Developing Countries Need Funds to Green Power Sectors: UNFCCC

Developing countries need finance to green their power sectors under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said on Tuesday.

Countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean urgently need financial support to green their power sectors and thereby implement their national climate action plans under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, said a UNFCCC survey.

It was conducted on behalf of the Nairobi Framework Partnership (NFP), which looks at what is required so that countries can implement the ‘nationally determined contributions’ they have submitted.

A total of 79 countries replied to the survey, which was carried out by the UNFCCC secretariat through its regional collaboration centres (RCCs) in East Africa, West Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The RCCs collected information from the designated national authorities, the organisations granted responsibility by their respective country to authorise and approve participation in UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.

The number of countries involved in the survey represents 77 per cent of the countries supported by RCCs in the Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean regions, a statement quoting the UNFCCC said.

The central goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the global average temperature rise to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Transitioning the power sector to low carbon is crucial to meet this goal, as generating power using coal, gas and oil is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.

The survey also found that whilst many countries are receiving some form of support to increase transparency (measurement, reporting and verification) from international organisations, in most cases this support is not enough.

The survey clearly indicates that countries believe that making use of the CDM, standardised baselines and nationally appropriate mitigation actions can help them to achieve their climate action commitments.

Under the CDM, projects in developing countries earn a saleable credit for each tonne of greenhouse gas they reduce or avoid, including through projects in the power sector.

The incentive has led to the registration of more than 8,000 projects and programmes in 111 countries and the issuance of over 1.7 billion CERs.

Survey participants said they believed the CDM to be a mechanism that has effectively driven private sector investment in the power sector in their countries.

According to the survey, the Asian and African regions were found to be the ones requiring most urgent support for the development of carbon markets and economic instruments for mitigation action.