Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 12, 2022 (SKNIS): The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis launched its National Determined Contribution (NDC) Implementation Plan to address climate issues at a significant ceremony at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Tuesday, April 12.
Minister of Environment, the Honourable Eric Evelyn, described the NDC as critically important to the Federation, especially in the context of climate change.
“The Ministry of Environment and Cooperatives as the focal point for climate change has been the lead Ministry for the revision process to update St. Kitts and Nevis National Determined Contribution. The NDC outlines the national efforts that my country intends to undertake to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change,” said Minister Evelyn.
St. Kitts and Nevis launched and presented its revised NDC at COP 26, in November 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.
“Through a series of engagements and consultations, St. Kitts and Nevis has pledged to raise the bar. We pledge a significantly more ambitious mitigation target of reducing economy-wide CO2 emissions by 61 percent by 2030, compared to the base year 2010. We are cognizant of the fact that it will require significant efforts, collaboration, and resources to achieve the activities outlined in the NDC. For us to do that, we needed to delve a little deeper into the NDC and produce actionable activities,” said the environment minister. “In this vein, I implore all ministries, sectors and agencies, public and private to let us work together to achieve the targets outlined in the NDC Implementation Plan.”
Minister Evelyn indicated that St. Kitts and Nevis’ Enhanced Mitigations Actions call for 35.7 megawatts of utility-scale solar PV in Saint Kitts; 6.6 megawatts of wind power capacity to be installed in Saint Kitts; 25 megawatts of geothermal power capacity (10 in Nevis and 15 in Saint Kitts); improvement in transmission and distribution infrastructure to reduce losses in both islands; two solar PV plants of 0.75 megawatts each to supply a desalination plant located in each island; five (5) percent demand reduction for the power sector by introducing Solar Water Heaters and penetration of Electric Vehicles reaching two (2) percent of the vehicle fleet.
“We recognize that we would need adequate access to resources including climate finance, as well as capacity-building support not only in electricity generation but to develop the necessary charging infrastructure and training programmes to enable swift de-carbonization of the transport sector,” he said. “Colleagues, as I think about our vulnerabilities and urgent need to respond, I ponder on the conclusions in the recently approved Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that highlights impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. It reminds us that time is of the essence and that the window to secure a livable and sustainable future for all is rapidly closing. Adaptation is urgently needed, but it will not be enough without limiting warming to 1.5°C.”
The launch was organized to present the final NDC Implementation Plan to key stakeholders to show political commitment and maintain momentum to kick off implementation; strengthen intersectoral coordination and outline roles and responsibilities; showcase the value of the NDC Implementation Plan (including its online component) as a coordination tool that can be adopted across other departments, as well as to facilitate strategic discussion on the NDC Implementation Plan, roles of ministries, and partners and next steps.
The event wraps up on Wednesday, April 13 with a Partner RoundTable for NDC Implementation.
