NAMA side event report

The NAMAs side event was a rousing success. There were over 200 people who attended and our presentations sparkedÂ much interest. The Side Event was essentially broken up to address different issues. Ned Helme, Ellina Levina, and Mark Houdashelt presented for CCAP. Raekwon Chung from S. Korea, Alvaro Umana from Costa Rica, and Farukh Khan of Pakistan comprised a panel of respondents. The event was moderated by Carolin Zenger of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany.

Ned Helme described in detail the structure of the NAMA architecture, explaining how it would fit into the current state of the international negotiations. Â Ellina Levina followed by describing finance mechanisms of the NAMAs.

Ambassador Chung was very optimistic about operationalizing NAMAs. He also was supportive of the concept of a NAMAs registry that recognizes unilateral actions by developing countries that they have already supposed. Ambassador Chung was very supportive or our NAMAs work.

Alvaro Umana focused on how the NAMA architecture is rooted in the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities. The NAMA architecture pushes countries to define these responsibilities, and as such NAMAs are ‘a very important intellectual exercise.’ Mr. Umana continued saying how the NAMA architecture shows that you can act quickly, define what is appropriate for you, and still provide flexibility for the international community to move in the right direction.

Farukh Khan of Pakistan was the final respondent. He clarified that a fast start is about 15 years too late. He also stated that NAMAs should be restricted to supported and credit generating actions. There must be a distinct difference between what a NAMA is and what unilateral actions are. The standard established internationally should not be the same standard as actions taken domestically.

The de facto second part of the NAMAs event began with Mark Houdashelt talking about the most recent work CCAP has been doing about Transportation NAMAs. This work was done under a grant from the German government. This work was very warmly received by both the audience and respondents.

Raekwon Chung opened up for the respondents noting how transportation in developing countries across the world is a sector that should be the focus of mitigation, as it is a serious problem in most developing countries and it is getting worse across the board. Transportation is also the perfect example of where very simple actions can have an enormous benefit.

Alvaro Umana closed out the response section by noting the critical link between transportation and economic growth. Smart growth must include urban planning of transportation systems.Â  There are many opportunities in this sector that must be taken advantage of.

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