Enga Province was the third pilot province to hold a capacity strengthening workshop on mainstreaming Climate Resilience and Green Growth (CRGG). Global Green Growth Institute delivered the workshop in Wabag under the leadership and guidance of the Enga Provincial Administration and Papua New Guinea’s Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA).

The target audience for the workshop included administrators, policy advisors, directors and senior officers of Enga Provincial Government (EPG); and senior officers from the five-district development authority. A total of 35 participants from the province attended the workshop. Representatives from the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs, and Australia High Commission also participated in the workshop.

The workshop was delivered under the Climate-Resilient Green Growth project and is funded by the Australian Government.

The workshop was conducted in hybrid mode due to the ongoing COVID-19 challenges and aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Enga provincial stakeholders to integrate climate resilience and green growth considerations into the provincial plans and budgets. The outcome of the workshop will lead authorities in Enga Province to successfully mainstream CRGG into their provincial planning and budgeting processes. Subsequently, the end goal is to ensure all actors at the sub-national level harmonize and align climate change development interventions to PNG’s Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution 2020, Sustainable Development Goal Roadmap of 30 Action by 2030, and PNG’s ambition to be net-zero emissions in 2050.

Raphael Tamean, the Deputy Enga Provincial Administrator formally opened the workshop. He stated that climate change is a real threat Enga Province. Because of climate change, development efforts in our province will be severely affected. EPG recognizes the need and urgency to implement climate mitigation and adaptation measures and find ways to develop in a more sustainable way that will safeguard her people. Hence, EPG’s climate change adaptation strategy is to mainstream CRGG into existing and new provincial planning and budgetary processes. He thanked GGGI for delivering this workshop that teaches the approaches and tools for the CRGG mainstreaming interventions.

Mr. Ruel Yamuna, Managing Director for CCDA commended the EPG for the establishment of a robust Enga Provincial Climate Change Advisory Committee. Mr. Yamuna further projected that through the support of this committee and EPG, Enga Province will be the model province in unlocking the potential and promises of a climate-resilient green growth economic model. He also commended GGGI that this workshop follows numerous activities delivered by GGGI last year.  He then announced his enthusiasm to witness the handover of Enga Province’s CRGG Assessment report to the provincial government later today. The assessment uncovers four priority sectors, namely, agriculture, water, energy, and transport.

Thomas Wooden, Second Secretary at the Australian High Commission, acknowledged that Australia was committed to climate action and that COVID-19 couldn’t be allowed to disrupt Australia and PNG’s shared climate action ambitions. He said that climate change was a shared challenge PNG and Australia were tackling together, including through Australia‘s funding support to GGGI to deliver the CRGG project in Enga Province. He said the workshop was a perfect demonstration of the CRGG project in action, with capacity-building workshops addressing a range of issues, including enhancing the capacity of Enga’s Provincial Administration.

Dr. Achala Abeysinghe, GGGI Country Representative for PNG in her opening remarks stated that GGGI’s work is embedded in a value chain that aims to give ownership to provinces and that capacity strengthening for mainstreaming climate resilience and green growth into provincial planning and budgets is a crucial milestone to achieve this purpose. She thanked the Enga Provincial Administration for their commitment to CRGG and CCDA and the Australian Government for their continued support.

The two-day workshop integrated theoretical discussions and practical application of CRGG and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion mainstreaming principles and approaches to enhance participants’ learning and capacity and equip them with the fundamental tools to carry out the mainstreaming work. The Enga Province CRGG Assessment key findings were also shared with the participants to guide discussions around key impact CRGG interventions and the drafting process of the mainstreaming plan/outline for each CRGG priority sector. A series of consultations with the priority sectors (Agriculture, Water, Electricity, and Transport) will be organized by GGGI in collaboration with the Enga Provincial Planning Department in the coming months to further hone and finalize the draft mainstreaming sector plans.

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About the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)

Based in Seoul, GGGI is an intergovernmental organization that supports governments of developing countries to transition to a model of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. GGGI delivers programs in over 30 partner countries with technical support, capacity building, policy planning & implementation, and by helping to build a pipeline of bankable green investment projects. More on GGGI’s events, projects, and publications can be found on www.gggi.org. You can also follow GGGI on Twitter and join us on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Local GGGI communications contact
Dr. Achala Abeysinghe, Country Representative, Papua New Guinea
achala.abeysinghe@GGGI.org