Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC A. The Country: Some Facts  Location: Eritrea located in the Horn of Africa: Borders: Sudan - West; Ethiopia - South; Djibouti- Southeast and Red Sea-East  Population: 3.5 x 10 6, growing at 2.7-3% per annum  GDP per capita: USD  Ecology varies from desert to sub-humid temperate climate in elevations ranging from 0 - over 2300 m.a.s.l  High ecological variation due to high topographic variation

Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC Figure 1: Agro-ecological zones of Eritrea

 High variability of precipitation with negative impacts on  crop/ livestock production  grazing lands  water availability - human/ livestock consumption and for irrigation  High potential in Fisheries  potential to sustainable catch of 70,000 tons per year envisaged  current annual fish catch is about 13,000 tons per year  Industry/Mining: at its initial development but there are good prospects in future Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

B.The Process: Institutional Arrangement The Project: Climate Change Enabling Activity Project Implementing Agency: UNDP Executing Agency: Department of Environment, Ministry of Land Water and Environment Date of project start: 1998 Date of project completion: 2001 Date of Submission of National Communication: 10 September 2002 National Coordination  Establishment of a National Core Planning Team (CPT), coordinated by the National Focal Point  National Project Director (National Focal Point)  National Project Coordinator Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

Modalities of Implementation  Hiring of local consulting firm  Hiring of international consulting firm (CEEST)  Teams established to assist implementation process  GHG inventory/ identification of mitigation options and policies coordinated by CPT - Energy sector  V and A assessment of agricultural sector coordinated by CPT, - Agricultural sector  V and A assessment, - Forestry, coordinated by CPT, - Agricultural sector Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

Modalities of Implementation  V and A assessment of water - coordinated by CPT, - Water sector  V and A assessment of - health, coordinated by CPT, - Health sector  V and A assessment of - coastal zone, coordinated by CPT, - Fisheries sector  Organization of seminars, meetings, seminars and workshops, including training workshops to properly run models Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

C. National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases (GHG)  Inventory of GHG conducted using the revised 1996 IPCC guideline and adopting IPCC default values.  Inventory taken for Carbondioxide (CO 2 ), Methane (CH 4 ), Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O), Carbon monoxide (CO) and Non-Methane volatile compounds (NMVOCs)  Inventory addressed six sectors: energy, transport, industry, agriculture, LUCF and municipal solid waste.  CO 2 constitutes by far the greatest share of GHG  Main source of CO 2 are LUCF (70%) and fossil fuel combustion for energy use (28%) Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

Figure 2 : Total Final Energy Supply Figure 3: Contribution of Biomass to Total Energy Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

Limitations of the National GHG Inventory  Lack of country specific emission factors and emission ratios  Lack of time series data  Uncertainties not assessed D. Current Mitigation Activities  Afforestation/reforestation programs  Enhancement of natural vegetation (closures) Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

 Increase of energy efficiency/conservation  Introduction of new power plant has reduced consumption of heavy fuel oil from 220 grams to 170 grams to produce 1 kWh of electricity. This is estimated to reduce CO 2 emissions by around 45,000 tons in 2002, assuming 300 GWh of electricity generated  Technical loss in transmission and distribution system has also been reduced at least by 50%  Increasing efficiency of traditional stoves:  Efficiency of traditional stoves has increased from 10% to 21%.  Initial calculations suggest that CO 2 reduction potential per improved stove is around 0.6 tons per year. Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

 Development and introduction of renewables  Wind Energy: study in progress in southern coastal areas of Eritrea  Solar PV: An aggregate capacity of over 500kW have been installed.  Around 1.6 tons of CO 2 is abated for each kW of renewable energy installed.  Expansion of LPG in rural areas  Mitigation in transport sector:  Transport sector constituted 41% of total CO 2 emissions in 1994  Minimal tax for public buses  Encouragement of non-motorized vehicles  Introduction of regulatory frames that prohibit importation of older vehicles Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

E. Assessment of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change  Use of UK89 mode to formulate climate change scenario:-  An increase of 4.1 o C for doubling of CO 2 over the next century has been predicted.  Rainfall expected to increase slightly.  Vulnerability and Adaptation assessment  Agriculture: sorghum and barley selected for V and A  Water resources: Gash - Barka drainage basin selected for V and A Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

 Forestry: -Division of potential forest cover zones for current and future climate change scenarios (using Holdridge model) -Prediction of plant species composition, vegetation structure etc. (using Forest Gap Model) -The results of the models have received serious reservations by concerned experts  Coastal zone: Port city of Massawa (situated from below sea level - 1:0 m above sea level) selected to demonstrate effects of climate change. -Analysis showed sea level to increase by 0.5m - 1.0m -Loss estimated at about million due to sea level rise. Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

 Human health: Due to increase of temperature and a slight increase of precipitation, the spread of malaria is expected to spread from its present situation. Currently there are indications that malaria is spreading to highland areas, an unusual occurrence in the past.  Problems encountered in vulnerability and adaptation assessment.  Application of GCMs in high topographic variations Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

F. Policy Measures  Poverty reduction  Environmental policies  Land degradation (NAP)  NBSAP  Marine and coastal environment  Use of EIA  Energy and transport sectors -Introduction and expansion of renewables -Energy efficiency -Regulation of importation of old vehicles -Use of efficient public transport systems Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

G. Public awareness, education and training  Public awareness  Use of media to broadcast selected materials  Preparation of Eritrea's Initial National Communication  Education and Training  Integration of environmental education into the national educational system  Establishment of certificate, diploma and degree levels Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

H. Research and Systematic Observation Systematic Observation  Problem: Lack of a strong national meteorological center for achieving an efficient national climate and resource information system.  Proposed solutions:  Establishment of a strong and effective institution to manage a national observation system  Development of human resource capacity in technical, scientific and management aspects  Introduction of state- of- the- art communication and information technology. Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

Research  Short term: applied type of research focusing on:-  Development of policy guideline  Formulation of natural resources management strategies  Mitigation of natural hazards and setting up of a national early warning system  Long term: high level research on climate change and the environment by building upon the capacities and capabilities outlined above. Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

I. Financial and capacity needs  Strength the National Focal Point  Strength early warning systems  Develop national climate and resource information systems  Climate and meteorology, water resources and hydrology  Ecology and agriculture  Energy resources  Marine resources  Develop research capacities to undertake adaptation work on agriculture, land management, water resources, coastal zone and fisheries, infrastructure development, human health, energy and transport. Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

J. Implementation  CPT (Core Planing Team)  National Climate Change Secretariat  Sustainable Funding Eritrea's Initial National Communication under the UNFCCC

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