LECB - Second Mission of the Project Consultant

Work continued on the Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme, Trinidad and Tobago as Dr. Axel Michaelowa (Consultant, LECB) conducted his second mission during the  period January 11 - 21, 2016.

"The LECB Programme partners with governments to implement national projects that support national initiatives that address climate change and sustainable mitigation actions in both the public and industrial sectors as part of a joint collaboration between the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme."

His mission comprised of the following activities: 

• Bilateral meetings with the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business Renewable Energy Project Incubator and Trinity Power.
• A Baseline and Co-benefits Workshop was held at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre (January 15, 2016).
• A consultation was held at the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company (PLIPDECO)
  to discuss potential mitigation options on the estate. The Industry Technical Working Groups met on that afternoon to conduct a SWOT Analysis and Co-Benefits Assessment for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) options for that sector (January 15, 2016).
• Technical Working groups for Power and Transport met at the Environmental Policy and Planning Division (EPPD) offices of the Ministry of Planning and Development to conduct SWOT analyses and co-benefits assessments for NAMA options in those sectors (January 18-19, 2016).  

 

Dr. Michaelowa (3rd from the right) with staff of the EPPD and  LECB Project Team at PLIPDECO.

Dr. Michaelowa facilitating discussions at the consultation in PLIPDECO  on January 15th, 2016.

MGM Innova, the firm which is delivering technical assistance for the development of guidelines for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) also conducted a mission to Trinidad during the period February 15^th - 17^th and met with various stakeholders bilaterally in order to collect data on various systems which may exist or could be developed as it relates to MRV.

LECB Technical Working Group Sessions

The Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme, Trinidad and Tobago convened technical working groups for the development of Low Carbon Action Plans and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) on November 5 and 6, 2015 at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, Mt. Hope. 

The Consultant for these activities, Dr. Axel Michaelowa chaired these sessions. On November 5^th, the first session comprised presentations on NAMAs and Low Carbon Action Plans; the audience included a broad cross section of government, private and civil society groups.In the afternoon of November 5^th, two technical working groups convened for the transportation sector and the power generation sector.  On November 6, a technical working group for the industry sector was convened. This group was further subdivided into the upstream and downstream groups. 

Mr. Hans Schultz, Project Manger, introduces the LECB project  to the participants.

Cross-section of participants at the LECB Technical Working Group Sessions.

All technical working groups held discussions on potential NAMAs in their particular sectors, ranked NAMA options based on feasibility and costs, etc and advised on other related matters such as impediments to implementation or data gaps. 

The LECB Project

The Low Emission Capacity Building Programme (LECB) received approval from the Cabinet. The project document of the LECB Programme for Trinidad and Tobago was signed by the Minister of the  Environment and Water Resources, Senator, the Honourable Ganga Singh and the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr. Richard Blewitt.

The LECB Programme partners with governments to implement national projects that support sustainable mitigation actions in both the public and industrial sectors. It was launched in January 2011 as part of a joint collaboration between the European Union (European Commission and Member States) and the United Nations Development Programme. This  collaborative programme aims to strengthen technical and institutional capacities at the country level, while at the same time facilitating inclusion and coordination of the public and private sector in national initiatives addressing climate change.   

The Ministry anticipates that the work of the LECB will commence in the near future. The next step is the hiring of a Project Manager and Technical Assistant; following which, the activities of the project shall begin. The main expected outputs include:

•  a greenhouse gas inventory 
• at least three Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), 
•  a Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system.

LECB Caribbean Regional Workshop

A regional workshop entitled “Low-Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme - Engaging the Private Sector to Contribute to Climate Change - Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Workshop” was held in Santiago, Chile during the period May 14-16, 2014.

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was represented at the Workshop by Ms. Sindy Singh, Environmental Policy and Planning Division,  Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and Mr. Ryan Assiu, Environmental Management Authority (EMA). 

 

The Workshop aimed to build capacities to design and implement Low Emission Development through national mitigation actions in public and/ or private sectors among LECB participating countries in the Latin  America and Caribbean region. The workshop had four objectives: 

• Initiate a public-private dialogue on stimulating involvement of the private sector in climate change mitigation; 
•  Discuss experiences in private sector participation on mitigation activities and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs); 
•  Engage various actors in a discussion on policy objectives and  innovative approaches to support mitigation activities and  NAMAs; 
•  Exchange lessons learned on improving market conditions to enhance private investment.

 

Ms. Sindy Singh (MEWR) at the LECB - Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Workshop (May 14 –16, 2014).

Overall, it was concluded that there is a significant need to leverage private sector finance for climate change mitigation as public sector funds are not sufficient for the required levels of greenhouse gas abatement to avoid the dangerous anthropogenic climate change as committed to in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  Therefore, in order to leverage such funds, it was decided that there was a need for appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks, incentives and measurement, reporting and verification systems for the implementation of NAMAs.