climate change in mauritius essay

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Health and climate change: country profile 2021: Mauritius

This WHO UNFCCC health and climate change country profile for Mauritius provides a summary of available evidence on climate hazards, health vulnerabilities, health impacts and progress to date in health sector efforts to realize a climate-resilient health system.

The WHO and UNFCCC Health and Climate Change Country Profile Project monitors the health impacts of climate change and progress in building climate resilient health systems. By publishing updated country profiles every four years, the project not only provides a snapshot on a range of national health and climate change indicators, but also creates a mechanism to track climate-related health impacts and responses over time. During the first cycle of the project in 2015, nearly 50 country profiles were published. The number of country profiles is being significantly expanded in the second cycle, with around 100 country profiles expected to be published by the end of 2021.

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• Embarking on Mauritius Strategy implementation
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Introduction

The impacts of climate variability and extreme weather events are becoming a concern to the Republic of Mauritius, including Rodrigues, St Brandon and Agalega. The climate of the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) small island states is influenced by large ocean-atmosphere interactions such as trade winds. They are often affected by tropical cyclones and other extreme weather. Some of them like the Saint Brandon or the Cargados Carajos Shoals and Agalega Islands are threatened by sea-level rise as well.

Current Situation and Challenges

Though the GHG emission of Mauritius is insignificant, warming of our climate and its effects on our natural and ecological system are unavoidable and already palpable. Analyses of temperature recorded at Mauritius and its outer islands show a definite warming trend. Average temperature at all stations is rising at the rate of 0.15 °C per decade and has risen by 0.74 – 1.2 °C when compared to the 1961-90 long term mean. At some urban stations the temperature has risen by even greater amounts.

Similar warming trends have also been observed at the outer islands like Rodrigues, St Brandon and Agalega. The last two of these islands are 1.5 km 2 and 70 km 2 in area, at about 2 m above mean sea level at their highest point and a variable population of less than 100. The temperature at Agalega is rising at the rate 0.11 °C per decade with an average rise of 0.62 °C during the last ten years when compared with the 1961-90 mean. Temperature at St Brandon and Rodrigues has warmed up by 0.5 – 1.0 °C.

IPCC 2007 report concludes that average ocean temperature from surface to a depth of 700 meters has warmed up, though land surface temperature has increased more than ocean water temperature.

Sea levels in the southwest Indian Ocean based on reconstructed tide gauge data and Topex/Poseiden altimeter for the period 1950-2001 shows a rise of around 1.5 mm/yr at Port Louis and 1.3 mm/yr at Rodrigues, (Church, et al ., 2006). Analysis of Port Louis data for the period 1987-2007 gives a mean rise of 2.1 mm/yr for the last 10 years. This slightly higher rise is consistent with IPCC WGII AR4 conclusions, although longer period of measurements are necessary for reliable conclusions.

Warming of the atmosphere has also impacted the hydrologic cycle over the southwest Indian Ocean. Long-term time series of rainfall amount over the past century (1905 to 2007) show a decreasing trend in annual rainfall over Mauritius. In fact the average rate of decrease per decade is around 57 mm. The total decrease during the last ten years is about 8% when compared to the 1950s.

Annual rainfall over the outer islands indicate significant variation from year to year but long-term analysis do show decreasing rainfall trend, though lesser than the main island Mauritius.

Other observed impacts are:

• A lengthening of the intermediate dry season, the transition period between winter and summer, has been observed.
• There has been a shift in the start of the summer rains. This shift in the onset of the rains is highly significant as it translates into much pressure on the water sector to meet increasing demands of the agricultural, tourism, industrial and domestic sectors.
• The number of consecutive dry days is increasing while the number of rainy days is decreasing.
• Even though the number of rainy days is decreasing, heavy rainfall events leading to numerous flash floods and temporary interruption of certain socio-economic activities during the summer months of February and March has increased
• The frequency of extreme weather events, heavy rains and storms of tropical cyclone strength or higher, has increased significantly over the last two decades.

Analysis of data from Mauritius Meteorological Services does not show any increase in the number of storms in the SWIO tropical cyclone basin. However, a plot of the number of storm formations over the last 32 years (1975- 2008) clearly shows an increasing trend in the number of storms reaching tropical cyclone strength (winds above 165 km/hr). Furthermore, since the last decade observations indicate rapid or even explosive intensification of tropical storms.

The SWIO Islands countries are realizing the tough realities of the effect of climate variability and climate change now occurring at a faster pace than ever before. Mauritius has recognized that much effort is needed to reduce the impacts of climate change on the natural and human environment of the country. A stakeholder’s consultation exercise including the community at grass root level, NGOs and public and private sector identified those areas exposed to the highest risk. The following sectors were identified as most vulnerable to climate-related events are:  

• Coastal zone
• Agriculture
• Water Resources
• Human health
• Marine Resources

Concrete actions taken and progress achieved

Climate change activities in the Republic have been consistent towards sustainable development goals. The concept of a sustainable island is clearly defined in the “Maurice Ile Durable” programme presented in Parliament in June 2008. Since then both public and private sectors are making efforts to integrate climate change in new developments strategies.

Climate change and sea level rise monitoring has been enhanced in the following ways:

Network of an increased number of automatic weather stations

Installation of a new tide gauge at Agalega and another one at Blue Bay to monitor sea level

Sea surface temperature is being monitored at Blue Bay as well as from ship reports in the Indian Ocean

To meet our objectives under the UNFCCC, the following reports have been published:

United States Country Studies Programme (USCSP) on Inventory of GHG and Vulnerability and Adaptation

Climate Change Action Plan

Initial National Communication

Vulnerability and Adaptation of the sugar cane crop

Economics of GHG limitations

Vulnerability of coastal zone

Technology Needs Assessment

National Capacity Needs Self-Assessment

Stocktaking and Stakeholder consultation

The Second National Communication.

Conclusion and way forward

Public and private sectors of the economy and the population of the Republic of Mauritius in general, are gradually becoming aware of the threat posed by climate change and climate variability. Some concrete efforts have already been made to mitigate GHG by integrating climate change issues into new development strategies. There is strong political will to further enhance the existing policies as to develop resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change and to ensure the achievement of sustainable developments goals

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Mauritians unprepared for effects of climate change.

PORT-LOUIS , Apr 16 2013 (IPS) - Mauritius may be one of the best-prepared countries in the world when it comes to cyclones, but recent heavy rains and flooding due to climate change have brought the country’s readiness for coping with increased rainfall into question.

Ecologist Keshwar Beeharry-Panray tells IPS that he expects the island to be affected by more floods, landslides and cyclones in the coming years because of climate change.

Beeharry-Panray, the director of a local NGO called Environment Protection and Conservation Organisation, says that the population has yet to understand the effects this will have on the country, and that even the government has not yet begun to prepare for increased rainfall on this Indian Ocean Island.

“We won’t get enough time to run for safety if we are not prepared,” he says.

Floods devastated the Mauritian capital, Port-Louis, on Mar. 30. Eleven people were killed, a hundred were wounded and thousands of dollars of damage was caused to buildings, roads, vehicles, shops and houses. Emergency services were overwhelmed and unable to provide effective response to the disaster.

Environmental engineer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo, a private consultant on environmental issues, concurs with Beeharry-Panray.

“People know what to do, what precautions to take when a cyclone approaches the island. The weather deteriorates and the meteorological warnings are issued. Yet, (Mauritius) lacks the same preparation with regard to floods and other natural calamities,” Kauppaymuthoo tells IPS.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, the island is vulnerable to “considerable economic loss, humanitarian stresses and environmental degradation as a result of climate change impacts. The direct climate change impacts likely to adversely affect Mauritius include an increase in the frequency of intense rainfall episodes, sea level rise of 18 – 59 centimetres by 2100 and an increase in intensity of tropical cyclones.”

During the Mar. 30 floods, in less than two hours 156 millimetres (mm) of rain fell in the capital, while it barely rained on other parts of the island. Torrents of water swept down from the mountains that surround Port-Louis and surged towards the city centre, sweeping up everything in their path.

Feroz Banjal, 61, was travelling back home in a bus when the vehicle got carried away in the flood.

From the bus, he saw a few people being swept away by the rains. He got out of the vehicle but was carried by the water for about 500 metres before a taxi driver standing on top of a footpath saved him.

“Thirty years or plus I travelled to the capital, I have never, ever seen so much water on the streets,” Banjal tells IPS.

Climate change is a reality for Mauritius. One official from the Mauritius Meteorological Services says that because of climate change, the rainfall pattern on the island has changed over the last few years.

“For the past two years, the island suffered from a severe drought, until early 2013 when it started raining a bit. In February and March, it rained a lot,” he tells IPS on the condition of anonymity.

For Nathalie Pompom, who lives near Canal Dayot, a river that carries the mountain rains to the sea, the heavy rainfall was a shock.

“Eighteen years I have lived here, I have never seen so much water entering my home. We lost everything. We fear for our future,” Pompom tells IPS.

Kauppaymuthoo says that on Feb. 13 floods also struck the island, and that it was unacceptable that less than two months later Mauritians had not been prepared for the Mar. 30 floods.

“We were warned that there was more to come, but this warning fell on deaf ears. Mauritius needs a management plan for natural calamities. A unit should be set up that is on the alert 24 hours a day, and that can take decisions fast to save lives and prevent material damage. As time passes, natural catastrophes will be on the increase because of climate change,” Kauppaymuthoo says.

As concrete and asphalt roads sprout everywhere to ease traffic congestion, and as building progresses, green spaces are being reduced at a fast pace. There are very few trees in the capital and less than two percent of forest cover on the island that could mitigate the effects of the torrential rain, Kauppaymuthoo says.

The country also does not have well-maintained drains to carry the rainwater to the sea; instead they are blocked by construction waste.

He adds that the construction of a ring road on the slopes of a mountain overlooking Port-Louis could also be part of the problem.

“Altering the natural course of water, modifying the structure of the natural drains that existed for millions of years to cut out roads in them poses a real threat to the environment,” Kauppaymuthoo says.

But Public Infrastructure Minister Anil Bachoo, grilled by local residents and the media, who accused him of irresponsibility because of the road development, says the floods were unforeseen.

“What happened in Port-Louis is entirely beyond human control. We are, of course, sad that this natural catastrophe has caused so much damage to our island. We had never dreamt that we could get 150 mm of rain at one go in a small region like Port-Louis,” he told the media on Apr. 4.

But Karim Jaufeerally, from the Institute of Environmental and Legal Studies, believes that the loss of life in the recent floods is due to sheer negligence by the government and local authorities.

“Even if Mauritius was prepared against natural calamities, there would have been the same problem in the capital because the drains did not function properly. The magnitude of the floods would have been less if the drains were clean,” he tells IPS.

Jaufeerally asks: “It’s easy to speak of preparedness for the next time, but what about the last time?”

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Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Mauritius.

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This page presents Mauritius's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit.  Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list. 

Observed, historical data is produced by the  Climatic Research Unit (CRU)  of University of East Anglia.  Data  is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.

The Republic of Mauritius enjoys a mild tropical maritime climate throughout the year with a warm humid summer extending from November to April and a relatively cold dry winter from June to September. The months of May and October are commonly known as transitional months. The mean temperature over Mauritius is 24.7°C during summer and 21.0°C during winter. The temperature difference between the two seasons is relatively small and it varies from place to place and is usually larger over coastal areas when compared to the Central Plateau. February is the wettest month and October is the driest. The Republic of Mauritius is also located in the cyclone belt of the SWIO. Cyclone season is from November to mid-May.

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What is climate change mitigation and why is it urgent?

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• Climate change mitigation involves actions to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
• Mitigation efforts include transitioning to renewable energy sources, enhancing energy efficiency, adopting regenerative agricultural practices and protecting and restoring forests and critical ecosystems.
• Effective mitigation requires a whole-of-society approach and structural transformations to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• International cooperation, for example through the Paris Agreement, is crucial in guiding and achieving global and national mitigation goals.
• Mitigation efforts face challenges such as the world's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels, the increased demand for new mineral resources and the difficulties in revamping our food systems.
• These challenges also offer opportunities to improve resilience and contribute to sustainable development.

What is climate change mitigation?

Climate change mitigation refers to any action taken by governments, businesses or people to reduce or prevent greenhouse gases, or to enhance carbon sinks that remove them from the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun in our planet’s atmosphere, keeping it warm. 

Since the industrial era began, human activities have led to the release of dangerous levels of greenhouse gases, causing global warming and climate change. However, despite unequivocal research about the impact of our activities on the planet’s climate and growing awareness of the severe danger climate change poses to our societies, greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. If we can slow down the rise in greenhouse gases, we can slow down the pace of climate change and avoid its worst consequences.

Reducing greenhouse gases can be achieved by:

• Shifting away from fossil fuels : Fossil fuels are the biggest source of greenhouse gases, so transitioning to modern renewable energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power, and advancing sustainable modes of transportation, is crucial.
• Improving energy efficiency : Using less energy overall – in buildings, industries, public and private spaces, energy generation and transmission, and transportation – helps reduce emissions. This can be achieved by using thermal comfort standards, better insulation and energy efficient appliances, and by improving building design, energy transmission systems and vehicles.
• Changing agricultural practices : Certain farming methods release high amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, which are potent greenhouse gases. Regenerative agricultural practices – including enhancing soil health, reducing livestock-related emissions, direct seeding techniques and using cover crops – support mitigation, improve resilience and decrease the cost burden on farmers.
• The sustainable management and conservation of forests : Forests act as carbon sinks , absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation are key for climate mitigation and generate multiple additional benefits such as biodiversity conservation and improved water cycles.
• Restoring and conserving critical ecosystems : In addition to forests, ecosystems such as wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands, as well as coastal biomes such as mangrove forests, also contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, while supporting biodiversity and enhancing climate resilience.
• Creating a supportive environment : Investments, policies and regulations that encourage emission reductions, such as incentives, carbon pricing and limits on emissions from key sectors are crucial to driving climate change mitigation.

Photo: Stephane Bellerose/UNDP Mauritius

Photo: La Incre and Lizeth Jurado/PROAmazonia

What is the 1.5°C goal and why do we need to stick to it?

In 2015, 196 Parties to the UN Climate Convention in Paris adopted the Paris Agreement , a landmark international treaty, aimed at curbing global warming and addressing the effects of climate change. Its core ambition is to cap the rise in global average temperatures to well below 2°C above levels observed prior to the industrial era, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

The 1.5°C goal is extremely important, especially for vulnerable communities already experiencing severe climate change impacts. Limiting warming below 1.5°C will translate into less extreme weather events and sea level rise, less stress on food production and water access, less biodiversity and ecosystem loss, and a lower chance of irreversible climate consequences.

To limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5°C, it is imperative for the world to undertake significant mitigation action. This requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent before 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century.

What are the policy instruments that countries can use to drive mitigation?

Everyone has a role to play in climate change mitigation, from individuals adopting sustainable habits and advocating for change to governments implementing regulations, providing incentives and facilitating investments. The private sector, particularly those businesses and companies responsible for causing high emissions, should take a leading role in innovating, funding and driving climate change mitigation solutions. 

International collaboration and technology transfer is also crucial given the global nature and size of the challenge. As the main platform for international cooperation on climate action, the Paris Agreement has set forth a series of responsibilities and policy tools for its signatories. One of the primary instruments for achieving the goals of the treaty is Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) . These are the national climate pledges that each Party is required to develop and update every five years. NDCs articulate how each country will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience.   While NDCs include short- to medium-term targets, long-term low emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) are policy tools under the Paris Agreement through which countries must show how they plan to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. These strategies define a long-term vision that gives coherence and direction to shorter-term national climate targets.

Photo: Mucyo Serge/UNDP Rwanda

Photo: William Seal/UNDP Sudan

At the same time, the call for climate change mitigation has evolved into a call for reparative action, where high-income countries are urged to rectify past and ongoing contributions to the climate crisis. This approach reflects the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which advocates for climate justice, recognizing the unequal historical responsibility for the climate crisis, emphasizing that wealthier countries, having profited from high-emission activities, bear a greater obligation to lead in mitigating these impacts. This includes not only reducing their own emissions, but also supporting vulnerable countries in their transition to low-emission development pathways.

Another critical aspect is ensuring a just transition for workers and communities that depend on the fossil fuel industry and its many connected industries. This process must prioritize social equity and create alternative employment opportunities as part of the shift towards renewable energy and more sustainable practices.

For emerging economies, innovation and advancements in technology have now demonstrated that robust economic growth can be achieved with clean, sustainable energy sources. By integrating renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal power into their growth strategies, these economies can reduce their emissions, enhance energy security and create new economic opportunities and jobs. This shift not only contributes to global mitigation efforts but also sets a precedent for sustainable development.

What are some of the challenges slowing down climate change mitigation efforts?

Mitigating climate change is fraught with complexities, including the global economy's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels and the accompanying challenge of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. This reliance – and the vested interests that have a stake in maintaining it – presents a significant barrier to transitioning to sustainable energy sources.

The shift towards decarbonization and renewable energy is driving increased demand for critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth metals. Since new mining projects can take up to 15 years to yield output, mineral supply chains could become a bottleneck for decarbonization efforts. In addition, these minerals are predominantly found in a few, mostly low-income countries, which could heighten supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions.

Furthermore, due to the significant demand for these minerals and the urgency of the energy transition, the scaled-up investment in the sector has the potential to exacerbate environmental degradation, economic and governance risks, and social inequalities, affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and workers. Addressing these concerns necessitates implementing social and environmental safeguards, embracing circular economy principles, and establishing and enforcing responsible policies and regulations .

Agriculture is currently the largest driver of deforestation worldwide. A transformation in our food systems to reverse the impact that agriculture has on forests and biodiversity is undoubtedly a complex challenge. But it is also an important opportunity. The latest IPCC report highlights that adaptation and mitigation options related to land, water and food offer the greatest potential in responding to the climate crisis. Shifting to regenerative agricultural practices will not only ensure a healthy, fair and stable food supply for the world’s population, but also help to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

Photo: UNDP India

Photo: Nino Zedginidze/UNDP Georgia

What are some examples of climate change mitigation?

In Mauritius , UNDP, with funding from the Green Climate Fund, has supported the government to install battery energy storage capacity that has enabled 50 MW of intermittent renewable energy to be connected to the grid, helping to avoid 81,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. 

In Indonesia , UNDP has been working with the government for over a decade to support sustainable palm oil production. In 2019, the country adopted a National Action Plan on Sustainable Palm Oil, which was collaboratively developed by government, industry and civil society representatives. The plan increased the adoption of practices to minimize the adverse social and environmental effects of palm oil production and to protect forests. Since 2015, 37 million tonnes of direct greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided and 824,000 hectares of land with high conservation value have been protected.

In Moldova and Paraguay , UNDP has helped set up Green City Labs that are helping build more sustainable cities. This is achieved by implementing urban land use and mobility planning, prioritizing energy efficiency in residential buildings, introducing low-carbon public transport, implementing resource-efficient waste management, and switching to renewable energy sources. 

UNDP has supported the governments of Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Indonesia to implement results-based payments through the REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) framework. These include payments for environmental services and community forest management programmes that channel international climate finance resources to local actors on the ground, specifically forest communities and Indigenous Peoples. 

UNDP is also supporting small island developing states like the Comoros to invest in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Through the Africa Minigrids Program , solar minigrids will be installed in two priority communities, Grand Comore and Moheli, providing energy access through distributed renewable energy solutions to those hardest to reach.

And in South Africa , a UNDP initative to boost energy efficiency awareness among the general population and improve labelling standards has taken over commercial shopping malls.

What is UNDP’s role in supporting climate change mitigation?

UNDP aims to assist countries with their climate change mitigation efforts, guiding them towards sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. This support is in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to affordable and clean energy (SDG7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG11), and climate action (SDG13). Specifically, UNDP’s offer of support includes developing and improving legislation and policy, standards and regulations, capacity building, knowledge dissemination, and financial mobilization for countries to pilot and scale-up mitigation solutions such as renewable energy projects, energy efficiency initiatives and sustainable land-use practices. 

With financial support from the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, UNDP has an active portfolio of 94 climate change mitigation projects in 69 countries. These initiatives are not only aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also at contributing to sustainable and resilient development pathways.

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International Climate Finance: Are We Spending Blind?

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POLICY PAPERS

Development agencies are spending unprecedented levels of development finance on climate-related objectives—but how much impact is that finance having? As negotiations towards a new climate finance target progress at the UN, we hope to add to the number of voices urging that the new goal encompasses not just quantity but also quality of climate finance.

Building on our previous work, which identified six challenges to ensuring climate finance effectiveness, this ongoing blog series will delve deeper into issues related to the quality of climate finance.

In this blog, we highlight how a persisting climate-related “evidence gap” is currently leaving providers ill-equipped to design and deliver programmes effectively—especially within climate change mitigation. Despite over $38bn -worth of Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects citing climate mitigation as an objective in 2022, we find that providers currently have access to just 31 mitigation-related impact evaluations.(This ratio is much lower than for most other policy priorities where ODA is channelled.) On top of this, we find that a lack of standardised metrics and outcome indicators used in climate-related impact evaluations is further reducing opportunities for mutual learning and complicating cross-provider comparability. We argue that providers must do more, and work together, to comparably measure, assess and learn about the impact of the billions of tax-payer funds invested in international climate action.

“So before spending all of your climate budget …. you might want to know whether that is going to work or not.” Esther Duflo , 2019 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics

The climate evaluation gap in the context of other development priorities

In order to assess global efforts on evaluating the more than $73 bn of public finance from bilateral and multilateral agencies in “developed countries” which is spent annually on international climate objectives, we analysed over 14,000 evidence-based studies collected by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) . 3ie’s Development Evidence Portal is the largest international repository of its type, collecting high-quality evidence—including impact evaluations, systematic reviews, and evidence gap maps—across a broad range of interventions in low- and middle-income countries, covering all sectors.

We found that climate change is very poorly covered in high quality impact assessments. Of over 13,000 impact evaluations, we found just 211 which mention “climate change” at all. Only 87 evaluations have been tagged as relating to climate change “adaptation” or “resilience” , while even fewer—just 31—are tagged with climate change “mitigation” (Figure 1). This not only compares poorly with the numbers of evaluations tagged with keywords related to other cross-sectoral priorities and sectors—including, for instance, 2,133 for “nutrition”, 727 for “gender”, or 247 for “air pollution” —but also remains out of sync with the substantial and increasing shares of Official Development Assistance (ODA) which providers claim target climate-related objectives.

Figure 1. Number of impact evaluations recorded by key words

Source: 3ie Note: The relevant key words were searched for with 3ie’s query tool, and included mentions of the relevant words within the impact evaluations’ title, abstract, or “keywords” functions. Specific search queries and links to results available on request.

Climate finance providers are also challenged by the paucity of climate-related "systematic reviews". These are vital as through synthesizing findings across multiple interventions, they provide insights across a variety of geographical, sectoral, or financial contexts, giving more clues on the pre-conditions for global climate project success. Yet, of over 1,100 systematic reviews in the 3ie database, we found only seven climate-related systematic reviews , of which only two met 3ie’s methodological criteria of a “high confidence” level.

While, to some extent, this scarcity of climate-related publications may partly stem from the fact that climate finance is still a relatively new type of flow as compared to other types of development interventions, it’s also notable that other newer development challenges—like COVID-19—have already garnered nearly as much evaluative insight, despite their relative novelty. There has been an uptick in the publication of climate-related studies over the past decade—growing at roughly double the average rate, or 35 percent annually between 2013-23, compared to 17 percent across all 3ie publication records—but it's crucial to recognize the significant gap that still exists. Even if current growth trends continue, climate change-related evidence will not match the volume of nutrition-related evidence for another 16 years—or until 2039!

Dollars without direction—quantifying the evidence gap

We find that each billion of climate-related ODA committed can only rely on only a handful of evaluations to inform projects’ planning and delivery. For every $1bn of ODA channelled towards adaptation to climate change in 2022, we estimate that fewer than 3 relevant evaluations were available, and this ratio was even lower for mitigation finance, with fewer than one study published for every $1bn committed. By contrast, in other “cross-cutting” priorities tracked through the OECD’s marker system, such as nutrition or gender, providers were able to draw on a relatively more substantial evidence base (Table 1), with each billion of ODA targeting nutrition able to draw on over 100 previous studies, and each billion of gender-related spending being able to rely on 11 evaluations.

Table 1. Ratio of available studies in 3ie database to 2022 ODA, by cross-cutting priority

Source: OECD and 3ie Note: Based on DAC providers’ ODA commitments. A cross-cutting policy objective is based on the OECD’s marker system which denotes where a project (within any sector) has a ‘principal’ or ‘significant’ objective in one of these areas. Multiple markers may apply to the same project.

Mitigation-heavy sectors, such as energy, are especially under-evaluated

Within the already relatively small pool of climate-related studies, evaluation effort varies significantly by sector. Just three sectors—energy, transport, and water sanitation and hygiene—account for over half of the financial volume of ODA tagged as having a principal climate objective, yet, collectively, projects within these sectors only accounted for 13 percent of all climate-related evaluations recorded in the 3ie database. Meanwhile, climate projects within the agriculture and “general environmental protection” sectors can draw guidance from a relatively larger evidence base —especially when compared to the levels of finance spent.

Figure 2. Climate-relevant sectors, as a share of concessional climate finance, and as a share of climate-relevant impact evaluations since 2016

Sources: OECD and 3ie Note: Only data since 2016 is considered, both for financial volumes, and for evaluations. This is because, as the 3ie notes, filters for impact evaluations recorded in the 3ie database which were published before 2016 may be incomplete. Sectors which represent less than 2% of total climate-relevant impact evaluations as well as less than 2% of the principal climate spending since 2016 are not shown.

Greenhouse gas guesswork: lack of common metrics hampers comparability

Evaluation efforts are also hampered by a lack of common metrics and methodologies for evaluating climate project success, compounded by a lack of transparency from providers on the expected and achieved results of their climate projects. In our scan of climate-related studies included in the 3ie database, we discovered a wide array of "outcome" measures tracked, with over 100 different measures identified for adaptation-related impact evaluations and over 70 for mitigation-related evaluations.

This diversity of outcome measures assessed is especially perplexing in the mitigation space, where, in theory, one measure could be reported and assessed consistently across all projects—no matter where they take place. While climate change mitigation projects funded by ODA are also likely to be expected to yield other local "co-benefits” , where mitigation is listed as the “principal” goal, the primary measure of success (greenhouse gas emissions reductions) remains inconsistently assessed. Our analysis reveals that just under a quarter of climate mitigation-related impact evaluations in the 3ie database have evaluated greenhouse gas emissions as an outcome measure (Figure 2). The lack of focus on emissions hampers comparability between the cost-effectiveness of mitigation projects, impedes a more optimal allocation of financial resources to deliver on the target to limit global warming to 1.5°C , and also hinders more informed discussions on the balance between “global” and “local” benefits expected from concessional development finance dedicated to delivering global public goods.

Figure 3. Most frequently assessed “outcomes” of climate-related impact evaluations

Source: 3ie Note: GHG emissions include “emissions from agriculture”. The results in this figure rely on 3ie’s filter function, which 3ie warns may be incomplete for studies conducted before 2016. To minimise the risk of including studies which have not yet been fully coded, we used regular expressions in the advanced query tool to filter out those publications which have no outcome measures recorded.

A need to align standards for reporting and results

Further complicating this issue is the fact that both greenhouse gas accounting methods and reporting standards differ across climate finance providers, and leave a margin of uncertainty when trying to compare between projects from different funders on a like-for-like basis. While the work of 25 International Financial Institutions (IFIs), including 13 Multilateral Development Banks, to harmonise greenhouse gas accounting standards has been promising, no equivalent standard exists for bilateral development agencies, and it remains unclear what—if any—impact their “mitigation” ODA is actually having on emissions . In practice, even providers who are part of this IFI working group still face accounting issues related to establishing emissions baselines and inconsistent criteria in areas like inclusion thresholds or sectoral coverage. What’s more, the significant number of projects funded by these IFIs through intermediaries are not subject to the same monitoring criteria. Also, despite some commitments to do so , few funders make information on the emissions reductions of their individual mitigation projects systematically and publicly available– as we previously noted .

For adaptation-focused projects, where both results are more likely to be specific to each local context as compared to mitigation, defining universal outcome indicators at the global level may be an inherently more thorny issue. However, from the perspective of assessing collective progress and sharing best practices, there is still value in comparing approaches to measuring results and developing common frameworks metrics – in fact, this has already been a focus of ongoing discussions in the lead-up to the NCQG, with work for the Global Goal for Adaptation in 2021 concluding in a technical report mapping the landscape of indicators, approaches, targets and metrics used for adaptation finance. This review revealed a very wide variety of approaches for “tracking adaptation effectiveness” across providers, raising important questions around how and whether indicators used in adaptation projects could be standardised or defined to support reporting at aggregated levels.

Translating intentions to impact

A dearth of climate-related evidence leaves providers without the necessary information to programme climate projects effectively. This means that opportunities for optimizing climate resource allocation, ensuring climate projects’ cost-effectiveness, and maximising overall impact may remain unrealized. Providers should step up their efforts to invest in evaluation, coordinate their efforts to measure results; and ensure they share them and learn the lessons.

With climate finance volumes very likely to rise in the coming years, there remains a substantial risk that any additional resources will still not be able to achieve the desired results at scale. This could leave developing countries to bear the brunt of the impacts and tax-payers within provider countries disappointed.

With the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to be set by the end of the year, we will continue to offer our insights into the key challenges to ensuring climate finance is programmed and delivered effectively in the next instalments of this blog series.

CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.

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Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation

     iv.              Climate Change Information Centre​​

·          A Climate Change Information Centre has been set up in July 2013. This Centre provides consolidated information on climate change which is accessible to students, researchers, private sector organizations, NGOs and to the general public.    This Centre aims to become a regional Climate Change Information Hub for the Eastern African Region in the near future.

·          The CCIC has embarked on the MS ISO 9001:2008 implementation.

       v.             Climate Change Information, Education and Awareness Raising

1)        Climate Change Information, Education and Communication Strategy and Action Plan

·       It is recognized that climate change education and awareness raising of citizens are vital tools aiming at building resilience against climate change and extreme events.    In this context, Ministry of Environment & SD has developed a Climate Change Information, Education and Communication Strategy and Action Plan in February 2014. The    main objectives of which are to enhance:

a)        access of information on climate change to the public through awareness raising and education; and

b)        public participation and engagement in addressing and responding to climate change.

The target is to sensitise 400,000 citizens by 2016 and 1 million citizens by 2020.            

2)        Awareness Raising

A series of awareness raising campaigns targeting over 50 000 people from civil society in particular youth, women and community organisations have been sensitized on climate change    in context of the Africa Adaptation Programme and World Environment Day 2014.  

3)        Capacity Development

Some 2600 professionals from various sectors, including engineering, architecture, lawyers, education, environment and health have been trained in the context of AAP.    Some 750 teachers have been trained on mainstreaming climate change in the education sector.

4)        Youth as agent of change in the combat against climate change

·          Young people are greatest agent of change in the combat against climate change as they have enthusiasm, imagination and abundant energy to undertake local actions, act as effective communicators in their communities and be involved in international arenas. In this context, a Training Manual and aToolkit    on Climate Change have been developed for youth to:

-          Inspire, inform and involve youth in taking action on climate change and become a climate champion.

-          Empower the youth in leading the way to mobilize their neighbors and communities to act together in the combat of Climate Change.

·          With the collaboration of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, training of trainers for youth cadres was held at Helvetia Youth Centre and 6 regional training workshops for youth leaders were held at Helvetia Youth Centre, Yusoof Ali Hall, Floreal Youth Centre, Bois Cheri Youth Centre. Kennedy Youth Centre and Flacq Youth Centre.  

·          Some 600 youth leaders have been trained on climate change

5)        Women as agent of change in the combat against climate change

·       It is known that women play a pivotal role in the family as they help in creating general awareness on social, economic and environmental issues including climate change.    As such, they can greatly contribute in enhancing resilience building against climate change among family members.    In this context, a manual on climate change for women has also been developed to provide women with a basic understanding of climate change as well as a series of practical measures and steps that they, as well as their family members, can adopt as part of their day to day activities.  

·       5 regional workshops are planned to sensitize and train women on climate change will be carried out throughout the country.

   vii.              Demonstration Projects

a)        Coral farming activities at Albion, Pointe aux Sables and Trou aux Biches in Mauritius and at    Graviers and Hermitage in Rodrigues.

b)        Installation of seawater temperature sensors at 5 stations in Rodrigues (RiviereBanane, Anse aux Anglais, Grand Baie, PlaineCorail and Pointe L’herbe.

c)        Provision of salinity meters and training of onion planters on the South East Coast of Mauritius and the plantation of mangroves at Petit Sables, Grand Sables and BambouxVirieux, October 2012.

d)        Setting up of an Endemic Garden and an Information Centre at Panchavati.

e)        Awareness raising to enhance resilience of vulnerable communities including donation of Salinity Meters.

f)          Setting up of 7 Agro-meteorological Stations as part of an Agricultural Decision Support System in different regions namely at; Wooton, Richelieu, Flacq, Plaisance, Plaine Sophie, Reduit, and Barkly to provide timely and vital information to planters for a sustainable agriculture.

Key projects under implementation to combat climate change and comply with international requirements UNFCCC

A.     Third National Communication (TNC)

·          The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Developmenthas secured USD 500 000 from GEF through UNEP for the preparation of the Third National Communication.

·          A Project Implementation Plan for TNC has been finalized.

·          The Ministry of Environment & SD is in process of recruiting a National Project Coordinator and Project Assistant for preparation of the TNC.

B.     National Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Actions

·          At the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Mexico in December 2010, Parties agreed that developing countries would take NAMAs for promoting sustainable development.

·          In this context, the Ministry of Environment & SD in collaboration with key stakeholdershasdeveloped a Project Identification Form covering key sectors such as renewable energy, environment and green economy, land use change and forestry for the Low carbon development strategy and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions.

·          On 8 th  May 2014the Chief Executive Officer of GEF has conveyed his approval on Mauritius proposal for the grant of USD 1.6 million. The duration of the project is 48 month.

·          UNEP RISOE (URC) will assist Mauritius in the preparation of a project document for submission to the GEF Secretariat for approval by end of 2014.

C.     Preparation of Guideline to mainstream climate change in Building and Land Use Permit

·          A guideline for mainstreaming climate change in Building and Land Use Permit is being finalised.

·          The main objective of this guideline is to integrate Climate Change risk management, mitigation and adaptation in the local development process through the existing mechanism at local authorities’ level.

D.     Toolkit for climate change vulnerability assessment and Identification of Adaptation Options for Local Authorities

·          As climate is changing, so is the operating environment for Local Authorities. The Local Authorities will need to be armed with appropriate proactive responses to the emerging climate threats.

·          In this context, toolkit for climate change vulnerability assessment and Identification of Adaptation Options for Local Authorities are also being developed.    Thetoolkit is designed to strengthen the internal capacity of both the council and its staff to manage the local impacts of climate change. It is also meant to help the Council to proactively address the prevention, protection and preparedness to the adverse effects of climate change and extreme events.

·          A Toolkit has been finalised for the Municipal Council of Vacoas Phoenix and a comprehensive GIS data set together with the toolkit have been forwarded to the Council.

E.     Capacity Development on Climate Change Measures in Mauritius

·          The Government of Japan, through JICA, has agreed to provide technical assistance for the implementation of the “Capacity Development on Climate Change Measures in the Republic of Mauritius”.     The project aims at strengthening Mauritius    capacity to deal with    issues

·          JICA will also donate equipment to strengthen Climate Change Education and awareness raising as well as provide training to stakeholders in Mauritius and in Japan.

·          Japanese experts will assist the relevant stakeholders in formulating climate policies.

·          The duration of the project will be two years and the cost is estimated at USD 800,000.  

F.      Mauritius 2050 Pathways Calculator

·          At COP 19, held in Warsaw in 2013, all Parties were invited to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contributions, in the context of adopting an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention.

·          In this context, the British High Commission through the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has proposed to offer the Ministry of Environment & SD technical assistance in terms of providing capacity building to stakeholders on the use of the 2050 Pathways Calculator.The aim is to provide assistance as follows:

-          Quantification of mitigation actions in terms of GHG emission reductions in preparing the contribution and development of a carbon calculator for Mauritius; and

-          Training/Capacity Building on the use and application of the carbon calculator.

·          An agreement was signed between the Ministry of Environment and the British High Commission on 26 August 2014.

·          The project started in August 2014 and is scheduled to end in June 2015.

·                             Second National Communication

       ·                National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report (2000-2006)

        ·          First TNA, 2004

·                         Food Security Fund Strategic Plan -2013-2015  

Suggested website

​·          http://unfccc.int

·          http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm

·          http://climat​e.nasa.gov/