national climate change awareness-raising workshop - UNDPCC.org

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Overview of the Bali Roadmap Presentation by Maria Netto, UNDP At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, governments agreed to step up their efforts to combat climate change and adopted the “Bali Road Map”, which consists of a number of forward-looking decisions that are essential to reaching a secure climate future. The Bali Road Map takes a “two-track” approach. One track includes the Bali Action Plan, which charts the course for a new negotiating process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or “the Convention”), with the aim of completing this by 2009. It focuses on four “building blocks”: adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and deployment, financing. The second track includes the current negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol, and their 2009 deadline, which focus on further quantified emission reduction commitments for industrialized countries (except for the U.S., which did not ratify the Protocol and currently has no legally binding target). The future relationship between these two tracks (i.e., will they remain separate or will the discussions be brought together) is another question being considered in the negotiations. Mitigation Presentation by Massamba Thioye, consultant for UNDP, Senegal Mitigation—the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or enhancement of carbon “sinks”—is the most controversial issue under the Bali Action Plan. Human activity is contributing to climate change and all countries must reduce emissions to avoid the worst predicted damages: developed countries by 0 to -25% (smaller) to -25 to -40% (larger) in 2020 and developing countries "substantially" from baseline. Significant technological progress has been made, but annual investments of $200-210 billion are needed by 2030. In addition, forests and land use will be a big part of the solution. The Bali Action Plan calls on developing countries to identify mitigation actions that are: “measurable, reportable and verifiable” (MRV). The discussion on mitigation can be particularly difficult, since its outcome differs depending on which greenhouse gases are to be reduced, from which sources, by when and by how much (national vs. per capita emissions). A number of proposals are currently on the table, such as the “evolution of Clean Development Mechanism” (i.e. move to a sectoral approach) to “sustainable development policies & measures” (SD- PAMs). Developing country ministers will need to carefully consider which option(s) they can support. Plenary discussion on mitigation In the plenary discussion, participants noted that Namibia had different priorities than the larger developing countries and would therefore need a better understanding of the positions of countries with circumstances similar its own. Participants also raised questions on the types of compliance systems that would accompany the proposed mitigation options for developing countries, noting that these systems are often complex and burdensome. On mitigation action for Namibia, a number of participants highlighted the need for structural reform. For example, the selling of electricity includes a mark-up to cover other costs, such as salaries and local community cost. Therefore, there is resistance to reducing usage. Others highlighted the need for a national body to discuss the problem and develop an integrated national approach. Working Group discussions on mitigation What nationally appropriate mitigation actions, in the context of sustainable development, would have most support in Namibia Participants suggested a number of possible actions, including: • Promoting energy efficiency in all sectors of energy production. This requires assessing the entire chain of energy production. Structural reform and financial incentives for change are also needed. 2
Reforms may be needed to allow for power inputs from independent suppliers. Demand side management and energy efficiency can only be achieved when appropriate regulations are in place; • Promoting renewable energy sources, including through tax incentives to lower to costs. Renewables such as wind, small hydro and geothermal could hold great potential for Namibia, as well as making it less dependent on imports from neighbouring countries; • Setting national standards in specific sectors, especially the transport sector with emission standard; • Setting national energy targets; • Fuel switching in the energy sector, such as to clean coal and/or natural gas, as well as fuel switching in the transport sector; • Possible changes in the land-use sector; • Improved building regulations; • Energy recovery and other mining improvements. There are also sector-specific actions for mitigation, such as improving pumping systems in the water sector, and promoting different species of plants in the agriculture sector. Other possibilities include: • Rural electrification: Introduction of appropriate technologies, including solar cookers. • Appropriate farming systems: In Namibia, farming is mostly done on woodlands in far northeast. It would be better to have more intensive farming, than to move onto marginal (less productive) lands. • Sustainable forest management through communities. For example, bee keeping could be a livelihood component of sustainable forest management. Some mitigation options are linked to adaptation, such as improvements to mining, which is highly “water sensitive”. Participants also stressed that public awareness is most important at this time–so that people understand why they should take action. This needs to be top down (policy makers) as well as bottom up (consumers), e.g. wood harvesting–cut down dead trees, not live trees (which are sinks). Is it realistic to expect that sufficient mitigation technologies will be developed and diffused, especially in the energy sector, even if there is no carbon cap Participants were divided on the issue. Some agreed that a national goal of some kind was needed or “business as usual” would simply continue. Others, however, said this was not needed, as some mitigation actions are already underway, such as with solar power. ESCOM in South Africa is replacing more efficient machines under demand-side management, which has already has ramifications in Namibia in the mining sector, where they are updating machines to be more efficient. Which measures do you consider as most appropriate or desirable for Namibia: Kyoto-style fixed targets, per capita entitlements, the Brazilian Proposal, SD-PAMs, CDM, etc Under the international sectors, some participants supported the “sustainable development policies and measures” (SD PAMs) approach, but noted that implementation would give rise to questions of how they could be “measurable, reportable and verifiable” as required under the Bali Action Plan. Any SD PAMs 3
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