The Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA) has concluded a technical training workshop in Monrovia for technicians in the energy sector on the methodologies and application of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines and software for data collection, analysis and reporting.
The initiative supported by the Conservation International (CI) Liberia.
The training held under the auspices of the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency or CBIT Project seeks to support, build and strengthen Liberia institutions’ capacity to implement the transparency elements of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The training which attracted about 30 technicians representing the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Liberia Electricity Corporation, Rural and Renewable Energy Agency of Liberia, Liberia Petroleum Storage Company, Ministry of Transport and representatives of the private sector was based on the 2016 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventory including differences between the Revised 1996 and the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.
The training also focused on exercises tailored towards enhancing understanding in the reporting guidelines, uncertainty analysis, key category analysis, approaches to data collection and reporting.
It brought together three facilitators, who are technical expert reviewers of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and products of the prestigious Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI) based in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Speaking at the start of the training, EPA Executive Director, Prof. Wilson K. Tarpeh said that the exercise was intended to help technicians gain the necessary skills that are needed to collect, analyze and interpret data that will be used by policy makers in helping Liberia meet its commitment in respect to climate change and the necessary mitigating measures.
He said for Liberia to be able to minimize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, the country must prepare technicians that will be able to bring the information that is needed to informed major public decision.
Prof. Tarpeh disclosed that Liberia is governed by several international instruments including the Paris Climate Agreement and stressed the need for knowledge transfer.
He also spoke about the necessity of short-term training programs for young people and assured that EPA will enhanced its capacity building program.
Peter Mulbah, CI Executive said the gathering was intended for participants to brainstorm on different approaches that will help strengthen national capacity for Greenhouse Gas emission in Liberia.
He explained that the CBIT Project predominantly focus on capacity building and disclosed that the training is one of the project targets.
According to Mr. Mulbah, they are under obligation to train more than 90 technicians from Government of Liberia institutions.
He assured participants that they would acquire new skills or enhance their skills so that by the end of the project there will be technicians in the different sectors and institutions ready to support government report to the UNFCCC and the development of the different country reports.
William T. Thompson, assistant minister for Energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy said Liberia will need to reduce gross Greenhouse Gas emissions from the energy sector, which is the highest emissions sector.
“Liberia’s Initial National Communication (INC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2013, the energy sector accounted or 67.5 percent of the total GHG emission,” Thompson said.
He also stressed the need to scale down on energy generation from fossil fuel and scale up renewable energy considering the several impacts of climate change on the landscape of Liberia.
Comments are closed.