Monrovia — President George Weah is expected to formally open a high-level meeting organized by Liberia's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Liberia's Revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) today.
Liberia's ambitious revised NDC, as trumpeted by President Weah during his address at the United Nations General Assembly last September, is intended to reduce its Green House Emission by 64 percent by 2030.
The NDC takes into consideration nine climate-sensitive sectors of the country. They include Agriculture, Forestry, Coastal Zones, Fisheries, Health, Transport, Industry, Energy, and Waste as well as cross-cutting targets for urban green corridors.
The revision is in line with the Paris Agreement which mandates countries that are parties to revise or update their NDC every five years.
Speaking on Monday ahead of the event, the Executive Director of the EPA, Prof. Wilson K. Tarpeh said the event is expected to bring together over 400 people and be graced by President Weah as the lead champion of Liberia's fight against climate change.
The meeting, Prof. Tarpeh added, will be followed by a two-day workshop on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the Star Allocation of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to address biodiversity, climate change, and land desertification.
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows countries to voluntarily cooperate with each other to achieve emission reduction targets set out in their NDCs.
In addition, it calls for the creation of credits for emission reduction projects undertaken in developing countries and non-market approaches such as applying taxes to discourage emissions or development aid.
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The EPA Executive Director added that the two-day workshop is intended to increase awareness of the importance of Article 6 as it relates to carbon credits and also to build the capacity of 40 national experts drawn from the public and private sectors.
Visiting international experts from the West African Climate Alliance will facilitate the workshop by providing several presentations and sharing their experiences relating to carbon credits, he added.
Giving further detail, the EPA boss said on Friday, October 20, there will be a meeting on the Star Allocation of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
"GEF has allocated US$8.6 million for biodiversity, Climate Change, and Land Degradation from 2022-2022 under GEF 8 Replenish period as a grant to the Government and people of Liberia," he said.
He added that to date, the GEF has provided more than US$50 million in grants to Liberia.
GEF is the custodian of the financial mechanism of biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, and international waters.
It was established in 1992 and includes 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector. It supports country-driven sustainable development initiatives in developing countries that generate global environmental benefits.
