Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)

1. Strengthen implementation and coordination mechanisms to improve climate change mitigation actions.

2. Implement quantitative and qualitative research and improve systematic priority sequencing between National Energy Policy, Low Carbon Economy, and National Vision 2030 developmental goals.

3. Strengthen institutional and individual capacity in renewable energy technology and management.

4. Implement and strengthen policy that promotes private investment in renewable energy (hydro, biomass and solar etc).

5. Rehabilitate existing hydro-power plants and build new hydro-power plants to increase hydro-power production capacity.

6. Produce and distribute 280,543 energy saving cook stoves that use fuel wood and 308,004 energy saving cook stoves that use charcoal by 2030.

7. Implement large scale biomass projects to generate about 30 MW by 2030. Waste:

1. Strengthen institutional and individual capacity for waste management.

2. Develop waste management infrastructure.

3. Implement and strengthen policy that promotes private investment in waste management.

4. Capture methane gas emitted from landfills and used for fuelling vehicles, cooking at home or generation of power. Transport:

1. Mainstream climate change into existing transport management plan to strengthen emission control.

2. Strengthen institutional capacity for developing strategies for integrated transport services; developing technical and safety standards and the enforcement of policies including emission control.

3. Improve the quality and reliability of transport infrastructure and services.

4. Develop emission reduction and tracking system of pollutants from vehicles.

5. Blend up to 5% of palm oil biodiesel with both gasoline and diesel by 2030 for vehicles. 12 II. ADAPTATION Impacts and Vulnerability and adaptation assessments conducted have revealed that Liberia is Vulnerability faced with climate change and variability leading to extreme events, which have negative impact on agriculture, forestry, health, energy and other sectors. Climate change impacts are marked by irregular patterns of rainfall, flooding, high temperature, and coastal erosion. These factors result to crops and livestock losses that intensify food insecurity and loss of income. For the most part, women and children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. However, their unique knowledge and perspectives also provide opportunities for inclusive, equitable and efficient adaptation responses and coping strategies. The limited supporting infrastructures increase the vulnerability of the population. Coastal areas in Liberia are the most populated and economically vibrant areas. Sea erosion continues to pose increasing threats to the shorelines of coastal cities including major infrastructures and investments. It can also lead to displacement, loss of lives and properties and can severely undermine national security. Area/sector for The three priority areas for adaptation based on Liberia’s NAPA are: Adaptation a) Agriculture- Enhancing resilience to increasing rainfall variability through the Actions diversification of crop cultivation and small ruminants rearing; b) Building of a national hydro-meteorological monitoring system and improved networking for the measurement of climatic parameters; and c) Building of coastal defence walls to reduce the vulnerability of urban coastal areas. The long-term adaptation initiatives will include fishery, health, and transport, all with an integrated gender-responsive approach to ensure progress toward efficient and effective adaptive capacity and resilience. Planned Actions The Agenda for Transformation (AfT), the country’s national development document, recognizes climate change adaptation and mitigation under Pillar V as a cross cutting issue. However, there are challenges linked to the adequate means of implementation. As for sectoral development documents, climate change is integrated in the Food and Agriculture Policy and Strategy (2008) of the Ministry of Agriculture where there is a focus on food security, sustainable agriculture and climate change resilience. A Climate Change Gender Action Plan (CCGAP) was developed by the Government of Liberia in 2012. It provides a framework for enhancing gender equality in both climate adaptation and mitigation activities including decision- making processes, capacity building, implementation of policies and measures to ensure that climate change vulnerabilities are addressed with gender equity and youth development. As for other sectors, integration of climate change in the development planning and implementation processes will be undertaken when the capacities of the sectoral ministries are upgraded. In the short, medium and long terms, Liberia plans to implement adaption actions under different sectors as follows: 13 Agriculture  Develop and promote drought-resistant, flood- tolerant and early maturing crop species.  Intercropping, irrigation and the optimization of lowland/swamp farming.  Pest control including fencing of farms against rodents, birds scarescrows, regular weeding, and the use of high echoing bells.  Develop climate resilient crop/agroforestry diversification and livestock production systems.  Create a platform for knowledge and experience sharing on best adaptation practices.  Develop and implement agriculture and hydrological technology models and scenarios for planning.  Establishment of a gene bank of climate resilient varieties of indigenous food crops. Energy  Protection of water catchments around hydro-power sources such as the St. Paul River Basin.  Strengthening of transmission and distribution infrastructure for public utilities to ensure climate resilience (i.e. flooding). Health  Strengthen integrated disease surveillance response systems and emergency preparedness to prevent, mitigate, and respond to epidemics.  Strengthen preventive measures to restrict preventable disease transmission.  Develop early warning systems for climate- driven infectious diseases.  Integrate climate change considerations into existing health policies and strategies, taking into account gender-differentiated impacts and responses.  Conduct research on health vulnerability and impact, and develop scenarios to facilitate adequate planning. Forestry  Increase awareness and strengthen participation of local dwellers in forest conservation.  Protection of forest and biodiversity rich forest zones.  Increase the amount of forested land through reforestation of degraded lands. Coastal Zone  Develop and implement Coastal Zone policy, strategy and management plan.  Construct hard structures such as sea walls or revetment.  Manage and conserve coastal mangrove ecosystem.  Facilitate technology transfer and training of institutional and local experts in coastal zone management and monitoring. 14 Fishery  Strengthen institutional and local capacity and monitoring systems for fishery management.  Develop and implement climate smart fishery systems to enhance the adaptive capacity and resilience of fisher communities.  Identification and conservation of endangered fish species. Transport/Infrastructure  Implement and reinforce design standards and planning codes for roads and other infrastructure to cope with flooding, sea level rise and windstorm.  Strengthen early warning systems and evacuation planning for intense rainfall events and floods.  Install signs high above the ground that can alert pedestrians and motorists of unsafe zones, such as low-lying areas.  Maintain and upgrade roads with appropriate drainage systems to cope with flooding.  Improve and enhance public transport services. Implementation In Liberia, many sectoral policies have not mainstreamed the impacts of climate of Adaptation change. These include energy, hydrology/meteorology, health, transport and Actions disaster. An overarching climate change policy is currently being developed which will serve as the pillar for comprehensive sectoral strategies and action plans. This policy will enable better coordination of climate change work in the country and provide opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between the government and people of Liberia; as well as with development partners, international and regional institutions, intergovernmental organizations and experts. The current National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) pilot projects implementation framework started in 2010: The coastal pilot project in Grand Bassa Buchanan, with a length of 600meters had a budget of 3.3million USD; the agriculture adaptation pilot project had a budget of 2.6million (begun in 2012). The third pilot project ( monitoring climate information and services to enhance adaptation in climate change) started in 2014 with a budget of 7million USD. All of these projects were due to be implemented in four years from the starting date, with a grant from GEF/ Least develop fund budget of 13million USD. The completion of these projects will depend on the availability of funding. The NAP will detail the medium and long term adaptation program of the country as well as the projected timeframe for implementation. However, the time frame for the implementation of the proposed adaptation actions in this INDC will be up to 2030. 15