Republic of Mauritius- Climate change Review of Nationally determined contributions of Mauritius

This was announced by the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Hon Kavydass Ramano, yesterday afternoon, during a press conference at Ken Lee Tower, in Port Louis.  The French Ambassador to Mauritius, Mr Emmanuel Cohet, and the Representative of the UNDP Country Office in Mauritius, Ms Amanda Serumaga, were also present.

NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.  The Paris Agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive NDCs that it intends to achieve.  Parties whose NDCs have a time frame of up to 2030, need to communicate or update by 2020, their contributions and do so every five years.  The time frame of Mauritius is 2030, hence the need for a review.

This review, stressed Mr Ramano, will determine Mauritius’s new commitments in terms of greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation measures to protect the country from risks associated to climate change.

According to him, although Mauritius emits only 0.01% of greenhouse gases, through NDCs, the country has made a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. In this context, several priority sectors have been identified such as energy and transport with regards to mitigation, and sectors such as water, agriculture, fisheries, health and protection of coastal areas in terms of adaptation, he said.

For the review process, the Minister indicated that Mauritius is benefiting from the support of the French Government through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Expertise France.  In fact, following the climate summit held in December 2017 under the chairmanship of the French President, and through the signature of an agreement with the AFD, Mauritius received technical assistance to the tune of 2 million euros.  Within this assistance, Mauritius has secured funding to the tune of 200,000 euros, he pointed out.

In addition, the services of a consortium of international experts have been mobilised by the AFD and Expertise France, namely Application Européene de Technologies et de Services and Cibola Partners.

As for the UNDP, stated Mr Ramano, the assistance extended to Mauritius lies within the framework of the Climate Promise Initiative project. The UNDP will help the country to hold consultations with various socio-economic partners and raise awareness on the NDCs to ensure an inclusive and participatory approach. He also indicated that the UNDP is providing assistance to Mauritius to the tune of USD 90,000 for the elaboration of the master plan on the environment.

Ahead of the COP21 (21^st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]), the NDCs of Mauritius were submitted to the secretariat of the UNFCCC on 28 September 2015.  The new NDCs of Mauritius, will be submitted before COP26, which had to be postponed to November 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mauritius ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change on 22 April 2016 and has been very proactive since the adoption of the agreement.  A series of measures was adopted pertaining to disaster risk reduction, adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change, as well as for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. and carbon emission.  The main measures are: strengthening of the drain system; protection and rehabilitation of coasts, and monitoring of climatic parameters.

Mauritius has also introduced four legislations namely, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, Land Drainage Authority Act, Local Government Amendment Act and Mauritius Meteorological Services Act.  In addition, the Climate Change Bill, is under preparation to improve Mauritius’s capacity to adapt to the growing negative impacts of climate change while promoting sustainable development.