Liberia has achieved a significant 20.47 percent reduction in targeted Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2024, primarily driven by advancements in the energy, transport, and forestry sectors, according to the final stocktaking report of the nation’s 2021 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 2.0).
By Tina S. Mehnpaine, contributing writer
“This stocktake process reports that Liberia has achieved about 20.47% of GHG reduction from 2021 to 2024.”
This report, covering nine sectors — Agriculture, Coastal Zone, Energy, Fisheries, Forestry, Health, Industry, Transport, and Waste — assesses Liberia’s progress towards its 2021 commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 64 percent below the projected Business As Usual (BAU) level by 2030, as submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The energy and forestry sectors emerged as the most significant contributors to this reduction, with total estimated GHG emission reductions from all efforts reaching 848.34 Gg CO2e per year.
Key achievements include:
- Energy Sector: Between 2021 and 2024, hydropower generation reached 105 MW, and solar energy production totaled 5.6 MW, resulting in an annual avoided emission reduction of 595.94 GgCO₂eq.
- Forestry Sector: Afforestation of 45,814 hectares, mainly through natural regeneration, reduced annual avoided emissions by 251.98 GgCO2eq.
- Transport Sector: While experiencing the lowest annual avoided emission reduction at 0.43 GgCO2eq, the sector saw the adoption of 175 electric vehicles, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers
“The NDC 2.0, stock-take report that we are here to validate today, was a bold and necessary step toward evaluating our commitment of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and increasing our resilience to climate impacts,” Dr. Emmanuel Yarkapalo Urey, Environmental Protection said at the validation of the report, and the launch of the NDC 3.0 process.
A stocktaking report of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) assesses countries’ progress toward their climate goals as outlined in their NDCs. It measures the gap between current progress and these goals, identifies areas needing further action, and evaluates the collective global progress towards the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries are mandated to submit their NDCs. NDCs are updated every five years. Liberia submitted its first NDC (1.0) in 2015 and updated it 2021 (2.0). The country is expected to submit its 3.0 update this year although it missed the deadline in February 2025.
When Liberia submitted its 2.0 NDC in 2021, it estimated a total investment of US$490,590,000 was needed through 2025 to achieve its NDC targets. Of this amount, US$400,645,000 was required for mitigation, and US$89,945,000 for adaptation. However, the stocktake report found that out of this amount the country received US$573,000,000 in commitments from partners and donors.
“So we have more commitment than what we targeted in the NDC,” said Cllr. Urias Goll, one of the two consultants who worked on the report.
Cllr. Goll, who served as National consultant alongside Peer Muna (International Consultant), said only US$212,000,000 was disbursed out of the amount committed by partners, and donors.
“93 percent is in project-base, and seven percent is in technical assistance. Seventy percent of the projects are ongoing and 16 percent of them have been completed,” he said.
Aliou Dia, UNDP Resident Representative, emphasized the importance of making NDC more investable, incorporating the private sector, and integrating NDCs into national investment frameworks.
“The stocktake report we validate today provides a thorough and inclusive evaluation of the progress, achievements, and gaps in implementing the 2021 NDC,” he said.
Launching the report, Dehpue Zuo, Deputy Minister for Economic Management, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, stated that with the suspension of USAID support, it is now time for Liberia to make use of its natural resources including the forest to generate revenue that improves, and benefits local communities.
“I have seen the drawback of the USAID support in two ways. One is a major challenge for the country at the same time and, two, we see more as an opportunity to look inward on our natural resources, and how to use our natural resources,” he said.
He urged that instead of looking elsewhere for support to fill in the funding gap created by the US government aid halt, it is time for Liberia to leverage its resources “to restore the lost resources or the commitment from our partners.”
