Peru - National planning on short-lived climate pollutants

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Home to over 30 million people, the South American country of Peru is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, from sea level rise, to extreme weather events and agricultural depletion. At the same time, outdoor air pollution is one of the most significant environmental health risks, responsible for over 9,000 premature deaths a year. Air pollution is particularly bad in urban centres such as Lima, which has some of the highest levels of air pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Luckily, Peru is taking an active role in combatting these threats simultaneously. Since joining the Supporting National Planning (SNAP) Initiative in 2016, the Ministry of Environment has strengthened its institutional capacity to mitigate short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and has taken concrete action, issuing emission standards for metal processing, vehicles, oil and gas, fisheries, transportation, cement and brick production.

Peru’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) establishes five thematic areas (water, health, forests, fisheries and aquaculture, and agriculture) focused on climate change adaptation, and mitigation efforts have the overall target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario. Peru’s NDC targets will be achieved through the implementation of 92 adaptation measures and 62 specific mitigation measures, including actions to reduce methane from the agriculture and waste sectors.

With support from the SNAP initiative, Peru has developed a Roadmap to Reduce SLCPs that identifies seven priority mitigation measures to target the major sources of black carbon. Full implementation of the priorities included in the roadmap would reduce black carbon emissions nationally by 17% in 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario. Other pollutants would also be substantially reduced, including PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides, further increasing the benefits for air quality and human health achieved through these actions. 

Objectives

The SNAP Initiative has provided technical assistance and funding for Peru to undertake a national planning process on short-lived climate pollutants, with the aim to: 
    

  • 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 – Institutional Strengthening – Complete

From 2014-2016, Peru received financial and technical support through the SNAP Initiative’s Institutional Strengthening programme to recruit personnel to scale-up short-lived climate pollutant mitigation activities . The Ministry of Environment established an SLCP Unit in the Environmental Quality Department. An Advisory Committee made up of relevant sectoral Ministries was stablished to support the process of developing mitigation scenarios and identifying measures missing from other programmes or national commitments. A Technical Committee was formed to consult on emission inventories and assist in feasibility evaluations of the measures developed. This included stakeholders from ministries, NGOs, universities and research centres, private companies and international organizations.

The first national emission inventory of SLCPs was developed, and a mitigation assessment was conducted to identify, evaluate and prioritise mitigation measures that would reduce SLCPs and improve air quality while mitigating climate change. This analysis showed that the transportation sector, as well as residential biomass use, and agricultural burning were the largest source of emissions of black carbon and other air pollutants. These efforts resulted in a preliminary roadmap for embedding SLCPs into national climate change related policies, strategies, action plans and programs, including the country’s NDC.

Phase II – National SLCP Planning – Ongoing

In 2016, a SNAP project began to identify the current status of SLCP emissions in the country, including how well SLCPs are controlled in existing plans, strategies and regulatory frameworks, and what further action is needed to achieve clean air and climate benefits. A Roadmap to Reduce SLCPs was developed through an intensive consultative process and with the technical assistance of SEI and the SNAP initiative.

The roadmap identifies seven priority mitigation measures to target the major sources of black carbon in Peru: transport, residential cooking and crop residue burning. The seven mitigation measures include more stringent vehicle emissions standards, increasing the use of LPG for more efficient cooking particularly in rural areas, and reducing the amount of sugar cane that is openly burned in fields. Full implementation of the priorities included in the roadmap would reduce black carbon emissions nationally by 17% in 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario. Other pollutants would also be substantially reduced, including PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides, further increasing the benefits for air quality and human health achieved through these actions.

​For updates on SLCP action in Peru, follow Aire y Clima Perú on Twitter and LinkedIn.


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