Approach to Sectoral Decarbonisation
The Mitigation Action Facility, evolved from the NAMA Facility in 2023, as a go-to platform for providing technical support and climate finance for ambitious mitigation projects with an aim of decarbonising key sectors of the economy and society.
The Mitigation Action Facility continues to fund ambitious climate change mitigation projects to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and long-term strategies (LTS) that are central to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. The Facility primarily focuses on three priority sectors – energy, transport and industry, but remains open to cross-sectoral projects linked to one of the priority sectors. As highlighted in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, energy, transport and industry cumulatively account for more than 40 GtCO2e, or 67% of global annual GHG emissions (as of 2021). To shift the targeted sector towards a carbon-neutral development pathway, the Mitigation Action Facility selects innovative projects that can catalyse sector-wide transformational change.
These efforts can help close the gap in climate finance required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to the Breakthrough Agenda Report, provision of technical and financial assistance are needed to improve the affordability, accessibility and attractiveness of clean technologies and sustainable practices.
UNFCCC Consensus on NDCs and Characteristics of Mitigation Actions
International dialogues have shown that there is an emerging consensus among partner countries, practitioners and international donor institutions on some fundamental elements of sector-wide mitigation actions, which serve to strengthen the transformational change potential of these sectors. The following are observations regarding sector-wide mitigation actions:
- Country-driven and anchored in national development strategies and plans;
- Strive to be nation-wide programmes, even if regional or municipal elements could form part of the overall design;
- Consist of a combination of policies and financial mechanisms. Policies should serve to create an enabling environment and channel financial flows into low-carbon investments. Financial mechanisms should serve to address potential barriers for investment and leverage potential public support for mitigation activities; and
- International support for sector-wide mitigation actions needs to be flexible to provide tailor-made solutions that are appropriate for the circumstances and capabilities of different countries. International funds should be used to enable the implementation of mitigation actions and leverage additional public and/or private capital investment. A strategy for self-sustained implementation at national level should be envisaged.