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Abstract
Under the global climate change agreements, the mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is paramount for the economic incentive of forestbased mitigation measures. In order to analyse the similarities and differences between REDD+ projects in Brazil that are using public funds or carbon markets as its financing mechanism, this study gathers project data from public access databases and applies statistical descriptive analysis and hypothesis testing to 18 variables that describe core project characteristics. Based on the analysis results for 89 pilot projects approved under the voluntary carbon market and the Amazon Fund, it is possible to identify that the projects under each category presents clear distinctions in characteristics related to participants, time periods, scope and monitoring reporting and verification. On the other hand, projects under both categories resort to both cash payments and non-monetary incentives such as institutional strengthening and infrastructure provision. The results pictures projects’ efforts to adapt to the complexities of the forest sector and to the efficiency requirements necessary to achieve the expected REDD+ results. It is argued that a mixed financial mechanism should be adopted, in order to enable financing projects both under public funds and under carbon markets.