Fiji Submits Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC

25 February 2019: The Government of Fiji has become the 11th country to submit its long-term strategy (LTS) for low emission development 2018-2050 to the UNFCCC Secretariat. Fiji’s Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS) puts forward long-term emission reductions, and defines long-term sustainable and resilient economy-wide mitigations pathways until 2050. It is the result of national, sectoral and bilateral consultations among a range of stakeholders.

The LEDS also addresses: sector-specific targets and measures; social, economic and environmental dimensions; education, capacity building and awareness raising; and a framework for monitoring and evaluating the LEDS.

Fiji’s Strategy is one of the world’s first LEDS to address the Blue Carbon Sector, and focuses on Fiji’s mangrove ecosystems. It also builds on existing mitigation and adaptation actions in Fiji, and will inform and help raise ambition in Fiji’s future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The LEDS details Fiji’s objective of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 across all economic sectors, and details four potential low emission scenarios for Fiji to achieve this:

A ‘Business-as-Usual (BAU) Unconditional Scenario,’ which refers to policies, targets and technologies that would be implemented and financed without reliance on external or international financing;
A ‘BAU Conditional Scenario,’ which is conditional on external or international financing to implement mitigation actions;
A ‘High-Ambition Scenario,’ which projects ambitions beyond those already specified, and achieves significant emission reductions by 2050 compared with the BAU scenarios; and
A ‘Very High Ambition Scenario,’ which projects ambitions well beyond those already specified, and in which most sectors achieve net-zero or negative emissions by 2050.

Fiji aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 across all economic sectors.

The LEDS shows that under the ‘Very High Ambition Scenario,’ net-zero emissions can be achieved in 2041, after which emissions would increasingly be net negative, due to, inter alia, a transformation of the country’s energy sector to one based on on- and off-grid renewable energy generation. Under this scenario, Fiji’s energy sector would be free of emissions by 2050, and waste sector emissions would be nearly zero due to methane capture and utilization of organic waste, and extensive waste reduction and recycling programmes. In addition, afforestation, reduced deforestation and increased use of sustainable forest plantations would help Fiji achieve net negative emissions.

The LEDS estimates that Fiji’s emissions would more than double under the BAU Unconditional Scenario, grow incrementally under the BAU Conditional Scenario, and drop by nearly 31% under the High Ambition Scenario.

The four scenarios were elaborated for each sector, including: electricity and other energy use; land transport; domestic maritime transport; domestic air transport; agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU); and waste. The LEDS also considers emission scenarios resulting from efforts to protect and restore coastal wetlands.

The LEDS explains that, while SDG 13 (climate action) provides a direct link between mitigation and achieving sustainable development, climate change is a cross-cutting issue across all the SDGs. The Strategy aims to decarbonize the economy without threatening the country’s long-term development objectives or limiting achievement of the SDGs. The LEDS also provides the opportunity to integrate national sustainable development objectives into the context of “deep decarbonization” and vice versa, and will also help Fiji meet the SDGs at the national level. It details how the LEDS can play a role in achieving SDG 5 (gender equality) and a number of associated targets on, inter alia, promoting women’s empowerment and participation in decision making.

The LEDS was developed under the guidance of the Ministry of Economy with support from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). Fiji joins Benin, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the US, the UK and Ukraine who have already submitted their LTSs. [Fiji LEDS 2018-2050] [UNFCCC LEDS Website]