Saint Lucia’s NDC 3.0 sets an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and transport sectors by 22% in 2035, through enhanced deployment of wind and solar energy with battery storage, upgrades to the grid infrastructure, continued efforts to improve energy efficiency, and enhanced uptake of electric vehicles.
This comes as Saint Lucia has officially submitted its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), following approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.
This signals a bold step forward in the islandās climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. This move underscores the countryās commitment to addressing the global climate crisis and reinforces its position as a regional leader in climate policy development.
This is a significant leap from the 7% reduction pledge made in its NDC of January 2021. Additionally, and conditional upon the successful exploration of the resource, Saint Lucia intends to add geothermal energy generation to its renewable energy mix, which would bring overall energy sector emissions down by 32% in 2035 and play a key role in meeting the country’s climate goals.
Both emission reduction targets are benchmarked against the island’s baseline emissions, measured in 2010. In addition to a stronger emissions reduction commitment, the NDC 3.0 also incorporates new initiatives in the forestry and cooling sectors.
Reforestation efforts are expected to contribute an additional reduction of 33 ktCO2 by 2035, compared to 2010, while the cooling sector will aim to cut fluorinated gases (F-gases) from the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors by 10% by 2035, compared to the 2020-2022 baseline. The estimated capital expenditure to implement the mitigation commitments of NDC 3.0 is USD 247 million, plus USD 178 million for the geothermal plant, should the resource be productive, and an additional USD 84 million for grid upgrades.
