Nauru Submits Second 2016 Climate Plan Formalized by Paris Agreement

Summary: The Micronesian island Republic of Nauru submits the second 2016 climate plan formalized by the 2015 Paris Agreement for logging into UN Registry.

aerial view of Pacific Island Republic of Nauru: U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat’s NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) Registry logs the second official climate change commitment Friday, April 8, 2016, as the Micronesian island Republic of Nauru submits the second 2016 climate plan formalized by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Nauru's submission follows, by a little over two weeks, the receipt of Papua New Guinea's nationally determined contribution Thursday, March 24, as the first 2016 climate plan formalized under 2015's Paris Agreement.

A cover letter, dated April 7, from Marlene Moses as Nauru’s ambassador and permanent representative, conveys the accompanying nationally determined contribution to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, on behalf of Baron Divavesi Waqa, 14th President of Nauru.

Under the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, the Republic of Nauru’s submission now formalizes its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) as its nationally determined contribution (NDC). Nauru’s climate action plan notes the circumstances that drive the republic’s commitment to the success of the Paris Agreement.

“Like other small island nations Nauru has been profoundly disturbed with the implications of climate change since the problem appeared on the world scene. Being one of the smaller low lying island nations it is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including sea level rise,” the formal document explains.

“With only around 10,000 persons, Nauru has very limited capacity to respond to a global threat of this magnitude. As such its response has to be streamlined to sit within its capabilities. In this respect its main concern is adaptation,” the document states.

Nauru’s nationally determined contribution, entered in the NDC Registry as the second 2016 climate plan formalized by the Paris Agreement, identifies significant national adaptation strategies for tackling global warming.

“One such improvement will be transition to untapped clean energy sources, such as renewable resources rather than relying on the traditional imported dirty liquid fuels. The other pressing adaptation strategy is to improve the indigenous food supply and portable water availability and storage,” the document states.

Nauru’s official climate action plan pinpoints installation of a large scale solar photovoltaic (PV) system and of a complementary demand side energy management system as key mitigation interventions for the island republic. The solar system would replace an archaic power system, dating back to the early 1950s, that is based on diesel generators.

Nauru estimates the cost of the key mitigation measures at around $50 million. The solar photovoltaic system costs $42 million. The demand side energy system prices at $8 million. The demand side energy system addresses Nauru’s “high night time electrical load.” The demand side energy system would store energy either electrically via batteries or thermally via chilled water.

As a developing country, Nauru looks to climate finance sources to provide funding and technical assistance.

Carbon dioxide emissions contributed by Nauru in 2014 amount to under 0.0002 percent of total global emissions. Despite its small contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, Nauru faces serious threats to survival as a result of the overall effects of global emissions.

Nauru is an oval-shaped island with an area of 8.1 square miles (21 square kilometers). Nauru is the world’s smallest island country. Nauru’s stature as a low-lying, resource-depleted island places the republic among the world’s areas most drastically threatened by climate change’s rising sea levels.

“In conclusion, although a very small nation, Nauru wishes to play its part in the enormous challenge presented to the world by threat of global warming. In Nauru’s case the threat is to its very existence,” states Nauru’s formalized climate action plan.

illustrated map in Nauru International Airport, Yaren District, southwestern Republic of Nauru: Sean Kelleher, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

aerial view of Nauru: U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_view_of_Nauru.jpg

Nauru airport illustrated map: Sean Kelleher, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/seankelleher/15223281457/

For further information:

“Republic of Nauru Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) Under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.” NDC Registry. April 8, 2016.
Available @ http://unfccc.int/files/focus/ndc_registry/application/pdf/nauru_indc_submission_final.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Papua New Guinea Submits First 2016 Climate Plan under Paris Agreement.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/papua-new-guinea-submits-first-2016.html