The Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change is implementing the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) project, entitled ‘Strengthening the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory of the Republic of Mauritius to Improve Climate Reporting and Transparency’.
The project aims at enhancing the quality of the national GHG inventory and improving data collection, storage, and dissemination processes to support better policy making.
In this context, a three-day capacity building workshop on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodologies focusing on stationary combustion under the Grid Emission Factor component of the project, opened, this morning, at the Sofitel Mauritius Resort and Spa, in Flic en Flac.
The Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Kavydass Ramano, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Resident Representative, Mr Jean Armando Fabiani Appavou, and other personalities were present.
In his
address, Minister Ramano thanked the Global Environment Facility for providing approximately USD 1.3 million in funding for the project, as well as to the UNDP for its unwavering technical support. He highlighted that this initiative aimed at enhancing the GHG inventory, which would improve transparency in the reporting requirements of Mauritius, including the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), National Communications, and the Biennial Transparency Report under the Paris Agreement.
Moreover, Minister Ramano stated that Mauritius relied heavily on various fossil fuels such as coal, heavy oil, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas across sectors including energy, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, and fishing. ‘The Ministry is, therefore, enhancing GHG emission accuracy by collaborating with the University of Mauritius to develop country-specific emission factors, moving away from default factors and proxy data,’ he added.
Speaking about the grid emission factor, Mr Ramano declare
d it a vital tool for Mauritius on its path to a low-emission economy and achieving net-zero status by 2070. ‘This factor reflects the energy mix and facilitates baseline emissions calculations for renewable energy projects, enabling the generation and trading of carbon credits,’ he said.
Minister Ramano further underlined that, despite contributing only 0.01 percent of global GHG emissions, Mauritius was committed to reducing emissions by 40 percent by 2030, as outlined in the NDC 2021. ‘Clear objectives for the energy sector include increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix to 60 percent by 2030 and phasing out coal in electricity generation,’ he asserted.
Government Information Service, Prime Minister’s Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius. Email: gis@govmu.org Website: https://gis.govmu.org Mobile App: Search Gov
Source: Government of Mauritius