Background

Article 4, paragraph 19, of the Paris Agreement invites all Parties to prepare and communicate Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and in light of different national circumstances. In practice, LT-LEDS provides countries with an opportunity to define long-term development pathways that are consistent with the global temperature goal while reflecting national priorities, capacities and development aspirations. For countries in East and Southern Africa, LT-LEDS are particularly relevant because climate action is being pursued in a context of pressing development needs, high climate vulnerability, infrastructure gaps, energy access priorities, food and water security concerns, and growing demand for investment. A well-designed LT-LEDS rather than serving only as a climate policy document, can function as a strategic planning instrument that connects long-term climate ambition with national development plans, sectoral strategies, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation, public investment planning and climate finance mobilisation. This is especially important as countries seek to ensure that short- and medium-term decisions are consistent with longer-term transformation pathways, including resilient economic growth, low-emission development, just transition, sustainable land management, green industrialisation and climate-resilient infrastructure.

However, the development and implementation of LT-LEDS require strong technical, institutional and financial foundations. Several countries in East and Southern Africa have already submitted LT-LEDS, while others are in the process of developing, updating or considering their strategies. Countries in the region continue to face common challenges, including limited technical capacity, data gaps, modelling constraints, fragmented institutional coordination, limited finance-mobilization, and the need to align long-term strategies with NDCs, national development plans, sectoral policies and implementation frameworks. In this regard, RCC EASA in collaboration with RCC Carribean, RCC Mena&SA and RCC WACA is convening this regional webinar to provide a platform for peer learning among East and Southern African countries on LT-LEDS development and implementation readiness. It will also draw on comparative experiences from Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Zimbabwe to highlight different approaches to long-term planning namely:

• Jamaica’s 2050 Long-term Emission Reduction and Climate Resilient Strategy  provide a useful example of integrating mitigation, resilience and development planning.
• Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plan  illustrates how a climate-vulnerable developing country can frame long-term climate action around prosperity, renewable energy opportunities, adaptation priorities and investment needs.
• Nigeria's L-TLEDS offers a relevant example of a structured process involving institutional leadership, multi-stakeholder consultations, sectoral analysis, implementation enablers and an implementation framework for transitioning towards a net-zero pathway by 2060.
• Zimbabwe LEDS offers another example of a holistic and balanced development pathway that aligns climate action with national development priorities. The strategy is closely linked to national policy frameworks and seeks to balance socio-economic development objectives with the country's international commitments on greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

The webinar therefore serves as a practical exchange on how countries can move from long-term visioning to full LT-LEDS development, and from LT-LEDS formulation to implementation, investment planning and monitoring.

Overall Objective

The overall objective of the webinar is to promote cross regional collaboration with other regions and strengthen peer learning for countries in the East and Southern African region on the development and implementation planning of LT-LEDS.

The webinar will aim to:

1. Share practical experiences and highlight comparative lessons from Jamaica, Sri Lanka and Nigeria, Zimbabwe on long-term strategy development, resilience integration, prosperity framing, investment planning, stakeholder engagement and implementation frameworks.
2. Explore how LT-LEDS can strengthen alignment between NDCs, national development strategies, sectoral policies, investment plans and long-term climate objectives.
3. Discuss how countries are moving from long-term visioning to full LT-LEDS, and from LT-LEDS formulation to implementation.
4. Strengthen cross-regional peer connections and identify opportunities for follow-up support, technical exchange and collaboration with partners.

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the webinar, participants are expected to have:

• Improved knowledge of practical approaches used in LT-LEDS development, including interministerial coordination, stakeholder engagement, data collection, modelling, scenario development and validation.
• Increased understanding of how LT-LEDS can support NDC alignment, national development planning, sectoral coordination, investment prioritization and long-term institutional coordination.
• Strengthened peer connections amongst countries and partners working on LT-LEDS and climate-resilient development.
• Identification of common challenges faced by countries developing LT-LEDS, including technical capacity, data gaps, modelling constraints, finance-readiness, institutional coordination and monitoring.
• Identification of follow-up opportunities for technical support, peer learning, knowledge exchange and regional collaboration.