No. 9 May 1997 Supplement

Country Study News

The Newsletter of the UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment

Peru

Achieving the objectives of the UNFCCC implies putting in place or strengthening institutional structures and processes, as well as building up and enhancing human resources. These are the ultimate goals of a collaborative effort undertaken by the UNEP Centre together with National Environmental Council (CONAM) in Peru. The project, supported by Danida, has three immediate objectives:

• to strengthen individual knowledge and expertise on the methodological approaches within economic assessment and modelling GHG emission limitation;
• to enhance the competence of institutions to incorporate climate change mitigation strategies in their sectoral policies and create a framework in which those strategies play a meaningful role in decision­making and actions; and
• to promote institutional interaction with a view to achieving an institutional structure that allows effective co­ordination among sectoral climate change mitigation programmes and actions.

Climate Change initiatives

Peru has already conducted a climate change study with support from the US Country Study Programme. The study was initiated in June 1994 and finalised by November 1996. The study was conducted by the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of the National University of Engineering (UNI) in collaboration with teams from the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) and the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI).

• The study comprised three main components:
• GHG inventory and climate change mitigation options for energy­related activities.
• GHG inventory and climate change mitigation options for non­energy sector.
• Vulnerability analysis for coastal zones.

CONAM was established in conjunction with the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law in June 1995. One of the duties of CONAM is to be the national agency responsible for complying with obligations and commitments under the Climate Convention. Its main role in this context is in coordinating the participation of the different institutions who are preparing the national communication to the FCCC.

New directions

The present Danida­funded project on capacity building, institutional support and training addresses two particular aspects of national capacity strengthening.

First, there is a need to enhance the ability to address and evaluate the crucial questions related to policy choices and the design of climate change mitigation strategies. It is of paramount importance to place these questions within the context of the national development agenda. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the social, institutional and economic conditions for the successful implementation of mitigation strategies that also promote social and economic development.

Secondly, coordination among institutions dealing with climate change related issues is essential in order to promote permanent inter­institutional interaction, and to ensure a continuous transfer of information and know­how among concerned institutions.

Within this context, the project's activities address the following needs:

• to put in place or strengthen institutional structures as well as building and enhancing the necessary human resources to participate effectively in implementing the FCCC,
• to introduce implementation mechanisms for translating mitigation plans into concrete strategies and actions. These mechanisms include strengthening local agencies, upgrading units within ministries, modifying laws and regulatory frameworks, and modifying the curricula of training institutions.

In the long term, emphasis needs to be placed on reinforcing institutional structures for the continuous assessment and improvement of climate change mitigation analysis as well as for ensuring the sustainability of mitigation strategies. Long­term sustainability of mitigation actions will depend on building an active constituency in the local research and scientific community, among policy­makers and NGOs, and among the key actors involved in the implementation of mitigation actions.

The project was started in November 1996 and will be concluded in April 1998.

Project Coordinator: Patricia Iturregui, National Commission for Climate Change (CONAM), Peru

UNEP Centre Project Manager: Arturo Villavicencio