SUVA, May 23, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Fiji is committed on Wednesday to leading the world by example through the development of an ambitious Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS).
The Fijian government made the commitment on Wednesday while it, in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), hosted the first national workshop on Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) in Suva, capital of Fiji.
According to press release by the Fijian Department of Information, Fijian Attorney-General, Minister for Economy and responsible for climate change Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said at the workshop that carbon emissions were a direct result of human activity that posed an existential threat to the health of our climate.
“While Fiji, as a small island state with a population of less than one million, is already among the world’s lowest carbon-emitting countries, we are committed to leading the world by example through the development of an ambitious LEDS,”he said.
Fiji’s LEDS will be a holistic and far-reaching development strategy that promotes both sustainable growth and long-term decarbonisation of the Fijian economy. It will guide the government’s future decarbonisation efforts, providing a framework to meet CO2 targets under Fiji’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) through 2030 and beyond.
Notably, Fiji’s LEDS will be the first of its kind for a Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). The Fijian LEDS will complement the work that the Fijian government is already carrying out for mitigation and adaptation under the Paris Agreement, including the implementation of the actions articulated under the NDC Roadmap.
The inaugural one-day LEDS workshop was organized to inform stakeholders on the LEDS process to date, and to engage participants from across the public and private sectors in a constructive dialogue over the island nation’s long-term vision for low-emission development through 2050.