ASIA LOW EMISSION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES (LEDS) WORK PLAN

1. INTRODUCTION
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is committed to helping developing
countries pursue sustainable economic development and improve living standards worldwide. Lowemission,
climate-resilient development, commonly described as “green growth,” is considered the
most effective means of meeting these objectives. Low emission development strategies (LEDS) provide
the analytical, strategic planning, and policy formulation processes that can advance robust economic
growth while achieving significant, long-term emissions reductions in key sectors.
Global climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and the threats to Asia are
particularly acute. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
must be cut in half by 2050. Yet they are expected to double in that timeframe without concerted global
action. Although emissions to date have primarily come from industrialized countries, most future
emissions are expected to come from fast-growing developing economies. By 2030, under business as
usual (BAU) scenarios, carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions from energy use in Asia’s developing countries
are expected to increase from 33 to 45 percent of the world total. Increased emissions from the forest
and land use sector are expected to further contribute to these trends.
Addressing Asia’s significant role in global climate change is a top priority for USAID. USAID supports
meaningful, lasting emission reductions and strong economic growth to reduce poverty as well as plans
for climate-resilient development across the region. At the same time, Asia’s developing countries must
apply enhanced LEDS tools and practices, adopt and implement robust GHG accounting, develop GHG
markets, and strengthen public and private sector capabilities and action to support and sustain these
efforts.
To help Asian governments, businesses, and institutions develop proper frameworks for sustained lowemission,
climate-resilient development across all economic sectors, the USAID Regional Development
Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA) initiated its US-Asia LEDS program, which is designed to build the
capacity of government and non-governmental partners in developing and using LEDS in four
interrelated areas: analysis and modeling of economic development pathways, emissions trajectories,
and technology options, GHG inventories and accounting, carbon market development, and regional
cooperation. To serve as integrator of its US-Asia LEDS program, in September 2011, USAID/RDMA
issued a support contract, titled the Low Emissions Asian Development (USAID LEAD) program to ICF
International, Inc. (ICF). The US-Asia LEDS program includes the regional-level, LEDS-related activities,
plans, and progress of USG in Asia that are funded by USAID/RDMA through the USAID LEAD program,
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA),
and the US Forest Service (USFS), as well as, to a more limited extent, those activities implemented
through the Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) program, Private Financing Advisory Network-
Asia (PFAN-Asia) program, and related programs.
The US-Asia LEDS program is demand-driven and tailors its activities to specific country circumstances in
Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition, the US-Asia LEDS program supports efforts to actively engage China
in regional capacity building and cooperation activities that improve measurement, reporting, and
verification (MRV) of GHGs and accountability within Chinese entities.
1 US-Asia LEDS Program Work Plan