21 July 2015: The UNFCCC Secretariat has announced that the Marshall Islands is the first small island developing State (SIDS) Party to formally submit its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), which sets out a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target of 32% below 2010 levels by 2025. The INDC also includes an indicative target of reducing emissions 45% below 2010 levels by 2030. The submission from the Marshall Islands brings the total number of Parties to submit an INDC to 48.

The INDC’s targets are economy-wide, excluding land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). According to the INDC, the goals encompass the waste sector and electricity generation, transport (land and shipping), and other parts (cooking and lighting) of the energy sector, as emissions from other sectors of the country’s economy are negligible. It also states that gases other than carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are negligible.

The Marshall Islands explains that the INDC will put the Party on the path to nearly halving emissions between 2010 and 2030, with a view to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. The country does not intend to use market mechanisms to meet its targets.

Explaining that the country’s emissions are less than 0.00001% of the global total and peaked in 2009, the Party notes it chose goals much more ambitious than what is required by the language in paragraph 11 of Decision 1/CP.20 which states “LDCs [least developed countries] and SIDS may communicate information on strategies, plans and actions for low GHG emission development….” In the INDC’s section on mitigation, the Party lists actions under consideration to achieve its goals.

On adaptation, the Party notes its particular vulnerabilities and commits to “further developing…the existing adaptation framework to build upon integrated disaster risk management strategies,” including through the development and implementation of a national adaptation plan, “protecting traditional culture and ecosystem resources, ensuring climate-resilient public infrastructure and pursuing facilitative, stakeholder-driven methods to increase resiliency of privately-owned structures and resources.”

The INDC also includes a section on support for implementation, which notes that, while the Party views its contribution as a national undertaking, it is very reliant on external resources and international cooperation to build capacity and help finance its sustainable development objectives.

All Parties to the UNFCCC are expected to submit INDCs in advance of the Paris Climate Change Conference, which will take place in November-December 2015. Those submitted by 1 October 2015 will be included in a synthesis report on their aggregate effect by 1 November 2015. Parties are anticipated to agree on a global climate change agreement to take effect in 2020 at the Paris Climate Change Conference. [UNFCCC Press Release] [Marshall Islands’ INDC] [UNFCCC INDC Portal]