Pacific Regional Training on the Assessment of GHG Mitigation Policies and Projects

To put the global economy on the path to green recovery and to achieve a net-zero pathway for a climate resilient future, a strong political commitment to support the energy transition is needed along with support for the adoption of technological innovation, long-term planning, higher investment and improved human capacities and skillsets.  Despite current efforts to reduce GHG emissions and promote more sustainable energy generation, the speed of transition is still far from what is needed to achieve the goal of keeping the expected global temperature rise below 2°C.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) remain most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and recurring natural disasters. Thus, many SIDS have made strong political commitments towards the energy transition and climate action by enhancing their NDCs and setting ambitious long-term low emission development strategies (LT-LEDS). To implement these plans and strategies, GHG emissions from the energy sector need to be estimated and taken into consideration in any policies and projects that aim to reduce emissions.

The Pacific Community (SPC) has observed that the capacity to estimate GHG emissions from the energy sector is often limited within energy ministries and institutions in the region and this has been identified as a gap that needs to be addressed. In many cases, SIDS have used outsourced experts rather than local talent to calculate GHG emissions in their NDCs and other UNFCCC reports, which makes it difficult for countries to develop, assess and implement climate-related policies and projects. This lack of local capacity has also constrained their ability to set more ambitious emission reduction targets.

In this regard, IRENA, through the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative, has prioritised strengthening the SIDS capacity in NDC enhancement and implementation. The initiative addresses all elements of the energy transition, from policy and market frameworks to technology options, access to finance, project bankability and capacity building. IRENA offers a comprehensive and detailed repository of statistics on energy capacity, generation, finance, cost, and emissions. It also offers technical assistance and capacity building on collecting, analysing, recording, and reporting detailed and accurate data, including setting up national energy monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems for NDCs and national energy policies in SIDS. 

Objectives

Through the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative, IRENA, in collaboration with SPC, hosted a regional training that aims to strengthen the Pacific SIDS capacity to implement their NDCs and long-term low emission development strategies, by developing participants’ skills in the following areas:

• Techniques and methodologies for appraising GHG mitigation policies and projects.
• Collection and use of energy data to estimate GHG emissions reductions from policies and projects in the energy and related end-use sectors.
• Monitoring and evaluation of GHG emission reduction policies and projects.

The training was based on the current uses of energy and emissions profiles of Pacific SIDS and will focus on the types of policies and projects that are most relevant for reducing GHG emissions in these countries. It also focused on the types of energy data and analysis that are necessary to build a strong business case for GHG emission reduction policies and projects as well as simple and cost-effective ways to obtain this data.

Closed event (by invitation only)