The Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA) and her partners including the European Union (EU), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and NDC Partnership through Conservation International (CI) are making tremendous gains with the revision of the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which hinges on how the West African country would adequately response to the risk posed by climate change.
As part of the gains being made, the EPA and her partners over the weekend concluded a one-day regional workshop on the revision of Liberia’s NDC to the Paris Agreement.
The NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of these long-term goals. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Liberia began a process to review its NDC on August 25, 2020 with the organization of a one-day inception workshop in Paynesville, outside Monrovia having seen the need to update its NDC.
Considering that the revision process can only be achieved through broader stakeholder participation cutting across the birth and length of Liberia through information sharing, critical analysis of the sectors and inclusion of other relevant sectors and green corridors, the EPA and her partners on Friday, September 25, 2020 organized a one-day regional workshop, which was characterized by technical presentations and interactive discussions among participants and technicians in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
Speaking at the start of the workshop, Professor Benjamin S. Karmorh, focal point of the United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said that climate change has been identified as a major threat to human development.
He said being part of the global community Liberia is heavily being impacted by climate change.
“As we speak, our agriculture sector is being disrupted; the coastline is being eroded, the health sector is being impacted as the result of infectious diseases. Our infrastructure along the coastline is being destroyed. The fishery sector is also being impacted, the water resource is being impacted, likewise the forest resources,” Professor Karmorh said.
According to him, in 2015, Liberia being part of the global community was able to prepare her climate change action plan referred to as Intended National Determined Contribution (INDC).
The Liberia Climate Change expert disclosed that under the leadership of President George M. Weah, Liberia ratified the Paris Agreement.
“Liberia is again under obligation to revise another climate action plan refer to as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC),” he told the audience including superintendents and commissioners from southeastern counties.
Professor Karmorh said as a party to the Paris Agreement, the country is under obligation to revise its climate action plan. In 2015, Liberia submitted her contribution with the intention of stepping up an ambition to address the issue of climate change.
Speaking further, he said when we submitted our NDC in 2015, we considered adaptation and mitigation.
He noted that in the revise plan, Liberia is considering key important sectors including Short Lived Climate Pollutants, Green Corridor and Natural Capitol Accounting.
Liberia, a country of 4.5 million where 60 percent of the population happens to be young people Liberia recognized the importance of young people in this process is very, very cardinal.
The young people, according to Professor Karmorh are part of vulnerable sector and noted that the physical challenged, women and children are also considered in the revision of the country’s NDC.
He recognized the support being provided to the NDC revision process by UNDP-Liberia, the European Union (EU) Long Term Technical Agreement and the NDC Partnership through CI.
Profession Karmorh asked participants at the gathering to address issue of cost, issue of means of implementation “as well as how do we set up targets appropriate indicators so that when we set up what we call monitoring, reporting and verification system we will be able to take stock in term of the progress we are going to make.”
In separate remarks, superintendents from southern counties lauded the EPA and her partners for the initiative and promised their fullest participation in the NDC revision process.