This month featured the “NDC Implementation Good Practices in the Pacific” Virtual Workshop that was organized by UNFCCC-IGES Regional Collaboration Centre for Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok (RCC Bangkok), the NDC Partnership and the Regional Pacific NDC Hub.
The workshop that was attended by over 80 participants from the 12 island countries in the Pacific SIDS, featured key opening remarks from Mr. Ken O’Flaherty, UK COP 26 Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and South Asia; Mr. Tutii Chilton, Chair of the Steering Committee, Pacific NDC Hub; Ms. Amanda Mckee, Head of Knowledge Management and Head of Climate Action Enhancement Package, NDC Partnership; and Dr. Luca Brusa, Team Lead of Mitigation Division, UN Climate Change Secretariat.
“Ladies & gentlemen, framing climate change within sustainable development is a positive aspect of the Paris Agreement and one needs to only look at the NDCs of Pacific countries to understand how intrinsically the climate change mitigation and adaptation commitments are linked to the sustainable development of our Pacific societies, to our progress and development.”
“Our climate pledges not only contain mitigation actions, but they are quite elaborate on adaptation actions – for example building resilience of key systems of agriculture, housing, major infrastructure including coastal ecosystems which most of us depend on. Thus, our efforts to implement the NDCs is genuine, holistic and grounded in national development processes. “stated Tutii Chilton, Chair of the Steering Committee, Pacific NDC Hub.
Raising the global ambition of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and ensuring thorough implementation of the increased emission mitigation targets are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Many countries around the world have calibrated and enhanced the ambition of their NDCs and submitted it to the United Nations Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat in 2020 while others are aiming to submit theirs before the 26th Conference of Parties in November 2021. In order to move quickly towards reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade and achieving global net-zero emissions by 2050, countries have also started processes on formulating and executing their NDC implementation strategies.
The workshop served to provide an avenue for Pacific Island Countries to identify areas where implementation could be fast-tracked to help ensure NDC targets are realized, as well as sharing good practices on NDC implementation and to identify areas of cooperation between countries and development partners. The workshop consisted of presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions which cover cross-sectoral issues pertaining to the NDC implementation.
The closing remarks was delivered by Mr. Ravinesh Nand, Senior Technical Advisor, Pacific NDC Hub. He commended the Pacific Island Countries’ strong focus on climate leadership at various levels of societies and communities, leading to local actions on the ground. However, he highlights that there is pressing need for climate finance, from international sources as well as private ones, in order to translate the high level of political will into a pipeline of bankable project developments and initiatives that can be upscaled throughout the region.
The objectives of the workshop included:
1. To share challenges and good practices in the implementation processes; and
2. To identify areas of cooperation between countries and implementing/development partners to assist countries to fast-track implementation of their newly submitted NDCs.
A synthesis report of highlights and key insights from the event, including summaries, key recommendations and takeaways will be shared in due course.
