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Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries unanimously agreed to work toward global goals that would limit global average temperature rise. Specifically, the Agreement seeks to limit the rise in the world’s average surface temperatures to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial times this century, while “pursuing efforts” for 1.5°C. It also sets a target of eliminating global GHG emissions by the second half of the century – or at least compensating any residual emissions through, for example, forest growth.
A key principle in the Paris Agreement is that no country should backslide on its intentions, which were put forward in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which describe each country’s self-determined strategy for curbing GHG emissions, typically in five- or ten-year periods and can also include plans to increase resilience. Individually, NDCs represent each country’s climate priorities and vision for achieving sustainable development. Aggregated, they represent the world’s collective efforts to fight climate change. However current NDCs are estimated to collectively result in a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 °C by 2100.
All countries are expected to submit increasingly ambitious NDCs every five years; a first opportunity to do so is in 2020. Achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals will require an emissions peak as soon as possible, followed by sharp reductions in GHG emissions. Therefore, many see high ambition in 2020 as fundamental to get on track to 1.5°C and counter a worrying trend of rising emissions. The transformative climate action required needs a global commitment to raising ambition, articulated in the next generation of NDCs, to create economic drivers that shift investments away from fossil fuel use and carbon-intensive practices.
In the lead-up to the UN Climate Summit, UNDP and UNFCCC released the most comprehensive review to date of global ambition. The joint report, The Heat is On, revealed:
- 75 countries (representing 37% of global GHG emissions) intended to raise ambition through either mitigation or adaptation or both;
- 37 countries (16%) intended to update information in their NDCs;
- 71 countries (21%, including most developed nations) were either undecided on their approach, provided no information, or were seeking support for the NDC revision process; and
- 14 countries (26%) had no plans to revise their current NDCs.
The report reiterated that the choices made on ambition in 2020 would have profound consequences for future generations and required the world to move beyond business-as-usual as quickly as possible. It also highlighted that 2020 intentions represent a ladder of opportunity where advocacy efforts could potentially be undertaken at each level to persuade a country to undertake a positive step-change in ambition, e.g. a country that had no plans to revise its NDC submit an updated one, a country focused on adaptation ambition also increases mitigation ambition, etc.
In response, UNDP is leveraging its extensive climate portfolio and scale up urgently needed support for NDC enhancement in 100 countries, working in close collaboration with UN system partners (e.g. UNEP, FAO, UNICEF), IRENA, the NDC Partnership, the Green Climate Fund, and other strategic partners. An integrated approach will be used that harnesses the wide-ranging expertise of UNDP’s Global Policy Network to strengthen climate solutions with perspectives from governance, health, water, gender equality, women’s and youth empowerment, disaster risk reduction, and inclusive growth, among others.
The UNDP through its Climate Promise initiative is assisting Dominica in their efforts to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). UNDP will support activities that will contribute to raised mitigation and adaptation ambition in the revised NDC and well as support the preparation of actions that will lead to the successful implementation of the revised targets. It is expected that the implementation of the NDCs will be closely linked to global and local goals and agreements such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the country’s national sectoral policies.
In light of this, UNDP is therefore seeking a consultant to support Dominica by
Conducting a preliminary de-risking assessment of the national forestry and agriculture sectors and provide recommendations on targeted Renewable Energy investment to guide policy and regulatory interventions that support means of implementation (e.g. De-risking Renewable Energy Investment, real or perceived).
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