Lesotho's Climate Action

Mitigation

Climate change mitigation involves efforts to reduce the rate of climate change by limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove these gases from the atmosphere. Lesotho has taken steps to address climate change through various national initiatives:

  1. In 2000, Lesotho developed its first National Communication, which included sector-specific mitigative policies and measures. It analyzed the Energy and Forestry sectors, identifying mitigation measures in sub-sectors like Residential/Commercial, Transport, Industrial, Forestry, and Land Use.
  2. In 2013, the country released its second National Communication, focusing on Energy and Non-Energy sectors. Mitigation measures were identified in Residential/Commercial, Transport, Industrial, as well as Non-Energy sectors, including Forestry, Agriculture, and Waste. A National Mitigation Strategy and Action plan were created for short and medium terms.

The Kingdom of Lesotho’s approach to climate change mitigation is enshrined in the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) 2017-2027 which envisions “to build climate change resilience and low-carbon societies including a prosperous economic environment in the country”. The Policy underscores the implementation of concrete climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, advancing low-carbon development pathways and building more sustainable development outcomes that consider on-going and future climate-related impacts. Lesotho’s mitigation potential is clearly outlined in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC, 2017), which include targets, strategies, and measures related to reducing emissions and addressing climate change. 

Within her NDC, Lesotho has set an ambitious, fair and responsible commitment to support global efforts towards meeting the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) objective. This commitment is focused on the overarching goal of constraining the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2.0°C, consistent with the emission targets and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the Paris Agreement.  

The NDC specifically outlines:

Mitigation Targets

  1. Unconditional target: 10% reduction in GHG emissions compared to business as usual (BAU) by 2030.
  2. Conditional target: An additional 25% reduction under certain conditions which would bring the total GHG reduction to sum 35% of (a) and (b) below BAU emission levels by 20308‘
  3. Financial Needs: Meeting the conditional target requires an overall investment estimated at 0.59 billion USD between 2015 and 2030 of which 0.32 billion USD is conditional upon the following:
  • accessing new sources of finance and increased support compared to what was received in previous years to be mobilized through new financial mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund
  • Legally binding Paris Agreement
  • The total annual savings in the conditional scenario is 0.14 billion USD
  1. Expected Trajectory: In achieving her unconditional and conditional targets, Lesotho expects her emission trajectory to be the following:

Expected Trajectory

In achieving her unconditional and conditional targets, Lesotho expects her emission trajectory to be the following:

Mitigation Options

The figure below outlines the most cost-effective mitigation measure as outlined in the Biennial update report (BUR)

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
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Lesotho Climate Change Unit

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The Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) is the national meteorological agency of the Kingdom of Lesotho. 

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The GEF Trust Fund constitutes the most popular source of climate finance in Lesotho, having funded over 42 projects, including both national and global/regional initiatives. In terms of focus, GEF funded projects have been geared broadly towards tackling the drivers of environmental degradation. As such, the major focal areas of the fund disbursement in Lesotho have been biodiversity; land degradation; climate change policies, strategies and plans; organic pollution and water – all of which are more or less in line with the fund’s priority globally. Direct climate financing from Global Environment Fund (GEF) is accessible through the Department of Environment, which is a GEF focal point in the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Environment. (Home | GEF)

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The Green Climate Fund has the potential to help countries like Lesotho meet their adaptation and mitigation finance needs. Currently, there is one cross-cutting GCF-funded project in Lesotho, among other three recipient countries – South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia. 

The project is geared towards addressing critical market barriers in accelerating private sector climate investments. Lesotho has also accessed five (5) projects under the GCFs Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme. The process for accessing funding under the GCF begin from an assessment of the needs of Lesotho and includes extensive stakeholder engagement. The fund is accessed through the National Designated Authority (NDA) and the Accredited Entity (AE) (Lesotho | Green Climate Fund).

 
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Like the Adaptation Fund, the Climate Investment Funds constitutes a climate funding stream that many African countries are not able to access. CIF is an enabler of pioneering climate-smart planning and climate action in low and middle-income economies, many of which are the least prepared yet the most prone to the challenges of climate change. CIF responds to the worldwide climate crisis with large-scale, low-cost, and long-term financial solutions to support countries achieve their climate objectives. In Lesotho, there is only a single project with finance from the fund. The project, entitled “Lesotho Renewable Energy and Energy Access Project”, is geared towards funding renewable energy investments. The fund is accessed through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in Lesotho. (The Climate Investment Funds (CIF)).

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The Special Climate Change Fund is also being governed by GEF and Lesotho has not accessed funds as the fund is dry majority of the time. Lesotho as an LDC competes with other developing countries to access the funds. (Special Climate Change Fund – SCCF | GEF)

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The LDCF, which is governed by GEF, is a vital source of climate funds in the context of Lesotho. It constitutes the most significant finance stream in Lesotho, having funded national projects to the tune of over US$ 36 million as of 2022. Indeed, it is second in significance to the GEF Trust Fund only in terms of the number of nationally funded projects (8 national projects compared to 15 for GEF). Regarding sectoral distribution and focus of LDCF, the data suggests that LDCF resources are geared towards water resources management, enhancing the resilience of agricultural production and food systems, and climate information services and capacity building. (Least Developed Countries Fund – LDCF | GEF)

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The Adaptation Fund is one of the least accessed climate funds and Lesotho just accessed funds (count of US$ 10 million) through Word Food Programme as the accredited entity. The project, entitled “Improving adaptive capacity of vulnerable and food-insecure populations in Lesotho”, is being implemented and pertains to agriculture and food security. It is accessed through LMS and Accredited Entity (AF | Adaptation Fund)

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