Grenada’s NDC Partnership Plan Takes A Twofold Approach to Step Up Climate Efforts Across All Sectors

At the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City, the NDC Partnership joined the Caribbean island nation of Grenada in announcing the finalization of its Partnership Plan for 2019-2023, which was designed to accelerate the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This was a momentous achievement, as Grenada is now taking an ambitious twofold approach to enhancing and implementing its NDC: 1) accessing support through the NDC Partnership’s recently launched Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) and 2) accelerating the implementation of its NDC through its Partnership Plan.

Grenada’s Partnership Plan is a clear demonstration to the country’s citizens and global climate change community that the government is committed to delivering climate change actions and meeting its greenhouse gas emissions targets, consistent with its obligations under the Paris Agreement and associated guidelines adopted during COP24.

At the UN Climate Action Summit, Minister of Climate Resilience H.E. Simon Stiell explained, “Grenada’s NDC Partnership Plan outlines concrete priority actions in key sectors such as energy, transport, waste, and forestry. It also makes the link with adaptation and focuses on strengthening the enabling environment and the institutional and human capacity needed to implement the NDC. We thank the NDC Partnership for their collaboration, and we look forward to revising and updating our NDC by 2020, and to the support from partners to implement our NDC to enable us to achieve higher ambition for a climate-smart, resilient, sustainable, and more prosperous Grenada.”

Led by the Ministry of Climate Resilience and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Partnership Plan is a tracking and results framework, which highlights Grenada’s key needs, efforts, and progress towards the implementation and achievement of its NDC. Through this Plan, the Ministry is developing a transparent reporting framework, while also mobilizing other ministries and stakeholders to work in sync and collaboratively to implement Grenada’s NDC.

Grenada’s Partnership Plan also informs engagement with the private sector and international partners and encourages investment in critical sectors. As Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Peter David stated during Grenada’s address at the 2019 UN General Assembly, “Grenada’s NDC calls for financial injection of 160 million USD over the next five years. We are heartened by the indications of support received so far from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility, NDC Partnership, and other agencies focusing on climate finance.”

The Partnership Plan, which translates the NDC into concrete sectoral priority actions and investment needs and clearly identifies remaining gaps, therefore provides an opportunity to accelerate climate action with targeted support from current and new partners, including through highlighting areas that would benefit from leveraging regional approaches. The Plan is strongly grounded in a local capacity building approach and indicates specific support needs for strengthening institutional and human capacity for NDC implementation.

In the energy sector, Grenada’s overarching goal, as outlined in the Plan, is to ensure and provide access to affordable, efficient, clean, and sustainable energy sources and services. This access will drive and secure national development and improve quality of life for all Grenadian citizens. This goal is in line with the Grenada National Energy Policy, which was made public in 2011 and provides a clear link between SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 13 – Climate Action. Immediate actions in the energy sector include updating the national energy policy and developing legislation governing renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In the transport sector, the Plan identifies greater use of sustainable and low-emission modes of transportation as a priority, including by encouraging a change in attitudes and behaviors. Key actions include establishing and enforcing fuel efficiency standards, developing and implementing a sustainable and climate resilient transportation policy with plans to transition toward an optimal set of sustainable transport options, and investing in infrastructure that responds to national resilience needs.

The Plan also aims to reduce overall solid waste and emissions from the waste sector, including by replacing an outdated and inefficient waste management equipment fleet with more sustainable alternatives, reducing vehicle emissions, and investing in waste to energy conversion as well as sewage treatment infrastructure, reducing the amount of sewage flowing into the sea.

Through the Partnership Plan, Grenada is outlining three key goals for its forestry sector: 1) conserving species, ecosystems, and genetic diversity; 2) managing forest resources to build Grenada’s climate change resilience; and 3) implementing appropriate climate change adaptation and mitigation actions. Priority actions include regenerating forests by planting trees in conjunction with a strategic afforestation plan, as well as expanding and developing an effective management infrastructure for protected areas.

Importantly, Grenada’s Partnership Plan is mainstreaming Grenada’s climate change response in its sustainable development agenda (including gender equality) by aligning its NDC with its National Development Plan 2035. A direct link will also be made between the NDC and the Public Sector Investment Program, and close coordination has taken place to align the Plan with the GCF country program for co-financing opportunities. Many of the efforts highlighted in the Partnership Plan are also emphasized in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Climate Change Policy Assessment under Article IV, including the integration of the efforts to reduce emissions, build resilience, and adapt to climate change.

As part of the Partnership Plan development process, key sectoral stakeholders collectively agreed that Grenada would enhance its NDC by 2020 and indicated areas for enhancement, which was captured in the Partnership Plan. The Plan forms a dynamic document and will be updated when Grenada submits its enhanced NDC to the UNFCCC. Grenada will use the support of the NDC Partnership’s CAEP to expand the scope of its NDC by including hydrofluorocarbons and liquid waste, strengthening data on greenhouse gases and vulnerability, mainstreaming gender equality into climate actions, and improving its Monitoring, Reporting & Verification system for the NDC tracking and implementation. Moreover, the government will improve its whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach for NDC enhancement and implementation. This will be done by defining clear roles and responsibilities across all line ministries, and by involving broad stakeholder groups in implementation and raising awareness of Grenada’s efforts for climate action to the public, youth, technical officers, and media.

“The joint approach that Grenada is taking, utilizing CAEP support and the NDC Partnership Plan process, is an approach that we hope other countries will look to as a model for how to enhance the ambition of their NDCs while accelerating climate action implementation,” explained Pablo Vieira, Global Director of the NDC Partnership Support Unit.

“There is much to be admired in Grenada’s commitment to acting boldly, and we look forward to seeing how other countries follow Grenada’s lead, and how partners step up to support Grenada in its NDC implementation efforts.”