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Tuvalu Commences Update of its First Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)

Funafuti, Tuvalu – A leader in global climate action, Tuvalu continues to demonstrate strong commitment to the Paris Agreement. On 07 July 2022, the Tuvalu Climate Change Department kickstarted the process to update Tuvalu’s First Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with an inception workshop hosted with key sector stakeholders in country.

In accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the Paris Agreement, countries are invited to ‘prepare, communicate, and maintain successive nationally determined contributions that it intends to achieve’. Each Party’s successive NDC will represent progress beyond its current NDC and reflect the ‘highest possible ambition’ in line with its different national circumstances. As a developing Pacific Island Country, with a population of just over 10,000 inhabitants, Tuvalu’s commitment to the Paris Agreement demonstrates its exemplary leadership, as well as the vital need for stronger pledges from developed countries.

Director of Tuvalu Climate Change Department, Ms. Pepetua Latasi delivers opening remarks.

Led by the Climate Change Department, the inception workshop was delivered by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in its capacity as an implementation partner of the Regional Pacific NDC Hub. Delivering her opening remarks at the workshop, Director of the Tuvalu Climate Change Department, Ms. Pepetua Latasi, commented on the crucial need to update Tuvalu’s ambitions in its NDC.

“Tuvalu seeks to communicate a robust and ambitious NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat at the end of this year. We are looking forward to working closely with stakeholders and GGGI to strengthen commitments in existing sectors, and identifying new sectors with ambitious targets for Tuvalu’s Updated NDC,” commented Director Latasi.

“With Tuvalu’s NDC Implementation Roadmap and NDC Investment Plan including a pipeline of projects in the energy efficiency and transport sectors completed in 2021, the NDC Update is a natural next step to build on the work already underway, and enhance Tuvalu’s ambition. We also anticipate that this will encourage a stronger commitment from developed nations of the world to address the climate crisis together”.

GGGI and the NDC Hub team delivered the workshop virtually, with GGGI Pacific Regional Director, Ms. Katerina Syngellakis (on video) also giving remarks on the Tuvalu NDC Update country request.

The GGGI Pacific Regional Director, Ms. Katerina Syngellakis in her remarks added that GGGI looks forward to deepening and strengthening its engagement with Tuvalu through new initiatives such as the Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN) to mobilize finance towards NDC implementation.

Initial discussions at the inception workshop revolved around the priority sectors for updating the NDC such as the energy efficiency sector, transport sector, as well as the waste sector. As a nation particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, building climate change resilience through adaptation and associated potential targets were also highlighted with the national stakeholders at the workshop.

Over the next few months, GGGI and the Climate Change Department will be working closely with national experts and in country stakeholders to refine the scope of Tuvalu’s Updated NDC. Tuvalu aims to submit its Updated NDC to the UNFCCC Secretariat prior to the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27), in November this year.

The Regional Pacific NDC Hub is administered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and implemented in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).