UN Climate Change News, 8 March 2023 – São Tomé & Príncipe, Singapore and Suriname have reported their efforts and progress on their climate actions to the UN Climate Change secretariat. The reports demonstrate solid climate action progress and varying needs for financial and technological support to increase climate action.

The reports were analyzed by a team of international technical experts during the recent 26th round of technical analysis of Biennial Update Reports (BUR) in Bonn. Reporting of climate actions is crucial for ensuring accountability among governments and supports collective progress toward achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.

São Tomé & Príncipe and Suriname achieved an important transparency milestone by submitting their first BURs, while Singapore became the first government to submit a fifth BUR.

The reported activities of the three countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are mainly in the areas of clean energy, energy efficiency, carbon taxes, transport and forests. Examples of action:

São Tomé & Príncipe

• Intends to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to around 50 percent by 2030. It is estimated to be achieved by installing solar power plants of a total of 30 MW and hydro plants of 14 MW as well as producing energy from biomass residues.
• Is promoting the use of efficient residential and public lightings and is modernizing its national electricity network to reduce energy losses. 
• Plans to reduce fossil fuel consumption in the transport sector by introducing electric vehicles and incentivize their import.

Singapore:

• Has launched its Green Plan 2030 - a roadmap and whole-of-nation effort towards sustainable development and net zero emissions. This involves switching away from fuel oil to natural gas in the energy sector. The share of natural gas in Singapore’s electricity generation has increased from 26 percent in 2001 to 96 percent in 2020.
• Has set a target to install 1.5 Gigawatts of solar energy by 2025 through increasing solar photovoltaic deployment on rooftops, on building facades and floating photovoltaic energy. In addition, Singapore is improving its energy efficiency in the manufacturing sector.
• Has introduced a carbon tax as a cross-sectoral measure which covers 80 percent of its national emissions. The country has set a carbon tax level at USD 3.70 per ton of CO₂ for 2019-2023 and is planning to raise it progressively from 2024 to support its transition to a low-carbon future.

Suriname: 

• Has drawn up an ambitious renewable energy plan which foresees the electrification of more than 200 villages between 2000 and 2025 with solar or hybrid systems as well as hydropower projects. Promoting energy efficiency through legal and fiscal frameworks is also one of the major mitigation measures in Suriname’s energy sector.
• Has made significant efforts in the forest sector to maintain its status as a net remover of carbon emissions. The country commits to maintaining its 93 per cent forest cover which is equivalent to more than 15.2 million hectares and to expand its protected land area to at least 17 percent of its terrestrial area by 2030. Suriname also reported the results of its REDD+ implementation highlighting its efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation from which it avoided more than 4.8 million tons of CO₂ emission.
   

Different levels of support required for more action

Developing countries often make increased action on climate change contingent on financial and capacity building support, depending on their levels of economic development. As part of its BUR, Singapore highlighted that it does not rely exclusively on external support to address climate change but is leveraging domestic innovative technologies and solutions instead.

The country also shared its ongoing efforts to further enhance its reporting. This includes strengthening its measurement, reporting and verification system through participating in training programmes organized by the UN Climate Change secretariat and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

São Tomé & Príncipe and Suriname expressed their continued need for financial, technical and capacity-building to achieve more emission reductions as projected in their Nationally Determined Contributions (national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement).

More capacity-building measures were also proposed by the team of experts during the technical analysis of the BURs, to enhance the transparency of future reporting from countries that need it and help them transition towards the Enhanced Transparency Framework under the Paris Agreement. This includes the use of software to estimate and report the different types of greenhouse gases.

More information on the technical analysis process can be found here.

Credit: UN Climate Change