The UMEME Framework for NDC Implementation: Advancing renewable energy in Africa together with national climate plans

The historic Paris climate agreement, adopted by countries around the world in December 2015, aims to the rise of global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius. Renewable energy will play a key role in this effort, which encompasses developing as well as developed countries, by increasing the supply of cheap and accessible energy in a less carbon-intensive manner.

Increasing numbers of countries, including those in Africa, have recognised renewable energy deployment as a way to reduce their emissions and implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. This guide from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) outlines a five-stage process for countries to meet their NDC targets with increased shares of renewables.

Aimed at African countries in particular, the “UMEME” framework highlights key sources of financial and technical assistance, as well as online tools to assist policy makers. The title, echoing the Swahili word for lightning or electricity, also stands for Understand, Measure, Evolve, Modify, Evaluate – the five key stages that African policy makers are invited to follow.

This publication builds on the outcomes of several Regional Expert Meetings on Climate Change and Renewable Energy held in African capitals in 2016. The meetings were organised by IRENA in partnership with the ECOWAS Regional Centre on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) in Lomé and Kampala, the West African Development Bank and the East African Development Bank.