Rwanda

The economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide, with widespread loss of life, failure to maintain infrastructure, looting, and neglect of important cash crops. This caused a large drop in GDP and destroyed the country’s ability to attract private and external investments. Nevertheless, Rwanda ratified the UNFCCC in 1995 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2007. It submitted its initial report to the UNFCCC in 2005 and its second communication in June 2012, including a stand-alone mitigation strategy, the Carbon Policy and an updated emissions inventory. Rwanda’s second communication was also approved by the Cabinet as a national report. In order to respond to international obligations, other international frameworks activities are being used, including Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In the past decade, Rwanda has been at the forefront of climate policymaking.

A Climate Change and International Obligations Unit was established in 2009. It operates within the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), a non-sectoral institution under the Ministry of Natural Resources (MINIRENA). The Climate Change Unit oversees the Designated National Authority to co-ordinate carbon market activities. Climate change efforts are supported by donors including the Japanese government, the Least Developed Countries Fund, the Adaptation in Africa Programme and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).

In 2011 the government published the National Climate Change and Low Carbon Development Strategy. This Strategy was conducted by the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford and supported by UK-DFID and CDKN. As a result, nine sectoral working papers have been produced – including on the energy, forests and transportation. The National Climate Change and Low Carbon Development Strategy highlight the need to foster low carbon development by 2050, as well as the implementation mechanisms to meet those needs.

The second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II 2013-2018) was launched by the President in 2013. The strategy forms the centrepiece of Rwanda’s medium-term plan for development and the framework within which the government will focus efforts on transforming the economy and realising its Vision 2020. Pursuing a green economy approach to development is one of five economic priorities in the EDPRS II. Climate change and the environment have been integrated into EDPRS II as a ‘cross-cutting issue’ to mainstream environmental sustainability into productive and social sectors and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

A Fund for Environment and Climate Change (FONERWA) was launched in October 2014. The government expects that the fund will be the engine of green growth, mobilising and channelling domestic and international financing to public and private environment and climate change projects. The green fund will support projects that align with the country’s commitment to a strong and prosperous green economy. FONERWA is expected to contribute approximately 20–30% to Rwanda’s existing financing gap, which is estimated at approximately USD 100m per year.

EDPRS II identifies both the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy and FONERWA as strategic tools for guiding specific interventions within national sector strategic plans and their implementation. 

Energy supply

Energy consumption is dominated by biomass consumption (wood-fuel and agricultural residues), which accounts for 86% of consumed energy, followed by petroleum products (11%) and electricity (3%), roughly half of which is generated from hydro sources and half from thermal power plants.

To increase energy generation to meet projected future demand and better develop indigenous sources of energy, the new EDPRS proposes two measures: (i) the development of a clear roadmap for investment in electricity generation, involving a balanced mix of energy sources, eliminating electricity subsidies and cutting the cost of energy; and (ii) private investment in the sector. The EDPRS also mentions an electrification programme to promote universal access to electricity, through on-grid and off-grid solutions. The electrification programme aims to connect to the grid 45% of households by 2017, as well as industrial, mining, agriculture and commercial users. Off-grid options such as solar and biogas are seen as the most economical and sustainable options for poor households.

The government is planning significant increases in generating capacity over the next five years, using a mix of fossil fuels, renewable energy and peat. A recent report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that Rwanda could achieve 100% access to clean electricity by 2020, providing significant environmental and climate benefits, while reducing the country’s import dependence and creating export opportunities for electricity and natural gas. The government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ignite Power, establishing the framework for large scale deployment of solar electric systems across rural communities.

Energy demand

The launching of the CDM resulted in the development of programmes to promote efficient cook stoves. Programmes of Activity (PoAs) and private initiatives are promoting efficient cook stoves in the country.

In 2005, the Rwanda Environment Management Authority, with the support of UNEP, introduced a programme to promote resource efficiency and cleaner production. This scheme applies integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes, products and services to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment. In 2008 the Rwanda National Cleaner Production Centre (Rwanda-NCPC) was established, and carried out various projects to raise awareness and promote resource and energy efficiency in industry and domestic environments.

Vision 2020 acknowledges that wood is the source of energy for 99% of the population, which leads to deforestation and soil destruction. It projects that by 2020, at least 35% of the population will be connected to electricity (up from the current 6%) and the consumption of wood will decrease from 94% to 50% of national energy consumption.

REDD+ and LULUCF

Rwanda is a net sink for GHG emissions due to the large amounts of CO2 absorbed by forests, which are estimated to sequester approximately 9,000Gt of CO2/yr (2005). Yet, deforestation is increasing as a result of firewood collection, charcoal production in open kilns, and use of fossil fuels in generators and kerosene for lighting and cooking.

The second communication to the UNFCCC suggests the following measures to deal with emissions from land use change: afforestation, reforestation, forest management, reduced deforestation, management of timber products, use of forest products to replace oil (bio-energy), improvement of tree species to increase biomass productivity and carbon sequestration, and improved remote sensing technologies to study vegetation and soil, the potential for carbon sequestration and to map land use and land use change.

Rwanda has a National Forestry Policy (2010) which sets a target to increase national forest cover and for the forestry sector to play increasing role in national economy. The forestry policy aims to improve livelihoods through job employment creation, increased forest revenues, value addition, and further balanced ecological benefits and a sustained yield. Specifically, it aims at ensuring that the present forest cover is first over all maintained, well managed and increased to 30% of the country total area by 2020.

The first Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS I 2008-2012) acknowledged forestry as a strategic area to alleviate the rate of natural resources degradation. Accordingly, EDPRS I put forward the need to run an inventory and mapping of national forest resources in providing the basis for a ten year national forestry plan; develop a strategy for the private sector involvement; and implement a reforestation strategy. It recognized furthermore the need to put in place a joint strategy with MINAGRI to promote agroforestry for non-wood uses, including medicinal uses, honey production, wild foods and handicraft production by intensifying agroforestry up to 85% of farmlands.

EDPRS II 2013-2018 retains forestry as a main concern in recognition of its prime contribution to the GDP. This will be achieved through increased job creation in forestry from 0.3% to 0.5% by 2018, and reduction in the use of biomass energy through the use of improved stoves and improved kilns to produce 75% of charcoal by year 2018. It supports the previous target of increasing forest cover to 23.5% by 2012 and reset a new indicator to reach 30% by 2018. In addition, EDPRS II recommends for sustainable management of forest biodiversity and critical ecosystems through protection and maintenance of 10.25% of the land area, and reduction of wood energy consumption to 50% by 2020 as reflected in the 2020 Forestry Policy and the 2020 Vision targets.

The Five Year Strategic Plan for the Environment and Natural Resources Sector establishes targets of forestry to increase forest cover, with districts measuring their success against new forest planted, targeting a minimum of 83 trees per household in rural area and 5 trees in urban areas, with a survival rate of 90%.

Adaptation

Rwanda completed its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) in 2006. The Programme addresses water shortage and the effects on agricultural productivity of flooding, landslides, heavy rain falls, extreme temperatures, heat waves and drought. Several districts have been selected to pilot adaptation measures. The second national communication submitted to the UNFCCC in 2012 contains the latest climate risk and vulnerability assessment for the country.

In 2010, Rwanda, Japan, UNDP and UNEP launched two climate change adaptation programmes. The first programme (2010-2013), funded under the Global Environment Fund (GEF), focused on reducing vulnerability to climate change by establishing early warning and disaster preparedness systems and support for integrated watershed management in flood prone areas. The second programme (2010-2014), funded by Japan, focused on building an integrated comprehensive national adaptation approach in Rwanda.