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Report on the UNFCCC Africa regional workshop for nationally appropriate mitigation actions

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Contents

Summary of the workshop proceedings 3Opening of the workshop 3Current state of NAMA preparation and implementation 4NAMA marketplace for NAMAs seeking support for preparation 5Challenges in the preparation and implementation of NAMAs 10Climate financing 10Private sector and other sources of financing for mitigation actions 12NAMA marketplace for NAMAs seeking support for implementation 14Measurement, reporting and verification 17Understanding transformational change and sustainable development co-benefits in NAMAs 18The UNFCCC NAMA registry 19The future agenda of NAMAs 20Closure of the workshop 21

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Summary of the workshop proceedings

The African regional workshop on nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) was held in Kigali, Rwanda, on 17–19 August 2015.

Opening of the workshop

Mr. Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources, Rwanda, opened the workshop. In his opening statement, he highlighted the urgency of this event both for Rwanda and for African countries. He said that African countries are yet to tap into and capitalize on the potential of NAMAs and encouraged countries to use the international support available to do this. He mentioned that Rwanda has developed a green growth climate-resilient strategy with 14 key programmes, including the operationalization of a national fund for projects and initiatives by both the public and the private sectors. Rwanda is in the process of developing NAMAs in key sectors such as agriculture, energy, industry, transport and waste management to move its economy onto a low-emissions development pathway. He encouraged participants to actively engage in the discussions to build their knowledge so that they can play an active role in moving their countries onto green growth pathways.

Ms. Rose Mukankomeje, Director General of the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA), welcome participants to the workshop and thanked the UNFCCC secretariat for choosing Rwanda to host this very important event.

Ms. Tshering Sherpa, UNFCCC secretariat, highlighted the importance of the workshop as a forum to discuss the various NAMA initiatives in the participating countries with the aim of facilitating the implementation of NAMAs on the ground. She stressed that these regional workshops provided capacity-building opportunities for develop¬ing countries to take green growth pathways through shared learning and discussion.

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Current state of NAMA preparation and implementation

Mr. Stan Kolar, Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP), presented an overview of the global status of the preparation and implementation of NAMAs. He pointed out that the number of NAMAs under development is rising while very few NAMAs have entered into the implementation phase. Latin American countries are leading the way in terms of the quantity of NAMAs under preparation and implementation. CCAP is also working with stakeholders to design ambitious and competitive NAMAs in different regions to enable them to attract finance. Four examples of NAMAs under development were cited: a NAMA in Colombia on sustainable urban transport, refrigeration and air conditioning; a NAMA in Thailand; a NAMA on geothermal energy in Kenya; and waste sector NAMAs in Latin America. He also stressed the important role that climate finance can play in catalysing additional private and public sector finance, citing the NAMA Facility and the Green Climate Fund as key sources. He concluded that NAMAs should facilitate the transformation of the existing structures that prevent mitigation actions (such as fossil fuel subsidies, anti-competitive regulations, etc.), create policies that drive the low-emissions economy and leverage private sector and other funding opportunities. NAMAs should be at the programme level in order to achieve increased scale, replication and overall ambition.

Ms. Angelica Afanador, Ecofys, gave a presentation on the status of the preparation and implementation of NAMAs in Africa. She noted that African countries are increasingly using NAMAs as instruments for climate change mitigation, with an escalation of over 60 per cent in 2015 since December 2014. She mentioned that on the whole, NAMAs in the energy sector are the most dominant, followed by the waste and transport sectors. Finally, Ms. Afanador cited an example of the Ethiopian NAMA on clean energy access under the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, for which Ecofys has offered technical support in partnership with Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV). Key elements of the NAMA preparation were explained, including the multi-stakeholder discussion that encouraged significant

stakeholder input to the preparation of the NAMA.

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Mr. Rajiv Garg, CTCN, presented information on services offered by the CTCN in relation to NAMA development. The CTCN, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, is a consortium of 11 independent, regional and global organizations with expertise in the development and transfer of a variety of climate technologies. The CTCN is specifically focused on providing technical assistance to developing countries, training and knowledge-sharing, and fostering collaboration on climate technologies. Through its network, the CTCN mobilizes policy and technical expertise from academia, civil society, the finance and private sectors to deliver technology solutions, capacity-building and implementation advice to developing countries.

For the CTCN, climate technology means any equipment, technique, knowledge or skill needed for reducing green-house gas (GHG) emissions from various sectors, such as agriculture, energy, forestry, industry, transport and waste.

Countries can request technical assistance from the CTCN to undertake various preparatory work in relation to the identification, development and implementation of NAMAs, such as analysis of technology barriers, assessment of technology cost and benefits, prioritization of best options, feasibility studies on specific technologies, development of technology, finance and implementation action plans, development of a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system, training of staff, establishment of national institutional linkages and fostering collaboration with private companies and investors. Finally, Mr. Garg informed participants that the interested country can request technical assistance from the CTCN through its national designated entity, the CTCN focal point for the country.

NAMA marketplace for NAMAs seeking support for preparation

The NAMA marketplace session was organized to facilitate the preparation of NAMAs from Rwanda, Ghana, Mauritius, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. The session provided a platform for these countries to present their NAMAs to a panel of international organizations that provide technical support for the preparation of NAMAs. The panellists included representatives from the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Deutsche

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The representatives of the CTCN and FAO made a presentation to provide information on the range of support offered by their institutions in relation to NAMA preparation while the remaining panellists made brief oral interventions to provide relevant information.

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Ms. Janie Rioux, FAO, gave a presentation on an FAO learning tool to support NAMA preparation in the agriculture sector. Agriculture contributes around 10–12 per cent of global GHG emissions, and in Africa emissions from agriculture has increased by 243 per cent in the last 50 years. Therefore, containing emissions from this sector is critical for Africa to move towards low-emissions development and this tool can help countries to address emissions from this sector. The added advantage of mitigation measures in the agriculture sector is that they deliver important adaptation and other co-benefits, for example, promoting higher yields, strengthening food security and rural income and livelihoods, improving farm efficiency and increasing the potential for scaling up climate-smart agriculture, to name but a few.

The learning tool aims to help agriculture stakeholders to overcome knowledge barriers and get started with NAMA identification and planning by providing information on the type and quantity of resources (technical, human and financial) needed to develop and implement NAMAs and providing advice on how to achieve reductions in the net GHG emissions from the agriculture sector while supporting other sustainable development goals, such as food security. The tool contains step by step guidance for NAMA development and implementation in the agriculture sector and examples of case studies on mitigation options and references, including methods for MRV and sources of financing for NAMAs in the agriculture sector. Ms. Rioux further added that FAO provides technical support in building capacities and readiness for NAMAs, including support for the preparation of NAMA proposals.

After the introductory round, countries presented their NAMAs to the panellists. The panellists provided feedback as to whether their organizations would be interested in providing preparation support and what countries could do to make their NAMAs more attractive to preparatory funds.

Cameroon

Côte d’Ivoire

Ghana

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Cameroon

The NAMA is for improving the use of bioenergy within the country to ad-dress GHG emissions and significant environmental damage associated with deforestation. The objective is to promote economic techniques for using firewood, reducing deforestation and improving livelihoods. Technical interventions include cooking practices, land rehabili-tation and fuel production sites. This will lead to benefits in environmental (e.g. in-creased biodiversity), economic (e.g. job creation) and social (e.g. health) areas.

Feedback from the panelists• The NAMA has clear targets and

linkage with national policy;• It is a good example of a forestry NAMA, particularly with

regard to the good idea of having

a pilot in some zones and then expanding on national scale for significant impact;• Recommendations would be to define a strong coordination structure with a lead coordination authority and implementation bodies;• The developer would be well advised to set out concrete capacity needs and implementation costs; • The request for international financing is at a high level and the advice would be that further exploration is need-ed in terms of the potential role of the private sector and the necessary criteria for that investment;• Further consideration needs to be given to the MRV system.

Côte d’Ivoire

The proposal is to create an institutional framework with coordination units and pertinent

committees under which the activities to identify and

prepare the NAMAs would be undertaken. A request

was made for USD 142,000 covering technical, financial and capacity-building support at all levels.

Feedback from the panelists• The developer is commended for recognizing the importance of the participatory approach with stakeholders and all spheres of government;• This was considered to be more

of a NAMA readiness call for support request, and the suggestion was to explore how this could be linked to the ongoing intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) development;• Ways in which the developer could tap into existing GHG support projects currently being implemented in the West African region should be explored;• The country was encouraged to undertake a technology needs assessment as a first step for developing more concrete ideas.

Rwanda

Mauritius

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Côte d’Ivoire

The proposal is to create an institutional framework with coordination units and pertinent committees under which the activities to identify and prepare the NAMAs would be undertaken. A request was made for USD 142,000 covering technical, financial and capacity-building support at all levels.

Feedback from the panelists• The developer is commended for recognizing the importance of the participatory approach with

stakeholders and all spheres of government;• This was considered to be more of a NAMA readiness call for support request, and the suggestion was to

explore how this could be linked to the ongoing intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) development;

• Ways in which the developer could tap into existing GHG support projects currently being implemented in the West African region should be explored;

• The country was encouraged to undertake a technology needs assessment as a first step for developing more concrete ideas.

Ghana

The NAMA proposal is for energy efficiency technology with the overall goal of energy savings, lower energy expenditure, reduced system losses and increased load capacity across the network. The aims are to develop capacity in the country for delivering energy-efficient service delivery and standards. The potential sustainable development co-benefits are the creation of jobs and the reduction of indoor air pollution through increased rural electrification.

Feedback from the panellists• It was noted that this is based on existing strategies and national policies, encourages private sector

engagement and has additional sustainable development impacts;• The stakeholder engagement process could have been further enhanced;• The monitoring component can draw from the pilot experience from existing units as financed by the

government;• The NAMA is limiting itself as it has already identified the key technology intervention. The developer

was advised to keep a range of options open in order to take a broader approach;• At the investment level the criteria need to be further consolidated in order to encourage private sector

engagement.

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Rwanda

Rwanda selected a NAMA for the agriculture sector because of the importance of agriculture in the local economy – the sector meets 90 per cent of national food needs and 70 per cent of export revenues. The proposal is for a national sector policy and programme that includes investment in machinery, infrastructure, agribusiness covering composting, and fertilizer use and lime production. The requested funding is required for full NAMA design, including a baseline and an MRV system, financial structuring and three feasibility studies for the areas of intervention. Feedback from the panellists• The NAMA is well structured and commended for emphasizing non GHG emission benefits as a key

deliverable, for example, soil preservation through anti-erosion measures; • It is well embedded within the national policy framework and a sectoral approach to identify the

NAMA was considered very positive;• There was a suggestion that biogas systems be included as a potential use of the waste beyond

composting so there could be room for expansion in this regard;• The preparation costs are high; therefore, it is advisable to spilt this into a phased approach in order

to facilitate securing the funding step by step.

Mauritius

The NAMA aims at increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy planning for the port. It takes a broad approach that will ensure that a range of measures are adopted in order to develop a detailed strategic management plan for the port. The required investment for preparation of the NAMA is USD 50,000.

Feedback from the panellists

• Overall a very good and well-structured NAMA proposal with clear and realistic targets, for which the phased approach is welcomed;

• The area for implementation is clearly identified and well embedded within the energy management plan;

• The developers are encouraged to work to ensure that all key governmental stakeholders, including the Ministries of Transport and Tourism, are engaged;

• The NAMA has strong environmental benefits beyond GHG emissions which should be further emphasized. There was a further suggestion on whether the buildings at the port could also be included as part of the plan;

• Finally an idea was put forward to further investigate whether there could be a source of financing beyond grants, for example, options for private sector funding such as port fees could be explored.

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Challenges in the preparation and imple-mentation of NAMAs

Through this session participants had the opportunity to identify and discuss major challenges that hinder the effective preparation and implementation of NAMAs introducing ways of overcoming them. Participants identified multiple challenges, including: setting up appropriate institutional arrangements/structures; ensuring national finance contributions which could leverage international finance; and MRV and capacity-building of major stakeholders. It was stressed that government policies that attract the private sector or corporates to lead on financing are critical to successful implementation. It was noted that some countries are struggling to translate conceptual NAMAs into realistic or implementable NAMAs because of policy reforms and complications around institutional coordination and knowledge transfer.

Climate financing

Mr. Liberal Seburikoko, Green Climate Fund (GCF), gave a presentation on key steps for countries to engage with the GCF, which is emerging as a main source of climate finance for green growth and implementation of NAMAs in developing countries. To access resources from the GCF, the country must establish and maintain a national designated authority (NDA) or focal point that will approve a readiness programme; provide strategic oversight in relation to national priorities; convene national stakeholders; issue nomination letters for direct access; and grant no-objection letters for project/programmes. Countries may opt for strategic engagement with the GCF through country programmes that aim to engage stakeholders across government, local institutions, the private sector and civil society in order to develop a clear sense of the priority project/programmes that the GCF can support. Mr. Seburikoko pointed out that only accredited entities can develop and submit funding proposals to the GCF on behalf of countries. Hence, it is necessary to identify and seek accreditation of entities before submitting funding proposals to the GCF. The international, regional or national organization or agency that fulfills the eligibility criteria of accreditation can attain the status of an accredited entity. The Private Sector Facility of the GCF focuses mainstreaming the private sector into climate change mitigation through various types of interventions such as offering long-term loans; liquidity backstops and refinancing;

funding climate risk assessment models and

tools; and providing equity required to develop a bankable project and guarantees to bear specific risk. He mentioned that

any funding proposals submitted to the GCF will be evaluated against the Fund’s investment criteria, which include impact potential, paradigm shift potential, sustainable development potential, needs of the recipient, country ownership and efficiency and effectiveness. To date, 32 countries have pledged the equivalent of USD 10.2 billion for the GCF and contribution agreements have already been signed with 24 governments for USD 5.75 billion.

In response to a participant’s query about the resource allocation framework of the GCF, Mr. Seburikoko explained that equal parts of resources will be allocated for adaption and mitigation projects/programmes. Furthermore, 50 per cent of adaptation resources will be for Small Island developing States, the least developed countries (LDCs) and African States. He stated that the GCF will fund any public or private sector projects/programmes that will reduce emissions from energy generation and access; transport, forests and land use; and buildings, cities, industries and appliances.

Mr. Zukisani Jakavula, SouthSouthNorth

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(Climate Development and Knowledge Network), presented information on the current status of climate financing. He also talked about the engagement of the private sector and the requisite different approaches to address the diverse nature of gaps and investor preference. He emphasized that low-emission, climate-resilient investments in developing countries are constrained by policy, risk, cost and liquidity impediments. The financial requirements are substantial but there is sufficient capital to invest, particularly among institutional investors, and the private sector has a critical role to play. He noted that most climate finance flowed via a bilateral channel, followed by dedicated multilateral climate fund and other multilateral channels. The majority of climate finance (about 70 per cent) targeted mitigation activities followed by adaptation and REDD-plus. Countries received most climate finance in the form of loans, guarantees and insurance; and grants and related instruments. Asia-Pacific States are in the forefront to receive climate finance, followed by Latin American and Caribbean States and sub-Saharan African States. He suggested three approaches to encourage private sector investment in mitigation measures: increase the return on equity or debt, reduce risk in the financial cycle and provide seed capital for low-carbon businesses having strong social impacts.

Participants inquired about some concrete examples of various approaches to involve the private sector. Mr. Jakavula responded that in the case of large-scale clean energy investments, governments may think of bankable power purchase agreements to increase returns and some risk reducing measures such as policy insurance for renewable feed-in-tariffs, credit enhancement of project debt, clean energy loan guarantees and monoline insurance

for first loss. Similarly, public–private funding could be another option to absorb potential first loss from high-risk investments for energy access initiatives in LDCs. Revolving and pooled funding for low-carbon social enterprises which focus on energy access in LDCs can be established to provide seed capital as a catalyst to mobilize private investment.

Mr. Adriaan Korthuis, Climate Focus, gave a presentation on an initiative of railway development in Ethiopia to explain how countries can design a climate finance strategy to mobilize various financing sources. The Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC) is building railways to contribute to the country’s economic growth through the provision of reliable transport, reduced dependency on fossil fuel and enhanced use of domestic renewable energy such as electricity generated from hydropower, wind and geothermal energy. He noted that electric railways in Ethiopia can reduce GHG emissions by 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year by 2030. The climate finance strategy of ERC revolves around three approaches – carbon credits (direct payments from emission reductions), the NAMA framework (non-market mechanisms, the GCF, other bilateral and multilateral supports) and other opportunities (innovative financing). ERC plans to develop clean development mechanism (CDM) projects for the development of the light railway track to increase the operational revenue of the light railway track, with the expectation that the carbon market will recover in the medium and long term. Transit oriented development will be promoted under the NAMA framework to increase passenger numbers, to increase light railway track revenue and to promote mixed use of public, residential and commercial areas.

The NAMA funding proposals aimed for the NAMA Facility, the GCF and other support agencies will include the creation of an institutional framework, piloting and preparation of an implementation plan for 10 stations, and setting up a structured debt fund to enhance private sector investment.

To attract international climate funding, ERC plans to develop a robust MRV plan to account and report emission reductions and the national and international support provided, taking into account national and international reporting requirements.

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Private sector and other sources of financing for mitigation actions

Mr. Sebastian Wienges, World Bank, gave a

presentation on how climate finance can be leveraged to catalyse private sector investment. He opened by mentioning that climate finance is increasingly important in the development of NAMAs as they move closer to implementation; however, questions still remain regarding how to leverage private finance as public resources will not be sufficient for their development and implementation. He pointed out that it is important to note that international finance is supposed to be supportive and according to the developing country needs and to the transformational requirements of the countries.

The challenge at the moment is that there is still not an agreed definition of climate finance, especially in relation to MRV and tracking climate finance as opposed to the better defined mechanism of carbon finance.

Carbon finance is the perfect instrument to set up a consistent framework for emission reductions for NAMAs. It makes them more competitive, hence incentivizing the private sector to help private companies to price the risks and eventual costs of mitigation actions. Mr. Wienges emphasized that even as an ideal instrument, carbon finance will not be sufficient and this is where leveraging climate financing would play an important role. He indicated that the financial resources needed to implement NAMAs are available; for instance, the World

Bank Green Bonds initiative, which will be launched in 2016 to gather private sector finance for green projects. One bottleneck hindering the channelling of funds for green projects is a lack of an investable pipeline and one way to overcome this is to transform these concepts into a format that can be investable, which is a task for developing country governments, their line ministries and development partners. Such assistance has been provided by agencies such as GIZ to work with line ministries to enable them to structure their NAMA concepts into bankable proposals, thereby reducing risk and transaction costs and bridging financial gaps.

Ms. Mwila Musumali, African Development Bank, presented information on the risks to which a green/clean project is exposed. She noted that on the whole, higher financial returns are required to cover higher financial risks. Low-carbon green investments are higher risk owing to their dependence on public and private funds. She highlighted the four types of risk, namely, political and social risk, technical risk, commercial risk and outcome risk. For low-carbon projects, for instance, some are highly dependent on location or some technologies that are new, therefore increasing their risk.

Ms. Musumali went on to explain the risk mitigation instruments that could be applicable to green projects, such as contracts, credit management, insurance, revenue support policy, direct investment and political/institutional support. She mentioned that generally in Africa the level of perceived risk is high across most categories mentioned. The African Development Bank and similar entities are able to close some risk gaps though, for instance, setting up structures to enable the promotion of correct risk allocation, and leveraging private and concessional finance to reduce risks to the private investors.

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Finally, two case studies were presented for two projects where the African Development Bank has made interventions in order to enable them to manage their risk through partial risk guarantee.

Ms. Elizabeth Davidson, Kiva, introduced Kiva as an online crowdfunding platform that connects people through lending to alleviate poverty. Kiva works with traditional International Monetary Fund organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector as partners to promote actions in health, agriculture and clean energy, among others. She explained that the Kiva model works by an individual or organization obtaining a loan from Kiva partners for up to USD 200,000. Kiva works globally in 86 countries (30 in Africa) with 296 partners. Its ability to help organizations to invest in high-impact projects is one of Kiva’s key objectives, particularly with regard to its clean energy portfolio, such as biogas, cookstoves and solar projects, with a total investment of over USD 7 million in clean energy. Ms. Davidson highlighted the key partners working with Kiva, for instance Corporacion Andina de Fomento CAF, a development bank in Latin America, which has a fund that matched loans up to USD 10,000 in order to boost lending.

Participants were keen to know the maximum amount of funding that Kiva has offered to a single borrower. Ms. Davidson replied that it has given up to USD 100,000 to a single project. She added that there is potential for larger-scale loans of up to USD 2–3 million with a repayment period of up to six to seven years. Further discussions were on how Kiva appraises project implementation, its openness to lending to individuals and its consideration of accounting for emission reductions from the project activity. Ms. Davidson emphasized that Kiva works directly with the private sector and NGOs, with a focus on the social and environmental impacts of the projects. Kiva does not currently monitor CO2 emission reductions but is currently working on initiating this through its partners. For projects under NAMAs, it is a better way to work with the private sector through governments supporting the smaller private projects.

Camco Clean Energy is a fund manager and renewable energy company offering renewable energy financing. Its representative, Mr. Eugene Obiero, highlighted key renewable energy project

finance models in terms of debt by development finance institution (largest percentage), debt by bank, mezzanine financing (to enable equity to reach financial close) and equity. He further presented some of the main financiers in sub-Saharan Africa and the level of financing they offer.

Any gaps owing to a lack of technical expertise locally need to be addressed in order to access this financing. Mr. Obiero went on to present a list of entities that would be able to provide technical assistance to projects with regard to grant financing, equity and development financing, a good example being support from the Norwegian Government though Norfund. In addition, private banks such as the Standard Bank are able to provide funds and risk mitigation guarantees. He gave an overview of renewable energy finance options, including the Green Africa Power (GAP) initiative, which is funded by the Governments of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, providing mezzanine financing for infrastructure development in the region.

The operators of the initiative, Camco Clean Energy and EISER in the United Kingdom, seek to interact with various NAMA project developers to explore means of supporting these projects targeting private sector’s involvement in renewable energy. He stated that GAP looks to enhance social and economic development through boosting access to reliable electric power, sustainable growth and the identification and development of new projects. For future investment up to 2018, GAP is looking to fund a maximum of five projects per year and is currently exploring the potential to invest in its first project on geothermal energy in Kenya, which it is derisking though its mezzanine funds.

He finished by mentioning that Camco Clean Energy is an Africa-based advisory (focused on climate change, environment, carbon markets, etc.) that wishes to expand its scope and is currently working to start a new fund for technical assistance ranging from the development of feasibility studies to risk management.

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Questions were raised with regard to the seemingly high interest rate levied for the loan, to which Mr. Obiero responded that the 9–20 per cent interest for a loan is based on the market price for mezzanine financing. Currently there are limited lenders for this kind of financing as compared with senior debt lenders, making it more expensive. In addition, participants discussed the need to boost efforts to expand the regional presence of GAP funding, which would provide technical assistance to help projects in the region to reach financial close. He further noted that GAP is currently looking at projects in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 45 projects in the pipeline, including geothermal in Ethiopia, wind in Kenya, wind and solar in Ghana and Senegal, and projects in Malawi and Zambia. The level of intervention in the region is highly dependent on the regulatory procedure in the countries, causing some of them to move fairly slowly where the environment is not conducive. Emphasis was also put on the importance of international and national coordination of such interventions.

NAMA marketplace for NAMAs seeking support for implementation

The NAMA marketplace was organized to facilitate the implementation of NAMAs from the Gambia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya. The session provided a platform for countries to present their NAMAs to a panel of international organizations. The panellists included experts representing the Belgian Federal Public Service, East African Development Bank, the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the Economic Community of West African States and Camco Clean Energy, fund manager of GAP.

The aforementioned four countries presented their NAMAs. After commending the work that had been put into the NAMA design, the panellists provided feedback as to whether their organizations would be interested in providing support and what countries could do to make their NAMAs more attractive to investors, and suggested other public/private investors that could potentially be interested.

Gambia

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian NAMA is targeted at the rehabilitation of degraded forest lands. The NAMA goals and objectives contribute to the zero net emission economy commitment of the nation through carbon sequestration. In terms of sustainable development co-benefits there are socioeconomic solutions through job creation and profound impacts on the local ecosystems. National cooperation is needed for the success of the NAMAs, from relevant ministries through to local communities. The varied proposed implementation activities are tree planting, forest protection and improved cookstove use. In terms of financing there is a strong commitment from the government for domestic investment; this is further enhanced through the national coordination system under the Climate-Resilient Green Economy Facility. Feedback from the panelists: • The NAMA is well designed to cover the potential risks and emphasizes the government

commitment in terms of investment;• The proposal is lacking incentives for the private sector and would need to be further enhanced in

order to attract its investment. This is particularly important as forestry is not well understood in the financial world. It would be important to clarify exactly what kind of financing is being sought.

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Kenya

The proposed geothermal energy NAMA on the strategic level sits within both the country’s INDC and Vision 2030, in which energy is identified as the backbone of Kenya’s development pathway. The aim of the intervention is to accelerate geothermal development in Kenya by stimulating private sector investment by reducing risks and improving returns with 1000 MW of geothermal energy generation. The NAMA is also in line with the national policy on energy access and affordability. The National Climate Change Action Plan 2013–2017 identifies geothermal energy as the source with the highest potential. In terms of finance the aim is to leverage USD 6 billion of private sector investment. The NAMA aims to bring commercial viability to identified geothermal sources by using investment tools, including production drilling risk insurance. The MRV system is drawn from the existing national performance and benefits framework, or MRV+ system. The identified sustainable benefits include end user tariff reduction, job creation, increased

energy security and climate resilience.

Feedback from the panelists • The provision of the production drilling risk insurance is very

positive but further clarification is needed regarding whether this is funded by private or public sector funding. The presenter confirmed that this is public sector funding covering 80 per cent of drilling investment in order to reduce the risk for private sector financers in case a well should be dry;

• Geothermal areas are often arid and with low security caused by underdevelopment. These areas would receive investment and

undergo development through investment in this NAMA. This benefit should be further emphasized and highlighted;• The presenter emphasized that, based on

national experience, it is essential to package climate change interventions

Ethiopia

Kenya

Egypt

Gambia

Currently the majority of rural communities in the Gambia do not have access to electricity as the government lacks the resources to

increase electricity generation, enhance connection to electricity and improve the operational efficiency of the generation, transmission and

distribution infrastructure. Renewable energy such as solar and wind energy can enhance access to clean and affordable energy in rural and remote

areas. The proposed NAMA intends to promote renewable energy projects to electrify rural communities in the Gambia. The NAMA will connect unelectrified rural communities

through two types of ventures: Rural Electrification (RE) Community Energy Centers and RE Micro-Grids. Community members will be provided with energy access to start up small businesses. The emission reduction is achieved by displacing the lighting systems that use fossil fuel or electricity generated by diesel generators. The MRV will be done using the CDM small-scale methodology AMS-I.L. The NAMA contributes to sustainable development as it creates new jobs for both men and women; enhances access to clean and affordable energy; promotes small-scale businesses and enterprises; and improves crop productivity with an irrigation facility. The proposed NAMA is in line with the national policies, plans and priorities.

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Feedback from the panellists • The NAMA is well designed and structured to give a

comprehensive overview from the objectives, activities, financing mechanism and institutional arrangements to MRV;

• The best part of the financing mechanism is that it aims to blend the national budget (from taxes and surcharges) with international financing

sources; • The institutional arrangement for governance of the NAMA is very impressive

and it has ensured engagement of all the relevant agencies and stakeholders; • Although the emission reductions to be achieved by this NAMA are very limited, there is ample

opportunity for achieving other sustainable development co-benefits. Hence, in addition to regular climate finance donors, other development funding agencies could also consider this NAMA for funding.

Egypt

The proposed NAMA aims to improve energy efficiency in street lighting and building in order to decrease electricity consumption by 50 per cent by 2016. Currently the main source of electricity in Egypt is fossil fuel, which is incurring economic and environmental impacts on the country. The interventions under the NAMA include: using efficient lighting systems in the streets (solar panel, energy efficient bulbs); increasing energy efficiency in households and government buildings; reducing energy loss in the production and distribution network of the grid; and promoting renewable energy systems (solar photovoltaic systems). The NAMA contributes to the sustainable development of the country through environmental benefits (reduced GHG emissions and air pollution), economic benefits (savings of fossil fuel, reduced electricity bills, reduced cost of electricity generation and distribution) and social benefits (increased business for local manufacturers for solar photovoltaic systems, job creation and no power outages for street lighting, improving social life).

Feedback from the panellists • There is no clarity regarding institutional arrangements and the implementation plan for the NAMA,

hence further detailed information on this aspect will help panelists to understand this NAMA. It seems that the NAMA is already under implementation and aims to be concluded by December 2016. It is not clear what kind of international support this NAMA is looking for at this stage;

• It is suggested that the financing plan be worked out in greater detail, including itemized cost estimates, national budget share and required international support;

• It is not clear how the proposed NAMA has engaged or intends to engage the private sector.

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Measurement, reporting and verification

Ms. Marion Vieweg-Mersmann, UNFCCC secretariat, described how the impacts of mitigation policies and actions can be assessed using the new World Resources Institute (WRI) GHG Protocol mitigation accounting standards, piloted in 20 countries. Among other standars, she explained the purpose of having policy and action standards and mentioned the three types of mitigation actions – goal, policies and projects – and how these actions interrelate. The Policy and Action Standard can help policymakers and analysts to estimate how policy and actions will affect a country’s or city’s GHG emissions. She illustrated how to identify and determine the effects of mitigation actions, which are influenced by geopolitical boundary, time frame, objectives of a project and expected GHG emission reduction. Standards provide useful procedures for estimating the impact of mitigation actions (ex ante and ex post), which can be used for various purposes: internal decision-making at the policy level; reporting on successes to national stakeholders; input to funding proposals for support; reporting to donors and reporting under the Convention. Ms. Vieweg-Mersmann stressed that the WRI GHG Protocol policy and action standard provides only a framework for analysis and not a method for quantification.

Ms. Alexandra Soezer, UNDP, presented major findings of a study commissioned in 2014 in relation to countries’ progress and experiences in implementing domestic MRV systems. The presentation provided the participants with not only a stocktake of the work being undertaken but also an idea of what stage countries were at and their methodologies. Her presentation focused on some practical areas that countries can consider while developing their MRV system, such as: general system design considerations; governance arrangements and data collection from both new and existing sources; technical considerations; and lessons learned from the case study countries.

Ms. Soezer summarized the uses of the domestic MRV system as including:

To design effective mitigation strategies targeting key emis-sion sources and sinks; to assess impacts of mitigation projects and policies; to track progress towards mitigation goals and sustainable development; to meet international reporting obligations; to increase trans-parency and credibility; and to track accountability of support. She noted that countries are often developing more than one level of MRV (national, sectoral and project/firm level) with a view to not only measuring GHG emissions but also assessing sustainable development co-benefits. She stressed that domestic MRV systems require input from multiple sources for their success and effectiveness, hence priority should be given to capacity-building, inter-agency coordination and buy-in from external agencies.

Mr. Janak Shrestha, UNFCCC secretariat, explained how an MRV tool for NAMAs can be developed using experiences and lesson learned from the CDM. The MRV objectives for any mitigation actions, including NAMAs, should ensure the delivery of real, permanent, additional and verified mitigation actions, avoid double counting of effort and achieve a net decrease in GHG emissions and reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A robust MRV system will facilitate access to international climate finance such as carbon finance and result/output based financing. Mr. Shrestha presented a case study on developing an MRV tool for a potential NAMA on improving electricity access. He demonstrated how existing CDM MRV infrastructures (approved CDM methodologies, standardized baselines, standards and guidelines) can be adopted to set baselines and quantify emission

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reductions, report emission reductions and sustainable development benefits and verify them.

Understanding transformational change and sustainable development co-benefits in NAMAsMr. Liberal Seburikoko, GCF, presented information on the Fund’s viewpoint on understanding transformational change in NAMAs. He started by stating that there is no agreed definition of transformational change. According to the GCF transformational change would include the potential for scaling up and replication, creating an enabling environment and the potential for supporting low emission and climate-resilient development and a regulatory framework. Participants felt that there is still a knowledge gap with regard to what the GCF offers and suggested further information-sharing within the African countries. Mr. Seburikoko clarified that all information pertaining to the GCF is published on its website and in addition the GCF has organized and is continuing to organize regional workshops to address this. He also encouraged countries to be proactive and engage with their NDAs for guidance on how to make use of the opportunity offered by the GCF.

Mr. Adriaan Korthuis, Climate Focus, gave a presentation on monitoring and assessing sustainable development co-benefits of NAMAs. He mentioned that monitoring such benefits can be beneficial for internal evaluation, UNFCCC periodic reporting and donor progress reporting in the field of GHG emission reductions, in addition to social, economic and environmental benefits. Such co-benefits are the main reasons for implementing these projects. He further explained that when choosing the sustainable development indicators be monitored, a set of rules apply, such as being straightforward, consensus based and in line with international standards, constructed from well-established data sources and managed by a designated organization. There are many systems which can be drawn upon, for instance the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development green growth, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and CDM sustainable development taxonomy. Mr. Korthuis emphasized that countries should monitor only what is used for their benefit and determine what the NAMA is going to deliver, followed by defining the sustainable development parameters.

As part of the steps to follow, the causal chain/theory of change helps to define, operationalize and find aspects that can actually be measured through using proxies or data that have already been gathered and then translating this into impacts/benefits. He mentioned that it is important to note that the process may take time before the impact materializes, also taking into consideration the monitoring approaches used, for instance, for surveys (MRV), metering and national statistics, based on their availability.

Three case studies on monitoring sustainable development were presented and discussed in relation to the various approaches used, challenges faced and lesson learned that could be adopted in the case of NAMAs.

The first case study, presented by Mr. Korthuis of Climate Focus, dealt with lesson learned from monitoring a biogas programme in the United Republic of Tanzania. The project, developed for Gold Standard, mainly targeted three parameters – technical parameters (number of installations, amount of wood used in baseline), usage parameters (number of days used, use of bioslurry, efficiency of cook stoves) and sustainable development parameters (air quality, soil condition, employment, livelihood of poor, access to clean energy, income, technology transfer). The second case study was about a health intervention that cuts emissions, presented by a representative of DelAgua, which is a social enterprise that partnered with the Government of Rwanda for a water filter and cookstove distribution

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The UNFCCC NAMA registryMr. Gopal Raj Joshi, UNFCCC secretariat, provided an update on the operational status of the NAMA registry. He noted that a majority of entries are seeking support for implementation, and energy supply is the most popular sector for submissions. Most of the NAMA entries are submitted from Latin American and Caribbean States, although Africa is well represented. Grant funding is the most commonly sought type of financial support. Mr. Joshi also highlighted the benefits of the registry as being: an information hub for sharing best practices, technical tools and information on NAMAs; an authentic and official source of information, data and knowledge on NAMAs and support needed and available; and a platform for promoting mitigation actions in developing countries. He argued that the registry provides visibility and facilitates matching with sources of support available. He also provided an over-view of the support avail-able within the registry and the extent of matching between NAMAs and sources of support to date.

It was further clarified that the registry is a recording tool and not a tool for accessing finance directly, and its use remains voluntary. The web-based version has been in operation since 2013, with anyone able to access the online public pages where the login credentials required for the closed platform may be entered. The database has two interfaces, for NAMAs requiring support and those requiring recognition, covering four types of user: approver, developer, support editor and public.

Mr. Joshi further informed the participants about efforts made by the secretariat to support the registry’s users and to ensure its successful use. He mentioned that the secretariat provides day-to-day technical sup-port for the registry’s users and has also published guidance documents and technical materials to assist countries in the use of the registry. He also pointed out that workshops and webinars are being planned to further familiarize users with the functions of the registry. He further noted that outreach activities are be-ing undertaken by the secretariat to ensure the provision of registry access rights to countries and to assist users in keeping their entries up-to-date.

The secretariat is always looking for feedback on how to im-prove the registry and has ongoing surveys and social media campaigns in order to increase active participation.

project with the aim of improving health and sanitation issues. The project adopted a baseline survey, a verification survey and an extensive health impact research (water/air quality measurement, blood tests, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases, product uptake and randomized clinical trials).

The last presentation was made by Evidence Action on a case of distributing water dispensers for safe water. The distributed water dispensers contributed to a reduction in diarrhoea cases of 40 per cent, avoiding the irreversible effects of stunted growth in children and improving quality of life. The key indicators used for measuring sustainable development co-benefits are adoption rates, diarrhoeal infection rates and water quality.

The participants felt that ensuring the quality of assessment work for sustainable development co-benefits is a key factor, which depends upon various aspects such as institutional arrangement, technical capacity and third-party verification. A dedicated team responsible for designing surveys and carrying out data collection, analysis and reporting should be in place. Such a team should undergo continuous training with the aim of bringing process improvements.

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The future agenda of NAMAsThis last session of the workshop engaged the participants in an in-depth discussion on harnessing the potential of NAMAs to close the pre-2020 mitigation gap and achieving ambitious mitigation goals under the new climate change agreement. The participants also discussed the required national arrangements and international support for the implementation of NAMAs in the pre- and post-2020 periods.

The participants noted that the NAMA process is a useful, bottom-up and flexible mechanism that helps countries to not only reduce GHG emissions but also achieve sustainable development. NAMAs can serve as logical building blocks for any domestic climate action plans, low-emission development strategy and emission targets under the global climate agreement (INDCs). They are a vehicle for concrete climate actions on the ground, opening an avenue for collaboration between developed and developing countries.

The participants noted that INDCs and NAMAs are closely linkedas both are mitigation concepts centred on national circumstances and development priorities. The main difference is that INDCs are contributions by all Parties whereas NAMAs are contributions by developing countries only. It was acknowledged that, currently, there is still confusion between the two mechanisms, with some countries not clear on their relationship. The participants stated that it might help to bring the two mechanisms together, in the formulation of a coherent mitigation strategy. Towards this end, NAMAs can contribute technical expertise and capacity enhancement. NAMAs have contributed to the mainstreaming of low-emission development into sectoral and national planning by raising political attention and enhancing a national consultation process. The process of identifying and formulating NAMAs has built national capacity on many fronts such as the periodic preparation of GHG inventories, targeted assessment of mitigation

Participants acknowledged that developing countries need to increase the level of their participation in the registry, ensure that their entries are accurate, complete and up-to-date. They also need to alert the secretariat about their capacity-building needs and make use of the various technical resources that have been made available by the secretariat about the use of the registry.During the group discussion, the participants considered the current centralization of NAMA submissions and whether decentralization through NAMA developer access rights might be an option

to increase registry use. Good Internet access remains a challenge in the region and the secretariat emphasized that the Word document workaround is operational and encouraged countries to utilize this method. In a further development, a mobile compatible version is being developed for easing access via smart phones and other such devices. It was concluded that the information provided by this presentation and the workshop as a whole will allow for countries to move forward with their submissions.

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agreement applicable to all Parties and INDCs playing a major role, NAMAs should stay positioned within the planning for INDCs.

Finally, most participants indicated that they would need financial, technical and capacity-building support to prepare INDC/NAMA implementation/action plans,

including more detailed analysis of sectorial mitigation potentials, cost–benefit and co-impacts analysis and financing engineering. Participants highlighted the need for

finance for piloting and implementing NAMAs as a means to delivering targets under INDCs and setting up robust MRV systems to measure the impacts of such actions.

Private sector investment is another important area that requires further attention.

Closure of the workshop

The workshop was formally closed by Ms. Rose Mukankomeje, Director General of REMA, emphasizing that the workshop helped the participants to strengthen their understanding and knowledge of various issues regarding the preparation and implementation of NAMAs. She noted that the knowledge gained and the enhanced skills will not only help to translate NAMA concepts into real actions but also strengthen other climate change initiatives, including INDCs, to meet the objective of the Convention. Ms. Mukankomeje then finished by thanking the workshop facilitators and wishing everyone safe travel.