UN Climate Change News, 12 July 2023 – Four developing countries in Africa – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Niger, and Tunisia – have recently showcased their commitment to ambitious climate action. During UN Climate Change’s 28th round of technical analysis to review the transparency of reporting by developing countries, these four nations showed to have made significant strides in combating climate change.
They also emphasized the need for additional financial assistance and technical support to amplify their efforts towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
The DRC tackles climate change by addressing deforestation through REDD+ activities and by promoting renewable energy.
To combat slash-and-burn agriculture – the main cause of deforestation – the DRC aims to develop at least one million hectares of irrigated land by 2030. This will contribute to a decrease in deforestation, the transition to sedentary agriculture, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Another climate change mitigation action planned is the increase of renewable energy capacity from 2.9 megawatts (MW) in 2020 to 42.7 MW by 2030, through the promotion of solar, wind and hydroelectric energy use. This initiative also seeks to improve the living conditions of the DRC’s population by expanding access to electricity.
Mozambique
Mozambique is continuously battling deforestation and plans to boost the use of sustainable energy.
Recognizing the importance of sustainable agriculture, the country actively promotes conservation practices such as rainwater harvesting and methane recovery to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. It also plans to resort to water pumping, supported by the installation of 5,000 solar photovoltaic systems for agricultural irrigation and household water use.
The country also plans to cut emissions by providing solar and wind-powered electricity to 5,000 remote households and replacing 2.5 million incandescent lightbulbs with low-energy-consumption ones.
Niger
Niger’s rural population is highly reliant on forest resources for energy production. In response, the country is promoting afforestation and renewable energy sources.
As part of its National Renewable Energy Plan, Niger is committed to increasing the proportion of solar energy by 30 percent in its overall energy mix by 2030. This involves the creation of five new solar power plants, the development of renewable energy capacity, and the expansion of electricity access from 15.72 percent of the population in 2020 to 65 percent in 2030.
The country is also encouraging reforestation by implementing a range of initiatives focusing on afforestation, forest rehabilitation, and multi-purpose tree planting. The target is to have 15,000 hectares of forest rehabilitated by 2030.
Tunisia
Tunisia’s energy sector is experiencing an upward trend in demand, which has led the country to a strategic shift toward renewable energy to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and enhance resilience.
Between 2010 and 2021, Tunisia allocated around 587 million USD to renewable energy projects, including investment in solar photovoltaic and wind power. A total capacity of 194 megawatts for grid-connected solar photovoltaic power has resulted in fuel savings of 240 kilo-tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) and avoided greenhouse gas emissions of 566 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (KtCO2e).
Tunisia’s “Low Carbon 2050” strategy, established in 2021, aims to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and carbon emissions in the energy sector by transitioning 80 percent of its energy production to renewable energy sources.
The review of these four developing countries’ greenhouse gas inventories and mitigation actions brought together a team of international technical experts who assessed the effects of these nations’ climate actions, as well as the support needed and received.
They also identified capacity-building needs to enhance the transparency of these countries’ reporting and to help them transition towards the Enhanced Transparency Framework under the Paris Agreement. Needs include improving the understanding of UN Climate Change reporting guidelines and revamping the methodology to conduct greenhouse gas inventories, among others.
Summary reports for each participating country’s technical analysis will soon be available on the UN Climate Change website. If you are interested in participating in the technical analysis process, please check how you can become a technical expert.
The 2023 Africa Climate Week, which will be hosted in September by the Government of Kenya, will also allow regional policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders to showcase their achievements and lessons learned so far, how they intend to enhance their climate action and cooperation, and how they will ensure transparency of their climate pledges and initiatives.
