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Caribbean Climate Change Plans Submitted to the UNFCCC Alexandre Gellert Paris – RCC St Georges (A Collaboration Between UNFCCC and WINDREF)

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Caribbean Climate Change Plans Submitted to the UNFCCC Alexandre Gellert Paris – RCC St Georges (A Collaboration Between UNFCCC and WINDREF) Caribbean climate change plans submitted to the UNFCCC Alexandre Gellert Paris – RCC St Georges (a collaboration between UNFCCC and WINDREF) On 30 November 2015, world leaders will gather in Paris for the twenty-first Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). When they met in Durban, South Africa, in 2011, all 196 Parties to the UNFCCC agreed on “adopting a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties”1 at COP 21. Since Durban, the agreement has been reiterated and reinforced by the international community, and expectations are high for a global pact to address climate change. As part of the process, countries were invited to present their climate change plans – or intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) – to the UNFCCC. 177 countries have submitted their INDCs to date, representing growing political will to take action on climate change and what Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, has described as a “previously unseen engagement”. The INDCs are a decisive step in the challenging path towards an orderly transition to a global society aligned with the boundaries of the climate system. Several of the INDCs highlight the link between the implied actions to address climate change and the development priorities, including social and economic development and poverty eradication. Some of the INDCs include an unconditional mitigation component alongside an enhanced conditional one. Most of the conditional components relate to the provision of finance, technology or capacity-building support and translate into a percentage increase in the level of effort associated with the related unconditional component. Overall, INDCs are expected to deliver sizeable emission reductions and slow down emissions growth in the coming decade. They will, however, not be sufficient to reverse the upward trend of global emissions. Furthermore, estimated annual aggregate emission levels resulting from their implementation do not fall within least-cost 2°C scenario levels.2 Fourteen Caribbean countries have put forward their INDCs, and a few more are expected to do so in the coming weeks. All these climate change plans include specific actions and options for emission reduction. The reduction goals in these plans are pegged to be reached by 2030, with some countries (Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and Suriname) including goals for 2025. As Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Caribbean countries are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as temperature increase, changes in precipitation patterns and sea level rise. Other vulnerabilities include increased flooding, increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes, hillside erosion and loss of coastal habitats. Consequently, all Caribbean INDC submissions included adaptation considerations. Most of the Caribbean INDCs agreed with the use of economic mechanisms under the UNFCCC as a tangible channel for delivering action and support through finance, technology and capacity development, and for conducting the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of the mitigation outcomes. The region is also discussing the possibility of a carbon trading scheme to facilitate the implementation of least-cost mitigation options. The intention to use market-based mechanisms is clearly stated in all of the Caribbean INDCs. For example, Barbados’ INDC mentions its intention to pursue the clean development mechanism (CDM) and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs). Dominica intends to introduce market-based mechanisms to promote energy conservation/efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. Guyana’s INDC says that the door is open to use 1 Paragraph 02, Decision 1/CP.17 2 Synthesis Report on the Aggregate Effect of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), UNFCCC carbon markets in the future, subject to robust MRV systems to ensure environmental integrity. Grenada is willing to explore the potential of market mechanisms and other mechanisms under the UNFCCC process that demonstrate environmental integrity. The Dominican Republic’s INDC has its reduction goal conditional upon favorable and predictable support, feasible climate finance mechanisms, and corrections to address failures of existing market mechanisms. St. Vincent and the Grenadines considers the use of instruments for achieving and financing flexibly part of its mitigation target. Therefore St. Vincent and the Grenadines supports the inclusion of the International Carbon Markets and mechanisms such as the CDM in a post-2020 agreement on climate change including the use of the mitigation outcome pre-2020. The country proposes that such an instrument, together with an appropriate accounting system (MRV), is used to help finance low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure investments. St. Vincent and the Grenadines considers that certain low emission development options mentioned in this INDC, or additional actions, could be entirely or partially funded by the transfer of international carbon assets mobilized through bilateral, regional and international carbon markets while taking into account environmental integrity and transparency. According to the INDC of Trinidad and Tobago, the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago is developing a feasible carbon trading scheme that will also result in reduced emissions in the industrial sector. Greater emission reduction targets are more easily realized when its costs are low. Market-based mechanisms are an important element in the portfolio of potential actions that can lead to cost-effective mitigation actions. The carbon market takes advantage of the significant differences in mitigation costs (the cost to reduce a tonne of CO2e) between developed and developing countries. A well regulated carbon market can establish a minimum price on carbon emissions creating incentives for private sector engagement. There can also be political benefits, as linking emission reduction markets can signal enhanced cooperation and influence. Some have also suggested that by lowering overall costs, linking can generate domestic support and encourage jurisdictions to adopt more ambitious targets3. The INDC statements on markets send a clear signal that countries in the Caribbean support the use post-2020 of market mechanisms, like a reformed CDM. Market mechanisms could be a significant source of capital for small islands. The UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) St. George’s is assisting Caribbean governments and the private sector in the application of methodologies and tools for carbon accounting and MRV systems needed to translate mitigation outcomes into carbon assets. The RCC St. George’s supported the LEDS LAC on the organization of the Caribbean focused webinar INDCs: Role of Economic mechanisms and the private sector, on 07 October 2015. RCC St. George’s plans to continue activities that could enhance INDC implementation in the Caribbean together with its partners, including an on-line platform for collaboration. 3 Facilitating Linkage of Heterogeneous Regional, National, and Sub-National Climate Policies through a Future International Agreement. Harvard Project on Climate Agreements. November 2014 .
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