REDD+ aims to achieve a defined impact – reduced emissions – and payments may be made based on performance towards achieving this goal. This implies that there must be assessments of the results of REDD+ programmes.

In the medium-term, most payments will be for readiness and policy reforms, rather than proven emissions reductions. Hence good performance indicators are critical for all three REDD+ phases, in particular for phase 2 where the focus is on policy performance.