Jorge Villanueva, CDKN’s Communications Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Lima, Peru, reports on the completion of a major climate planning exercise by the Government of Peru, which was co-funded by CDKN.

After two years of hard work, the first phase of PlanCC came to an end this month. The result is 77 options to mitigate climate change so that Peru adopts a low-emissions development path - and each has the potential to be implemented effectively.

During the closing ceremony, the Minister of Environment of Peru highlighted the importance of the contribution of PlanCC. In addition to the scientific rigour with which the work was done, the project generated active links among private, public and civil society actors, via its multi-sectoral approach.

It is noteworthy that decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions is one of the major challenges faced by all countries, not only the great historical emitters, but also developing countries which currently find themselves in a context of economic boom, with rapidly growing GDP figures.

PlanCC is a project of Peruvian government whose main objective is to build technical and scientific bases for exploring the feasibility of a low-carbon development approach incorporating climate change into development planning of the country.

The project is funded by The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Benefits of low-emissions development

The 77 identified mitigation measures correspond to six sectors: energy, transport, industry, waste, forestry and agriculture. Such measures could be implemented in the medium and long term, allowing the country to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases without sacrificing economic growth and competitiveness.

Some of the benefits for Peru from adopting low-emissions development are:

• New investment projects
• Increase of GDP in the medium term
• Savings and improved competitiveness
• Contribution to emissions reduction commitments
• Greater energy security
• High value forests
• Improved quality of life

Importantly, PlanCC is part of the MAPS programme, a collaboration among developing countries (South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru) to support the establishment of an evidence base useful for long-term transition to solid climate compatible economies.