Summary
GestionCC, a project to support climate change management in Peru recently completed its Phase 2 (01/12/2018 to 30/09/2021). This article highlights the many positive results stemming from the project, that have supported positive outcomes for management, decision-making and implementation for climate change policy.
Peru’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), part of the Paris Agreement on climate change, were ratified by the government of Peru on July 22, 2016 and entered into force on November 4 of the same year.
The NDCs in adaptation establish objectives and goals to reduce vulnerability to the dangers associated with climate change. The NDC in mitigation aims to achieve the goal of reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in 2030 to an absolute target of about 123 MtCO2e (excl. LULUCF; rated “Insufficient” by Climate Action Tracker, accessed 09/06/22).
The last NDC update (December 2020) also increased ambition in adaptation by incorporating two new priority areas: tourism and transport (in addition to water, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, forest, and health).
GestionCC has supported the national Government of Peru as well as its regional governments in the context of their climate change policy and NDC commitments.
Objectives and partnerships
Goal: Support the Government of Peru in the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), establishing a solid foundation of enabling conditions such as clear institutional arrangements, better capacity, adequate access to funds and information, as well as empowered actors through participatory processes.
The Climate Change Management Support Project (Phase 2) [in Spanish, Proyecto de Apoyo a la Gestión del Cambio Climático] or GestiónCC is an initiative of the Peruvian government, led by the Ministry of the Environment through the General Directorate of Climate Change and Desertification. The project is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC/COSUDE) and implemented by South South North and Libelula Institute for Global Change.
Regional governments have been identified as one of the target groups for the intervention.
The GestionCC Project had four main results/outputs that support positive outcomes for management, decision-making and implementation for climate change policy.
Generation of improved instruments and coordination for the management of climate change at the national level
Improved instruments and regulations at the national level for Peru were established as a result of the GestionCC Project’s interventions, studies and direct technical assistance. These instruments will be crucial in the coming years for decision-making and multi-sector, multi-level and multi-stakeholder coordination and will help the national government of Peru in their implementation of climate policy.
We can specifically mention:
- The current Peruvian NDC has been strengthened (in relation to the one presented in 2015) through: (i) a higher level of ambition in mitigation and adaptation, (ii) strengthening of the implementation mechanisms; and (iii) strengthening of national and subnational coordination with the private sector and civil society. (See video of former Minister of the Environment of Peru here - in Spanish)
- Technical support for the process of developing guidelines for the implementation of the Regulations of the Framework Law on Climate Change (LMCC) and the National Climate Change Strategy (ENCC) 2050 (Long Term Strategy - LTS for the UNFCCC language).
- Consolidation of the participatory process model “Let's talk about the NDC”, with regions, the private sector and regions, as an example to generate public policies in a participatory and inclusive manner.
- Inputs for the National Climate Financing Strategy (guarantee fund, project portfolio, papers).
- Design proposal for a guarantee fund to promote private investment for the NDC. The guarantee fund aims to promote renewable energy and ecosystem services, research, technological development and innovation in adaptation to climate change, within the framework of Law No. 30754. The product is in the final phase of review by MINAM. The estimated size of the fund is S/ 11,389 million soles and, if invested in the suggested activities, it could potentially reduce an accumulated 37.08 MtCO2eq by 2030 (53.4% of the GHG formally committed to the Paris Agreement in the first NDC).
- Roadmap for the participation of the private sector in the NDC process, agreed. Activities focused on developing a catalog of concept notes and business cases for private sector engagement. A catalog of 53 initiatives was prepared, of which 18 are public-private and 21 private. At least two initiatives have been addressed in thematic areas of both adaptation and mitigation.
- Identification of nature-based solutions (NbS) projects linked to adaptation NDCs. 19 adaptation measures were identified that can be considered NbS at a conceptual level and 13 with the potential to be so (35% of NDC adaptation measures).
(See video synthesis of results and testimonials here - in Spanish)
Generation of improved climate information for decision making
New climate information products and services were created for assessing vulnerability to climate change and for making planning and investment decisions under fine-scale climate change scenarios. These include user-friendly and interactive communication products. The development and use of these products contributed to strengthening the technical capabilities of SENAMHI.
Related outputs were:
- Input to the National Adaptation Plan of Peru (the first product that used the improved scenario).
- Generation of climate change scenarios in Peru to 2030 and 2050 at a scale of 5km (document available for download here).
- Development of a strategy for the sustainability of undertaking periodic climate scenarios within the public mechanisms of Peru.
In the areas of health, water and biomes, outputs/results from application of scenarios include:
- A new output "Map of climatic classification of Peru". Updated after 33 years
- Generation of climatic thresholds associated with the incidence of dengue
- Descriptive-statistical and association analysis of climatic variables and prioritized diseases at the national level
- Systematization of extreme weather events
- Publication of scientific article “Present water balance of the Pacific slope”, in the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute journal (MDPI).
- Climate and health website: http://bvs.minsa.gob.pe/climaysalud/
- Tool that shows water availability by basin: https://idesep.senamhi.gob.pe/balance-hidrico/
- Interactive climate map of Peru: https://www.senamhi.gob.pe/?&p=mapa-climatico-del-peru
It should be noted that it was a particular challenge to carry out inter-institutional coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic within the health sector.
(See video synthesis of results and testimonials here)
Enhanced implementation of NDC at the sub-national level
The project worked hand in hand with the regional governments of Arequipa, Ucayali and Madre de Dios in order to provide greater availability of technical information, greater awareness, better capacities and better access to financing. All three geographical areas have increased their capacity to implement the NDCs, and the project activities and results have made more visible the great subnational potential for contributing to the NDC of Peru, which is already on the radar of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru.
Outputs include:
• A Matrix that systematizes the financial instruments available for projects that include the climate component. This Matrix can be accessed from here.
• Contest for journalists and communicators focused on climate action.
• Training and acceleration program for climate action for sectoral and regional public officials, and registration of more than 80 participants. The Catholic University of Peru has the elements to continue with this program.
• Pilot projects: off-grid solar power plant in Masisea, Ucayali (https://impetu.pe/sociedad/masiseinos-contaran-con-energia-electrica-con-central-solar/) and solar electrification projects for 4 hospitals in Arequipa. These are uploaded to the Invierte.pe platform of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
• Support for the implementation of Module I of Forest Zoning in Madre de Dios, which is an enabling condition for five measures of the LULUCF sector (land use, land use change and forestry) that are part of the NDC.
• Support for the finalization and approval of the Arequipa Regional Climate Change Strategy, compatible with the NDCs.
• Support for the incorporation of the ERCC in the planning instruments of GORE Ucayali.
(See video synthesis of results and testimonials here)
Strengthening the global exchange of NDCs
GestionCC contributed to the generation of knowledge management and communication products that promote a common vision among stakeholders and increase the capacity to take action around NDCs at the local, national, regional and international levels. The project has also been very active in regional and global discussion spaces in which its results and work methodologies have been presented.
We can specifically mention:
• Active participation with relevant contributions, from MINAM officials and experts in national and international meetings, for example, the climate action table and Sustainable Peru, the events of the Community of Practice of involvement of the private sector of LEDS LAC, and the Summit of Ambition of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• A Toolbox – Toolbox for Climate Action: it is a web tool (open source) that makes available to different actors information that has been generated during the two phases of GestionCC. The information is categorized as follows:
- Understand the NDCs and know how to implement them
- Access climate information for decision making
- Review information by thematic axis
- Learn about climate finance
- Involvement in climate action with the private sector.
• Preparation and presentation of the Manual for journalists and communicators for Climate Action.
• Design and provision of a Toolkit for Climate Action
• Assistance to the Ministry of the Environment of Peru in the design of 2 side events at COP 26 in Glasgow.
• The electronic bulletin Climatoscope has been continuously disseminated, in which the activities of the project and climate action in general were reported.