Although Haiti has relatively low greenhouse gas emissions (9,920 kt CO2eq in 2018), it aims to periodically update its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement and to increase climate change mitigation measures while promoting sustainable development and the wellbeing of its citizens.
With technical assistance from the UNDP’s ‘Climate Promise’ initiative and from the Intra-ACP GCCA+ Climate Support Facility, Haiti revised its NDC. The Climate Support Facility (CSF) provided additional help focusing on enabling the local stakeholders to integrate climate change adaptation into the updated NDC, to estimate the cost of mitigation measures, and to calculate projected greenhouse gas emissions for each of the sectors involved.
Given the recurrent nature of the updating process, the intervention targeted capacity building and reinforcing personnel in the various ministries dealing with sectors affected by climate change. Four main tasks were programmed, to be carried out in close coordination with the Ministry of the Environment:
- Analysing national communications, strategies, plans and programmes relating to climate change adaptation and recommending measures to integrate adaptation into the NDC and to reinforce capacities.
- Capacity building at the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, and other state entities involved in the revision of the NDC. Training was provided on the FAO’s EX-Ante Carbon-balance tool (EX-ACT), including estimating costs of mitigation measures and using ISO 14090 norms on adaptation.
- Participatory regional workshops for key actors in government, the private sector and civil society.
- Preparing the updated version of the NDC.
The data collected through the analysis of national climate change documentation, the information gathered in consultations with stakeholders and experts, the training sessions and the participatory regional workshops laid the ground for a productive process of revising the NDC, which was successfully submitted to the United Nations’ NDC Registry on 1 June 2022.
“Haiti’s 2030 NDC is a document that brings us hope, entailing many perennial transformations”, says Environment Minister James Cadet in his foreword to the NDC publication.
“(…) The nation’s resilience will, moreover, be reinforced thanks to the adaptation measures that will impact agriculture, animal farming, fishing, water resources, road infrastructure, coastal areas, and healthcare.”
The completion of the CSF mission gives testimony to the dedication, flexibility, and resourcefulness of the technical advisors and of their counterparts in the Climate Change Directory of the Haitian Ministry of the Environment. It is now up to this Ministry to garner the necessary political support to promote the revised NDC among the different sectors and stakeholders in Haiti, encouraging its application and building positive public support.
Factbox
- 5 regional workshops covering Haiti’s 10 geographic departments made it possible to gather the opinions and recommendations of local stakeholders on the best way to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in their own particular situation.
- Key personnel at the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development were trained to use the FAO’s EX-Ante Carbon-balance tool (EX-ACT).
- UN NDC Registry on 1 June 2022.