16 October 2018
Guide Seeks to Help Pacific Island Countries Achieve Net Zero Emissions
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
story highlights

The guide details a process to help Pacific island countries design their own long-term, economy-wide strategies, identify barriers to implementation and determine financing needs and sources.

It includes case studies that document the experiences of Fiji and the Marshall Islands in developing their mid-century strategies, and is accompanied by a Strategic Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience Tool.

24 September 2018: ClimateWorks Australia has launched a guide to help Pacific island countries create long-term, climate-resilient and net zero emissions pathways. The publication titled, ‘Horizon to Horizon: A Pacific Island Country Guide to Creating Long Term Climate Resilience, Net Zero Emissions Development and a Sustainable Future,’ was developed in consultation with stakeholders from across the region.

The guide details a process to help Pacific island countries design their own long-term, economy-wide strategies, identify barriers to implementation and determine financing needs and sources.

The guide draws on the work of the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, which aims to help develop ambitious 2050 net zero pathways, while maintaining economic growth and achieving other SDGs. The pathways approach looks at four “pillars” to reduce emissions in all economic sectors: reduced energy use; switching to cleaner fuels; carbon capture and storage (CCS); and cleaner electricity production.

The guide seeks to reduce “planning fatigue” and harmonize existing policy and planning efforts.

The guide details advantages of low-emission development in Pacific island countries, such as holistic long-term planning, energy security and increased resilience, and seeks to reduce “planning fatigue” and harmonize existing policy and planning efforts.

Regarding co-benefits of such strategies, the guide mentions financial savings, improved air quality and health, increased energy independence, improved agricultural productivity and resilience, and opportunities for blue carbon economies. Case studies document the experiences of Fiji and the Marshall Islands in developing their mid-century strategies.

A Strategic Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience Tool (SMART), which accompanies the guide, supports decision making by enhancing understanding of where mitigation actions interact with adaptation and resilience priorities to help simplify the process for developing and implementing long-term, low-emission development strategies (LEDS).

The guide and accompanying tool, prepared with support from the 2050 Pathways Platform and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), were launched during an event in New York, US, on 24 September 2018. [Publication: Horizon to Horizon: A Pacific Island Country Guide to Creating Long Term Climate Resilience, Net Zero Emissions Development and a Sustainable Future] [Landing Page for the Guide] [Climate Works Australia]

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