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■ In 2007 at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP) in Bali, developing countries, for the first time, agreed to consider taking "measurable, reportable and verifiable" actions to mitigate emissions by working towards including developing country Parties' nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) in a post-2012 framework.
■ This statement was followed up with a firmer commitment under the Cancun Agreements (Decision 1/CP.16) at COP 16, where developing countries agreed to "take nationally appropriate mitigation actions in the context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, aimed at achieving a deviation in emissions relative to 'business as usual' emissions in 2020."
■ But NAMAs are much more than a voluntary commitment. In fact, they may very well become the most important vehicle for developing countries to channel support of developed countries and multilateral development banks for investments in renewables, infrastructure projects, housing, waste management, and other sectors with potential for green development.
■ NAMAs also have potential to reduce risks for foreign investors and enhance confidence in the investment climate in developing countries in the energy and infrastructure investments; as an example the South African Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme was initiated by Parties in the context of the UNFCCC NAMA developments and created an investor friendly environment attracting significant private sector investments.
NATIONALLY APPROPRIATE MITIGATION ACTIONS (NAMAS)
From concept to opportunity
02
DEFINITION OF NAMAS
To date there is no clear definition of NAMAs, but an
emerging practice classifies proposed NAMAs into the
following three categories:
(1) Supported – Supported NAMAs are those actions funded
by Annex I (developed) nations involving a rather open-
ended notion of financial support. It is proposed that these
NAMAs will be listed on a UNFCCC registry and are subject
to international measurement, reporting and verification
(MRV) guidelines to be developed under the Convention (see
information on the NAMA registry and MRV below).
(2) Unilateral / Voluntary – For these NAMAs, a country
unilaterally says it will take a mitigation action without
asking for funding from developed nations. It is proposed
that domestically supported mitigation actions will be subject
to domestic MRV in accordance with guidelines to be
developed under the UNFCCC.
(3) Credited – Credited NAMAs provide developing
countries with financial support by crediting (using a carbon
commodity) certain emission reduction policies or initiatives.
It is possible that a credited NAMA could be linked to the
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or New Market
Mechanism (NMM). Credited NAMAs have been supported
by New Zealand, Switzerland, Papua New Guinea, and South
Korea.
While the form of financial support from developed nations
may currently be ambiguous, the UNFCCC’s financing
measures, Green Climate Fund, and NMM may offer
opportunities for linkages. Likewise, states may seek to use
funds from development programs, such as the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), to fund
NAMAs.
THE NAMA REGISTRY
The Cancun Agreements initiated the process of establishing
a UNFCCC registry to record NAMAs to facilitate matching
of finance, technology and capacity-building support for
these actions from interested parties/investors, such as
developed nations or bilateral/multilateral institutions. COP
17 at Durban clarified the scope of the web-based registry
and invited detailed proposals for NAMAs to line up
matching investors. A separate registry was established to
recognise voluntary NAMAs not seeking foreign investment.
NAMAS SUBMITTED TO DATE
As of September 2012, 53 countries have submitted
NAMAs to the UNFCCC, ranging from projects to
policies to strategies with varying degrees of detail.
Progress on NAMAs is advancing, with many
international activities and proposals underway.
The NAMAs submitted to date can be classified into
seven sectors: energy supply, industry, buildings,
transport, waste, agriculture, and forestry. According to a
May 2012 report, it is estimated that 18 per cent of the
NAMAs are proposed for the energy supply sector, 9 per
cent for the industry sector, 11 per cent for buildings,
13 per cent for transport, 12 per cent for waste, 12 per
cent for agriculture and 18 per cent for the forestry sector.
Seven percent of NAMAs are not sector-specific, but
rather propose national GHG emission targets, such as
those from India and China. With regard to renewable
energy NAMAs, it appears that they can be classified as
unspecified (in the event that the NAMA does not address
a specific renewables source), solar, wind, geothermal,
biomass, and hydropower.
At the 36th session of the Subsidiary Body for
Implementation (SBI) in Bonn, Germany (May 14-25,
2012), the UNFCCC secretariat presented a design
prototype of the registry for the Parties consideration.
Additionally, the Parties continued workshops under the
Ad hoc Working Group for Long-term Cooperative Action
(AWG-LCA) to further understanding of the diversity of
mitigation actions, underlying assumptions and any
support needed to implement these actions, and produced a
report summariszing developments to date.
Conceptually, there are four stages of NAMA
development: feasibility study, concept, proposal/
planning and implementation.
(1) Feasibility Study - A feasibility study
describes a potential NAMA that does not yet
have government support.
(2) Concept Stage – In the concept stage, a
country will identify the NAMA sector and
specific mitigation objective, which has either
been published or will have traceable sources.
Documentation in addition to the official
submission to the UNFCCC should be provided.
(3) Proposal / Planning Stage – Once these
criteria have been met, the NAMA will progress to
the proposal/planning stage, where a country will
draft a proposal with a clear proponent and cost
estimates for the implementation of the NAMA,
support needs, and the estimated greenhouse gas
emission mitigation. Furthermore, it should
contain the types of activities to be conducted and
a time frame for their implementation.
(4) Implementation Stage – In the final stage, the
NAMA will have secured some level of support to
undertake the implementation activities specified
in the proposal and will have a previous NAMA
proposal that has been presented to the UNFCCC.
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Copyright ©2012 DLA Piper. All rights reserved. | NOV 12 | Ref: 14590964
This publication is intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with. It is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a
substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. DLA Piper will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this
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FUNDING NAMAS
Although there are funds that are internationally available
and have been earmarked for NAMA funding, there is
not a one size fits all approach to NAMA funding. On
the other hand the South African example shows that a
well-designed NAMA can attract international
governmental support, the necessary guarantees, and
subsequently enormous private sector investments. The
more focused a country is in determining its NAMA
activities and to address risks that otherwise would
hinder investments in sectors such as renewables, the
more likely it is for this country to implement its
approaches and bring in substantial investments. The
key will be for countries to show their ability and
willingness to implement the NAMAs and make the step
from concept and capacity building to implementation of
clear frameworks that allows partners to understand the
costs and opportunities of the NAMAs. The
developments related to the Green Climate Fund have to
be watched as well. Advanced NAMA concepts seem
ideal for funding there (also under fast track funding).
AGENDA ITEMS AT DOHA
Negotiations concerning NAMAs are placed in the
negotiation track of the AWG-LCA but will also be
addressed under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and
Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the SBI. Major
issues to be discussed include short and long-term
financing of NAMAs, deployment of the NAMA registry
prototype, and the development of guidelines for
measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of
NAMAs.
With respect to the AWG-LCA, agenda item 3(b)(ii)
(Enhanced national/international action on mitigation of
climate change: NAMAs) addresses issues facing
developing country Parties as they prepare their NAMAs.
On a related note, agenda item 3(e) (Enhanced action on
the provision of financial resources and investment to
support action on mitigation and adaptation and
technology cooperation) and its subparts will be a major
focus for how financial mechanisms can help developing
countries implement NAMAs.
The SBSTA will cover methodological issues under the
convention relating to the creation of "General guidelines
for domestic measurement, reporting and verification of
domestically supported nationally appropriate mitigation
actions by developing country Parties" under agenda item
11(c). These MRV decisions will be important for
developing countries as they attempt to accurately
quantify the impacts of unilateral/voluntary NAMAs.
Finally, the SBI will initiate the rollout of the prototype
NAMA registry pursuant to agenda item 5(a). The
deployment of the NAMA registry prototype is expected
to take place in the first week of negotiations. Other
technical NAMA issues will be addressed under agenda
item 5(b) (Composition, modalities and procedures of the
team of technical experts under international consultations
and analysis).
DLA Piper will continuously monitor the developments in
this area. If you have any questions related to this or other
issues addressed at the Climate Change Conferences
please check our website or contact us directly.
KEY CONTACT
Alexander Sarac
Legal Director
T +44 (0)20 7153 7729
The most successful NAMA currently in the
implementation stage is the South African
Renewable Initiative (SARI). It aims to mobilise
funding, both domestic and international, and
increase sector expertise to stimulate renewable
energy in South Africa through 2030 by, among
other things, developing grid infrastructure. Other
unspecified NAMAs focus on price stabilisation,
such as the Chilean NAMA to implement a
stabilisation fund to protect renewable energy
projects against market fluctuation. An unspecified
NAMA from Barbados relates to reducing
dependency on fossil fuels by promoting the
generation of renewable energy.