Eswatini

A Climate and Clean Air Coalition partner since 2019, the Kingdom of Eswatini has been involved in Coalition projects in the agriculture, HFCs and heavy-duty vehicles sectors. 

Under the NDC Partnership started in 2020, Eswatini’s Ministry of Tourism and Environment expressed its interest to develop a short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) emissions inventory and reduction plan. Throughout 2021, the Coalition assisted Eswatini in finalising greenhouse gas, SLCP and air pollutant assessments that support its National Climate Change Policy and help align its climate action with the goals for sustainable development, poverty eradication and adaptive capacity in its National Development Plan.  

Key sectors responsible for SLCP emissions, including energy, industry, agriculture, waste management and transport, are addressed in Eswatini’s National Climate Change Policy, Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action Plan (NAMA). Eswatini’s first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), submitted in 2015, sets targets to: (i) increase the share of renewable energy in the national energy mix by 50% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, (ii) reach a 10% level of commercial use of ethanol-blended petrol by 2030 and (iii) phase out HFCs, PFCs and SF6 gases by developing the value chain for alternative gases.   

In terms of climate action generally, the Sustainable Energy for All Country Action Plan of 2014 and the attached Sustainable Energy for All Action Agenda of 2016 set out to achieve sustainable energy for all its citizens by 2030 through projects supporting clean cook stoves and rural electrification or solar photovoltaic installations on public buildings – all which contribute to realising Eswatini’s NDC targets.  

This plan was complemented with the Energy Master Plan 2034. It provides the quantitative base to national decision makers for adequately planning energy sector development. The plan thus covers both the use and supply of electricity and primary fuels under a planning horizon from 2014 to 2034. The National Energy Policy and National Energy Policy Implementation Strategy of 2018 are both in line with the Energy Master Plan. It aims to achieve a 50% renewables target by generating electricity from biomass, hydro, solar and wind energy sources.  

With funding from the Coalition and FAO through the NDC partners, a greenhouse gas inventory of Eswatini’s livestock sector was finalised in 2021. This inventory will serve as a baseline for identifying mitigation actions to reduce the country’s agricultural emissions, which are responsible for a third of total national emissions.  

Agriculture 

• Since 2019: The Swaziland Agricultural Development Project (SADP), an EU-funded project is working to improve smallholder production and marketing systems that lead to sustainable food security and improvement for rural households. Climate-change related activities include conservation agriculture, strengthening agricultural extension systems and crop diversification/market linkages.  

• 2018 – 2020: The Climate Smart Agriculture pilot program with the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) aimed to strengthen agricultural practices, which sustainably increase productivity and lead to a climate resilient system while simultaneously removing greenhouse gases.   

• 2015 : Climate-smart agriculture is mainstreamed in the National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP). The plan seeks to develop climate-smart agriculture as a means for achieving food security by increasing productivity and resilience while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

• 2016: The National Climate Change Plan included specific mitigation strategies for the agriculture sector, namely to:  

• Increase agricultural intensification and adoption of sustainable land management practices (conservation agriculture, climate smart agriculture) 

• Improve nitrogen fertiliser management 

• Develop support tools for better in-put management 

• Establish monitoring systems for greenhouse gas emissions in the sector.  

HFCs 

• 2020: Eswatini ratified Kigali Amendment requiring it halt HFC production and use by 2024 as part of the Article 5 (developing countries) Group 1. This furthermore implies a 80% reduction by 2045.   

• 2015: Eswatini’s NDC set targets to develop a value chain for alternative zero-GWP gases, phase out the consumption of ozone depleting gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6 gases) and substitutes with low-GWP are the current priority.  

Transport - Heavy-duty vehicles  

• 2015: Under its NDC Eswatini intends to reach a 10% level of commercial use of an ethanol blend in petrol by 2030. Eswatini expects cross-sectoral co-benefits with agriculture, as bagasse and molasses (by-products of the sugar industry) can be recycled to produce ethanol.