(9 and 10 December 2020) – RCC St. George’s and RCC Panama, in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) hosted a two-day webinar, entitled: ‘Advancing the Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)’. The event was presented as a forum for regional discussion on raising the ambition of the national climate pledges in the lead up to COP 26, through enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and exploring in particular the key role this plays in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries’ energy transitions and economic recoveries from COVID-19.
The first day of the webinar explored key drivers behind the NDC enhancement measures undertaken by countries across the region and provided a better understanding of the process followed in elaborating their NDCs, including challenges and opportunities, towards the submission in 2020; while day two of the meeting delved into the potential instruments of support for countries towards the NDC implementation once the national commitments are revised and submitted.
IRENA Director Francesco La Camera, in his opening remarks, expressed his delight to witness the strong collaboration among LAC members and commended the work of the RCCs in the LAC region in supporting the region’s NDC development. La Camera highlighted that the NDCs and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are key in charting the path to a sustainable future, elaborating on the point that in moving towards a sustainable future its paramount to link short term and long-term goals.
James Grabert stressed that the objective of the secretariat is to support the global response to meet the goal of keeping the average global temperature rise to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. James urged that in order to meet this goal, there is a need for complete transformation of the energy sector to rapidly eliminate the use of fossil fuel for energy generation. He highlighted that such a transformation would create jobs up and down the supply chain and could also spur broad and sustainable social and economic development.
Fiona Clouder, UK COP 26 Ambassador for Latin and American and the Caribbean, stressed that the NDCs are not just documents but need to be turned in to reality being used by the global community towards achieving a net zero world. The Ambassador stated that COP 26 is a key part of the international process of achieving a net zero world. She said that for COP 26 it is crucial to be inclusive: for example, to include both small and big players in the global discussion since all are important to achieve our common goal of reducing emissions. Therefore, COP 26 will seek to include the business and private sector as well as youth in the discussions.
Following the opening remarks, Binu Parthan presented on behalf of IRENA and supported the enhancement of NDCs in the LAC region. Parthan highlighted that the transformation of the energy sector can result in significant payback, promoting resilient economies and societies, along with several other benefits such as job creation, improved energy security, reduction in carbon emissions and improved air quality as reflected in the IRENA report “Global Renewables Outlook: Energy Transformation 2050”. Based on the previously submitted NDCs, he noted that many countries within the LAC region are focused on renewables and electrification.
The panel discussion on day one, “Opportunities and challenges for the enhancement of NDC’s in Latin America and the Caribbean,” was moderated by Fiona, with a diverse group of panellists from various governmental and international agencies including: Omar Alcock, from Jamaica’s Ministry of Housing, Urban renewable, Environment and Climate Change, Juan Pedro Searle, from the Ministry of Energy in Chile, Cassie Flyne, UNDP’s Strategic Advisor on Climate Change & Head of Climate Promise and Pablo Viera, Global Director, NDC Partnership.
For day two, opening remarks were made by Gurbuz Gonul, Director, Country Engagement and Partnership, IRENA and Vintura Silva, Team Lead from RCC St. George.
The presentations from RCC Panama and RCC St. George’s highlighted the findings from the NDC survey geared towards examining the progress made in revisions of NDCs and their implementation as well as the challenges countries face. The survey indicated that a large number of countries in the LAC region will be considering renewable energy technologies to be included in their revised NDCs.
Following these presentations there were two panel discussions. The first panel discussion moderated by Hugh Sealy, Special Envoy on Climate Change for Barbados focused on best practices and experiences on developing long-term energy scenarios and its link with NDC development, and the challenges on the deployment of end-use sector solutions towards decarbonization. Panellists for this discussion included: Ezra Christopher, Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Antigua and Barbuda; Beatriz Olivet from Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining; Devon Gardener, Programme Manager, Energy Division, CARICOM; and Asami Miketa, Senior Programme Officer, Power Sector Investment, Planning, IRENA.
The final panel discussion moderated by Maria Tapia, Climate Change Specialist, International Development Bank (IDB), focused on engaging private sector in the financing of NDC implementation post COVID-19 recovery. Panellists included: Neha Mukhi, Senior Specialist – Energy and Climate Change, World Bank; Federico Fische, Regional Coordinator Caribbean and Central America, Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN); Neranda Maurice-George, Division of Country Programming, GCF; and Ahmed Badr, Acting Director, Project Facilitator and Support, IRENA.
The overall event was well attended and provided thought provoking and relevant content for the participants. The discussions geared towards assisting countries in the LAC region to better understand the role of NDCs in post-COVID-19 recovery planning, as well as identifying potential instruments of support for countries towards their NDC implementation.
For more information contact the Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) St. George’s at RCCStgeorges@unfccc.int.
