In this piece #ClimateTracker Salomé Soto reflects on the price of Sustainability and what NAMAs really mean in Colombia
In Colombia, where the environmental crisis threatens our survival but the price of Sustainability is too high to afford; is there any alternative? Or should we be looking at the opportunities of community development?
The Sustainability concern goes against a society that for generations has rooted practices of excessive consumption without considering the consequences. Unfortunately, any individual who voluntarily decides to become sustainable, and to change his consumption habits, should bear the costs associated to high investment in clean technology. Lacking financial capacity, companies who lose their investments.
However, Sustainable Development suggests another kind of approach. There are some options like industrial ecology, green markets, recycling and NAMAs, that may also provide economic sustainability as well. National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), created in 2007 consists of voluntary programs seeking to implement projects to reduce carbon emissions (CO2) at sectoral level in developing countries, through clean development mechanisms.
The advantage of NAMAs is that they are collaborative and allow entire national sectors, both public and private, to benefit from the economies of scale and investment risk sharing for technological innovation. These are mega-projects that promote efficient, clean, sustainable and profitable sectors. Additionally, NAMAs which can certify and quantify emissions reduction, will allow certified emissions reduction service credits under the UN, that can be traded at the carbon market to leverage investments and transaction costs.
The good news is that Colombia is moving forward. We currently have NAMAs planned for the Industrial, Energy, Mining, Waste, Agriculture and Transport sectors. According to UNEPDTU, Colombia has at least 4 NAMAs under study and planning; Transport, Industry, Energy and Solid Waste Management. For example, our transport NAMA covers 3 sub-sectors: Freight - funded by the German government; Traffic - funded by the national budget; and Electric vehicles in Bogota. This last one, has been brought forward thanks to the lead of companies like CODENSA, EPM and EMGESA.
Finance will be a critical aspect in bringing these projects to fruition. But with creative diversification, we can always find a way. For example, Mexico is developing a NAMA for residential energy efficiency, which is financially possible by using complementary policies such as the carbon tax with a carbon market, established this year.
Dr Essam Mohamed AHMED Hassan, member of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency and the IPCC said that “NAMAs are a good choice for developing country economies, only if they understand the great benefits that this brings along. This can lead strategic planning and strategic design of policies and programs to support it. Without an adequate preparation for NAMAs, there will never be money available for its funding. Money is not a problem, it’s only a matter of time and planning. Please tell me: what would you do if you were offered $10M USD now? Surely you do not have a plan for that! Without planning there is no money.”
I am a faithful convinced of market mechanisms and cost-efficient solutions as a key cog in the fight against Climate Change. I find in NAMAs a possible and promising collective choice for the structural evolution that we require both Colombia and around the world. However, as decision makers, how useful is knowing alternatives if we do not take action? Despite the planning and preparation pathway that we have taken in Colombia, at a very personal level, we need to stop neglecting our environmental concerns. We need to explore persistently to find solutions and even more we need to materialize our intentions and leave behind the conviction than the world’s problems are “none of our business”.
This article was originally posted here
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