Lebanese portal to share climate action data, launched at Beirut Energy Forum 2017
A new climate action information system was presented at the Beirut Energy Forum (BEF), held in the Lebanese capital on 18 – 20 September. The BEF is an international event dedicated to sustainable energy issues and projects, which has been held on a yearly basis since 2010. The new tool was unveiled during a session dedicated to the Partnership with the European Union: “Il Mare Nostrum: Fostering the Euro‐Med Cooperation”. Introducing the session, Ms. Irène Mingasson, representing the European Commission – DG NEAR, said “The portfolio on renewables and energy efficiency is growing and will continue to do so, and it is clearly a political priority area for which the potential for a joint agenda will continue to be backed by substantial financial resources”. EU-funded regional projects on Energy and Climate Action received funding of €68.5 million for the period 2008-2017, in addition to €304 million for bilateral projects. A further €340 million in grants and €4.1 billion in loans have been mobilised under the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).
Tracking climate action and sharing of information. The system targets line ministries engaged in the implementation of the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as stipulated in the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement. As stressed by the ClimaSouth expert, Andrea Rizzo, presenting the tool at the BEF, the system is designed to help line ministries track their own progress in achieving sectoral targets and facilitate the sharing of information. Ultimately, this should enhance the effectiveness and transparency of Lebanon’s Monitoring Reporting & Verification (MRV) of data on climate action. The information system has been collaboratively designed by the Lebanese Ministry of Environment (MoE), the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW), and the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC), with support from the EU-funded ClimaSouth project. It is anticipated that during the forthcoming implementation phase, the partnership will be expanded to other line ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
MISCA – Management & Information System for Climate Action. The system is up-and-running, already connecting the line ministries, currently partners to the initiative. Fine-tuning and testing is ongoing, as well as the training of technicians and future system users. The system relies on an open architecture ensuring the easy customization of supporting databases. It also allows the automatic calculation of CO2 produced and avoided in order to facilitate the management of mitigation measures. The ClimaSouth IT Development Expert, Dario Berardi, intervening at the BEF, stressed that “the aim is to create a comprehensive and user-friendly tool, ensuring ownership of the data and quality of the information, that is flexible enough to adapt to evolving situations”. Data quality is ensured throughout the workflow, by the strict separation of functions associated with the entry, verification and release of data. The management of potentially sensitive data is supported, with the system integrating such data in the calculations but not displaying them in the final outputs.
Resources:
Irène Mingasson, European Commission – DG NEAR, Head of Unit, Regional Programmes Neighbourhood South: Video | Presentation
Andrea Rizzo, ClimaSouth project, Climate Change Expert: Video
Dario Berardi, ClimaSouth project, IT Development Expert: Video | Presentation