Côte d’Ivoire - National planning on short-lived climate pollutants

Year

2015

Funding

CCAC Funded

Implementing partners

The West African country of Côte d’Ivoire is home to over 25 million people, the majority of whom are consistently exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed Worth Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. According to WHO, this exposure is estimated to have resulted in 34,000 premature deaths in 2016, including 8,000 child deaths from respiratory infections. Côte d’Ivoire is simultaneously experiencing the effects of climate change and its impacts on the Ivorian economy, threatening vital industries such as cocoa production and hindering socioeconomic development.

Despite their small contribution to global emissions, Côte d’Ivoire has developed an ambitious plan to address these two challenges simultaneously in view of their development imperatives. The National Action Plan to Reduce SLCPs will lead to direct in-country benefits derived from improved air quality including increased agricultural yields, improved respiratory health, and the prevention of over 1,000 premature deaths. The plan also has the potential to reduce Côte d’Ivoire’s greenhouse gas emissions by 16% in 2030, achieving more than half of the country’s current climate change mitigation commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Objectives

The objectives of the support provided by the SNAP Initiative was to provide technical assistance and funding for the Ministry of Environment of Côte d’Ivoire and CIAPOL to undertake a national planning process on short-lived climate pollutants, and implement resulting mitigation measures, specifically:

Strengthen coordination and action on short-lived climate pollutants
Identify major emission sources, their likely evolution and mitigation potential
Assess the co-benefits of action
Prioritise the most relevant measures at national scale
Identify ways to promote and implement these mitigation measures
Incorporate short-lived climate pollutants into existing plans and activities where they are not currently considered
Support the implementation of priority measures and track progress

What we're doing

Phase I – Complete

In 2012, Côte d’Ivoire expressed interest in joining the CCAC in order to reduce short-lived climate pollutants and in turn improve agricultural productivity, preserve human health, and limit climate impacts. An agreement was then reached in 2015 between the Ministry of Environment and the CCAC in in order to develop a National SLCP Action Plan as part of the CCAC’s Strengthening National Action & Planning (SNAP) Initiative. The planning process for subsequent work began by building a national team of relevant stakeholders from ministries, civil society, and the private sector including the National Centre on Air Pollution Control (CIAPOL) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric Physics of University Felix Houphoët-Boigny. This inclusive structure along with the support of the CCAC and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) allowed for the identification of 5 priority action areas including transportation, cooking and lighting in households, industry, waste, oil and gas and agriculture.

Following sectoral evaluations, the Ministry of Environment and CIAPOL led in the development of specific mitigation measures for reducing SLCPs in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. As a result, the final National SLCP Action Plan was produced including 16 mitigation measures endorsed by the Ministry of Environment in December of 2019. Full implementation of these measures would lead to a 59% reduction in black carbon emissions, and a 34% reduction in methane emissions by 2030 compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

The National SLCP Action Plan is to be coordinated and monitored by CIAPOL with the support of the SNAP initiative and SEI. Implementation of the mitigation measures will be undertaken through projects and activities by sectoral Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The scope of activities includes switching to cleaner fuels for cooking, reducing emissions from crop and waste burning and livestock, regulation and enforcement of vehicle emission standards, and reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector. Demonstrating their strong commitment to reducing SLCPs, the government has also made important commitments to incorporate the 16 SLCP mitigation measures into other national plans, such as the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Development Plan.

Phase 2 – Ongoing

The second phase of the SNAP initiative in Côte d’Ivoire will support the implementation of the National SLCP Plan. Key activities that will be undertaken as part of this implementation will include:

Integration of SLCPs within Cote d’Ivoire’s revised Nationally Determined Contribution
Integration of the National SLCP Plan within other relevant planning processes in Côte d’Ivoire, especially the National Development Plan
Integration of actions of the National SLCP Plan within the air quality planning processes in Cote d’Ivoire
Establishment of a robust system for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the SLCP mitigation measures (e.g. through climate change MRV frameworks or other M&E systems), including updating the LEAP model for Cote d’Ivoire to make emission inventory preparation and updating easier
Development of project proposals by sectoral ministries for the implementation of the measures included in the national SLCP plan, including identifying national and other funding opportunities