Lebanon’s Fourth National Communication and Third Biennial Update Report under the UNFCCC (3BUR-4NC) 

Lebanon’s Fourth National Communication and Third Biennial Update Report under the UNFCCC (3BUR-4NC) 

 

Summary

Lebanon’s Fourth National Communication and Third Biennial Update Report (3BUR-4NC), under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), project aims to enable Lebanon to prepare, produce and disseminate its Third Biennial Update Reports (3BURs) and Fourth National Communication to the UNFCCC to fulfill Lebanon’s commitments as a non-Annex 1 Party to the Convention. The reports present the country’s GHG inventory, implemented sectoral mitigation actions that are contributing to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change, in addition to the main barriers for fulfilling Lebanon’s reporting requirements. 

Background

The project supports the Government of Lebanon in achieving its global environment concerns and commitments to international conventions, and to integrate climate change considerations in national development planning and policy through ensuring continuity of the institutional and technical capacity building, partly initiated and consequently sustained by reporting instruments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The project will enable the Government to enhance available emission data, performing targeted research, and strengthening technical capacity and institutions to address both mitigation and adaptation. It will also allow the country to strengthen the existing institutional arrangements and support the long-term targets aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change.

Major achievements

  1. Submitted Lebanon’s third and fourth Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC, in 2019 and 2021 respectively, included: updated Lebanon’s greenhouse gas (GHG) national inventories for the year 2018 and time-series covering the period from 1994 to 2018 for the agriculture, energy, transport, waste, industrial and land-use, land-use change and forestry sectors, updated GHG mitigation measures and progress achieved so far, climate finance reporting, as well as gaps for future reporting. 
  2. Underwent Lebanon’s third International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) process in 2020 under the UNFCCC to assess the transparency and accuracy of its reporting as well as the needed support to improve reporting.  
  3. Preparing Lebanon’s fourth National Communication which will include inventory information up to 2018. Current updates for the energy, transport, solid waste, wastewater, industrial processes, agriculture and forestry sectors are being undertaken.
  4. Updated Lebanon’s Technology Needs Assessment for the 4 priority sectors identified by stakeholders: energy, transport, agriculture, and water. The results are to be reported in the Fourth National Communication.
  5. Supported the Ministry of Environment in updating Lebanon’s NDC for 2020 as well as in coordinating with the MoA/FAO for the National Agricultural Strategy, the MoPH/WHO for the National Health and Environment Strategy and with MoEW/LCEC/ IRENA for the new renewable energy targets. The project was also instrumental in spreading awareness on the latest results of Lebanon’s GHG emissions and climate change impacts by reaching out to non-state actors: NDU, AUB, USJ, private sector and embassies.
  6. Organized the first sustainable mobility conference “The road to sustainable mobility: let’s start the talk” in partnership with LAU- Faculty of Engineering to explore technological solutions to climate mitigation and adaptation in Lebanon. 
  7. Built the capacity of 20 national experts and governmental employees on GHG inventories, climate mitigation models and MRV tools to support and improve institutional arrangements related to the preparation of climate reports. 

Project outcome

Outcome 1: National circumstances, institutional and MRV arrangements pertinent to UNFCCC implementation updated

Outcome 2: Gaps and constraints and related support needed and received for capacity building, technology transfer and finance assessed

Outcome 3: National greenhouse gas inventory updated and capacity to collect information enhanced

Outcome 4: Vulnerability and impacts of climate change assessed, and plans and programmes proposed to facilitate adaptation prepared, including MRV of adaptation

Outcome 5: Policies and measures to mitigate climate change assessed, and capacity to collect and analyze and report data strengthened 

Outcome 6: The Third and Fourth Biennial Update report and Fourth National Communication compiled and submitted to the UNFCCC including reporting and evaluation 

GESI Component: 

Through the project, information was collected using gender disaggregated data where possible to better understand the national conditions of men and women in the context of climate change planning, implementation, and reporting. This allows a deeper understanding of gender dynamics with a focus on institutions and their coordination mechanisms (gender trends, structures of decision-making bodies, current coordinating mechanisms, gender diversity in participating institutions) and enable targeted assessments and consequently accurate gaps and needs valuation, followed by recommendations for enhanced gender-responsiveness in governmental institutions. 

In addition, similarly to all previously communicated UNFCCC reports, gender balance was considered in project management with regard to the technical team that was hired to prepare the 4NC and 3BUR.  

The guidance on gender integration through the NCs and BURs developed by the Global Support Programme through UNDP and in collaboration with UNEP and GEF was applied.