change, and improve the livelihoods of local, indigenous as well as forest-dependent communities. Uganda's REDD+ Readiness process aims to design a socially and environmentally viable national strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and a national reference scenario of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. This takes into account the national circumstances and the emerging guidance from the global climate change convention. Benefit sharing refers to a commitment to channel some returns, whether monetary or non-monetary, back to the range of designated participants or affected communities. 3 A proportion of revenue earned by the State is returned to local communities through indirect and direct benefit-sharing arrangements. Direct benefit sharing refers to cash payments to individuals or communities, and indirect benefit sharing includes other non-cash benefits, including infrastructure or community facilities, and grassroots development activities. ____________________ 1 Decision 2/COP13. 2 UNEP (2015). 3 IUCN (2012: 6); also see Lindhjem et al. (2010).