Using Data to Meet N.D.C.s
Today’s discussion included two different levels of stakeholders – partner institutions like the U.N. system and international financial institutions and other development organizations interested in supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation in Belize. The collaboration with other line ministries helps with Belize meeting its nationally determined contributions to COP.
Kenrick Williams
Dr. Kenrick Williams, C.E.O., Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Disaster Rick Management & NEMO
“Part of our NDCs is as it relates to key sectors: transport, energy, waste and forest. Again the weather and climate will impact these key sectors. How we manage these sectors will inform our COP commitments. So a transition to energy for example, renewable energy, a transition to PV systems; understanding then when are the hot days, when are the longest sun days. Those are information that the meteorological service has in its database. So the energy sector can use that information to start informing where we have the highest intensity of the sun, the location, the extent, the duration, the time period, the time scales etc. That is information that they can start using to inform their investments so that when they look at key geographies – whether it is pine ridge or whether it is near the coast or stuff like that – this is information that they have. When they do that, then it starts to help us to meet these commitments in terms of reduction in emissions. Similarly to our forest sector; one of the information that is provided by the National Meteorological Service is fire risk forecast. The forest department uses that fire risk forecast to get ahead of the fire management system. So they get an extent of where they are looking at key risk and so with the limited resources, they can target so as to reduce the impact from fires on the various forest systems across Belize. With that then, when you have the reduction in fire burns, you have reduced emissions as it relates to these events.”
