Liberia Achieves Major Milestone with Revised NDC

August 18, 2021

The NDC includes climate change adaptation targets for all sectors except industry.

On 3 August 2021, Liberia took important steps to raise its ambition on climate action when it submitted its revised NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions).

In the revised NDC, Liberia committed to reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 64 percent below the projected Business-As-Usual (BAU) level by 2030. 

This is a positive shift from Liberia’s first NDC submission, which aimed for a 15 percent reduction below the projected BAU levels by 2030.

In its submission, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Professor Wilson Tarpeh  said the “NDC reflects Liberia’s full ambition and commitment to doing her part to accomplish the goal to stabilize our global climate and to working with her people and the international community to meet the challenges of climate change together.”

This commitment is constructed from GHG mitigation targets across nine key sectors—agriculture, forests, coastal zones, fisheries, health, transport, industry, energy, and waste—as well as cross-cutting targets for urban green corridors. The NDC also includes climate change adaptation targets for all sectors except industry.  

Unconditional GHG reductions of 10 percent below BAU will result in an absolute emissions level of 11,187Gg CO2e in 2030 while an additional 54 percent reduction conditional upon international support would result in an absolute emissions level of 4,537Gg CO2e in 2030.  

The NDC outlines a national system for measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) for mitigation actions and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for adaptation actions. It also states the policy and institutional arrangement for implementation and adds an analysis of its adaptation and mitigation co-benefits, as well as the direct and indirect investment needed to implement it. 

During its revision processes, Liberia received technical assistance through the NDC Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) in 2020 and 2021. This technical assistance was implemented through Conservation International, which compiled and analyzed data and cost actions in various adaptation-related sectors.

UNDP, through its Climate Promise, supported whole-of-society consultations, the revised NDC compilation, and NDC financing strategy development. Further support was received from EU Global Climate Change Alliance + to analyze mitigation data in the energy, transport, and waste sectors.

EPA Executive- Director has lauded the support from International Partners especially UNDP, in the development of the revised NDC and assured the government’s commitment to its implementation. “We are determined as a government to move with it,” said Tarpeh.

UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative for Programme Violet Baffour has applauded the government of Liberia through the leadership of President George Weah for the high-level political will demonstrated in validating the revised NDC.

“This further demonstrates Liberia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement  and global  efforts to address climate change. I also wish to recognize the EPA leadership for driving the process by mobilizing national and international partners to successfully translate the government’s political will into action, which has allowed Liberia to submit the revised NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” she noted.

With NDC Partnership support, Liberia significantly enhanced its NDC quality, building on improved data analysis which will facilitate monitoring, reporting, and verification during the NDC’s implementation phase. The NDC revision also builds upon key national planning documents, including Liberia’s first NDC (2015-2020), the National Climate Change and Response Strategy (2018), Liberia’s Second National Communication State of the Environment Reports, and Liberia’s first Biennial Update Report (BUR).

Liberia’s revised NDC is well aligned with the national government's Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) and its long-term sustainable development vision for 2030 (Liberia’s Rising Vision 2030).

This alignment will be crucial in facilitating NDC implementation through the public investment framework. Following the NDC submission, Liberia will focus on developing a results-oriented implementation plan through a whole-of-government approach.