The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia and partners have concluded a two-day Learning and Design Exchange – Multi-level Climate Governance and NDC National Implementation Pathways in Kakata, Margibi County.
Organized by the Environmental Protection Agency with support from the Government of Canada through NOVA Sphere, the event was held from April 12 to 13, 2024, in Kakata City.
The event aimed at information sharing on climate change and its effects on Liberia with key emphasis on the three transformative pilots being implemented under the support as well as identifying roles of national stakeholders; and developing next steps for national implementation of MRV of Climate Actions.
Moreover, Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) refers to the multi-step process of measuring the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduced by a specific mitigation activity, such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, over some time and reporting these findings to an accredited third party.
At the end of the gathering, the project lead coordinator of the MRV for Climate Action in West Africa, Isaac N. Kannah emphasized the need for the government of Liberia to help build a system that will be able to manage climate change in Liberia.
Mr. Kannah disclosed that there are plans underway to engage with people at a community level, and added that they are firstly interacting with high-profile personalities at government and institutional levels.
He went further to lament that Liberia as a country does not have any law or legal framework to guide the carbon market as such anyone can trade in the carbon business.
The MRV Action Climate Coordinator wants the government of Liberia to set up the framework and put in a mechanism to safeguard the process.
Kannah also asserted that it is not possible to penalize someone for breaking climate change procedures when there are no laws put in place by the government.
“ So this is a learning and design exchange meeting, we bring high-level stakeholders from the Government Ministries, Agencies, and civil society organizations to look at how well Liberia can position itself in a way that it takes actions to address the issue of climate change. Interm of climate governance in Liberia, we have some serious constraints, we don’t have a structured climate governing system.
“So, the Government of Canada is funding through NOVA Sphere this project to support countries (Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, and Togo) to build their climate MRV system”, he disclosed.
For example, the climate law Liberia which the Government of Canada will be funding is a project that will help develop laws that will govern how we use our climate because we don’t have laws governing our climate, he said accordingly.
Climate change is not a strange thing to Liberia, but it is kind of strange in a way that we have been new in the governance aspect, how we manage it, and how we invest in it is a kind of new. so, we are finding it difficult to operate in this system, but all those that are here today are knowledgeable about what we are here to discuss and the Environmental Protection Agency EPA leads on climate issues in Liberia, Kanned remarked.
“Another thing is, Liberia does not have any law or legal framework to guard the carbon market, even to do carbon trading there is no way because there is no law on what should be done so, this is where Canadian government support comes in to help the government to form a law that will govern the operations of carbon all across the country”, he said.
For his part, Bomi County Representative and Chairman on Science and Technology at the lever of the House of Representatives, Sam P. Jallah pledged the House of Representatives flinching support to the operations of the EPA and partners as it relates to the protection and development of the environment. He promised as the chair of Science and Technology he would ensure that issues from the EPA are taken seriously at the level of the House.
The Bomi County Representative however, called on the EPA and other institutions to always include beneficiaries of the project in the planning activities, as he said he believed that if beneficiaries of a project are involved in the project, they stand to take ownership of it.
“One of the things I have come to learn is, you can form a very good policy if the people who the policy will affect are not involved that project will not work”, he said.
For their part, FDA and EPA representatives extolled the participants for the gathering and expressed optimism that the meeting will give them (the government) a broad idea of what it needs to do as the country progresses towards climate change mitigation.
The two-day event brought together community leaders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Liberia Land Authority (LAA), the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) among others.
