June 2017: This Update focuses on individual nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) by developing countries, and related support, events and activities, for the period from February to June 2017.

During this period, Zambia launched a call for support for the implementation of four NAMAs in various sectors and the NAMA Facility pre-selected seven projects for detailed preparation support. Mitigation Momentum launched its mid-year status update, which explores the role of private sector involvement in NAMAs.

NAMAs, first introduced in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Cancun Agreements, are actions that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to business-as-usual (BAU) emissions in 2020 in developing countries. They are prepared under the umbrella of a governmental initiative, aligned with the country’s national development goals, and supported by finance, technology and capacity building.

NAMAs are becoming an increasingly important vehicle in support of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, with significant co-benefits for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development due to their alignment with national development strategies. Increasing attention is also being paid to bridging the existing gap between support requested by developing countries and that received.

NAMA Update: Four New NAMAs Seek Support

On 30 June 2017, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) NAMA Registry displayed a total of: 68 NAMAs seeking support for preparation (up by one from January 2017); 69 NAMAs seeking support for implementation (up by four); nine NAMAs for recognition; 18 entries on support for NAMAs; and 17 supported NAMAs (up by one). The newly supported NAMA entry is in the area of rural electrification and stems from a US$1 million funding agreement signed between Austria and Vanuatu in November 2016. The UNFCCC registry is aimed at facilitating the matching of finance, technology and capacity-building support with NAMAs seeking international support, and at recognizing other NAMAs. [UNFCCC NAMA Registry] [UNFCCC Registry Entry on Vanuatu]

Based on the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) DTU Partnership pipeline, as of 1 July 2017, the total number of NAMAs stood at 146 (up by five since January 2017). The total support offered for NAMAs, at US$162 million, remained at less than 2% of the total support requested. The UK and Germany’s NAMA Facility accounts for the majority of the funding made available, US$145 million, according to the UNEP DTU Partnership, or UDP. [UNEP DTU NAMA Pipeline]

Dominican Republic Requests Support for Coffee NAMA Preparation

Following Costa Rica’s footsteps, the Dominican Republic is looking for US$350,000 in preparation support for a Coffee NAMA the Government is aiming to implement between 2017 and 2028 that would reduce emissions in coffee farms and mills through: reducing the use of nitrogenized fertilizers and nitrous oxide emissions; avoiding methane emissions through improved treatment and reuse of wastewater in mills; improving the use and management of biomass as energy source; and capturing carbon through spread of agro-forestry systems. [UNFCCC NAMA Registry Entry] [UNEP DTU NAMA Pipeline]

Zambia Calls for Implementation Support for Diverse NAMAs

Zambia is seeking implementation support for four NAMAs, in the areas of: green urban mobility (two integrated tramway systems), totalling US$1.52 billion; sustainable agriculture (integrated crop and livestock farming) US$100 million; small hydropower (six projects with a total installed capacity of 26 MW), totalling US$56 million; and integrated waste management (in four cities), totalling US$37 million. [UNFCCC NAMA Registry] [UNEP DTU NAMA Pipeline]

NAMA Facility’s Fourth Call Advances to Detailed Proposal Preparation

In March, the NAMA Facility announced it had pre-selected seven projects from the Facility’s fourth call to receive funding for a “Detailed Preparation Phase.” The projects receiving the support are from Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, Tunisia and Uganda, and include mitigation actions in the beef supply chain, sugar mills, power grids, rice cultivation and buildings. The Facility will decide on implementation funding based on an assessment of the seven detailed proposals. [NAMA Facility Press Release]

The UNFCCC’s Mitigation and Transparency Exchange portal reported on the Tunisian NAMA, participating in the NAMA Facility’s fourth call, which focuses on scaling up of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in the country’s building sector through addressing barriers, which include low awareness and insufficient access to capital, and technical and institutional capacities. The requested support is expected to leverage up to €166 million in private financing and €36 in financing from the Tunisian Government. [Mitigation and Transparency Exchange Article]

A recording of a webinar focusing on lessons learned from the NAMA Facility’s fourth call has been made available online. The Facility also released the executive summary of its annual report 2016, which details the Facility’s objectives, activities and progress in the NAMAs it supports over the year. Furthermore, the Facility published an update on expected activities in the second half of 2017 and on its fifth call, which it “hopes to announce” by the end of 2017, pending the result of elections in the UK and Germany. [NAMA Facility Fourth Call Lessons Webinar] [NAMA Facility Annual Report 2016] [NAMA Facility 2017 Outlook]

Over the past few months, the NAMA Facility participated in various events, delivering presentations on:

• Scaling up financing for mitigation measures at a workshop titled ‘Beyond Paris: Financing and Implementing Climate Change Commitments’ in Vienna, Austria, in March [NAMA Facility Press Release];
• Preparing bankable NAMA proposals at the Anglophone African Regional Workshop on finance-ready mitigation actions in Accra, Ghana, in April [NAMA Facility Press Release]; and
• Climate finance in action, including experiences from supported NAMAs in Mexico and Costa Rica, at a NAMA Facility workshop during the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, in May [NAMA Facility Press Release].

New Cycle of GIZ NAMA e-Course

The German development agency Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) announced the third cycle of its online course ‘’NAMA e-Learning… A contribution to the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),’ which will run from 1 September to 31 October 2017. The deadline for registration for the fee-based, trainer-guided course is 1 August 2017. [Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement Press Release]

Progress Updates on Costa Rica’s Coffee NAMA, Mexico’s Housing NAMA

The GIZ-supported low-carbon Coffee NAMA in Costa Rica, which is also the world’s first agricultural NAMA, reported on results after its first year of implementation. In 2016, 35 mills, more than 600 coffee producers and 250 extension workers and technicians from the Government and coffee mills received training. In 2017, 34 mills are measuring their water footprints and 16 are preparing greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. A credit support fund will also be made available to farms and mills to facilitate the adoption of sustainable and climate-friendly technologies and practices. In addition, 25 mills are supported in developing ideas on how to market low-carbon coffee internationally. [Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement Press Release]

In Mexico, a NAMA pilot supported by the NAMA Facility, which saw the construction of 52 housing units equipped with thermal insulation, energy efficient windows, sun shading and photovoltaic (PV) cells, is expected to be concluded in the Northen summer of 2017. The energy use of the houses will be 65% lower than in a normal, comparable house. [NAMA Facility Press Release] [GIZ Video of Mexican Housing NAMA]

GIZ’s TRANSfer project’s first newsletter issue of 2017 reported that Colombia’s NAMA TAnDem (Active Transport and Demand Management) had progressed to implementation in two cities, selected out of 17 that expressed interest. [TRANSfer Newsletter February 2017]

Mitigation Momentum’s Mid-year Update Highlights Role for Private Sector

In May, Mitigation Momentum released its mid-year Status Report on NAMAs, which observes that, while the number of NAMAs under development continues to grow, that of NAMAs under implementation (20 out of 229) lags far behind, indicating unresolved challenges in securing funding. The report also sheds some initial light to the role of the private sector in supporting NAMAs, including through relevant financing mechanisms. It argues that private sector participation is “is not a question of shifting responsibilities…, but rather of deciding the best possible mode of collaboration” between the public and private sectors. It also finds that some instruments available for the public sector to promote private-sector participation are more efficient, including different types of guarantees. [Mitigation Momentum Status Report of NAMAs – Mid-year Update 2017]