Rwanda is committed to taking urgent action to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. As a Party to the UNFCCC, the country seeks to contribute to the ambitious goal of limiting temperature rise to 2oC with efforts to reach 1.5°C agreed under the Paris Agreement. 

In this respect, Rwanda submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the UNFCCC in September 2015, setting out its adaptation and mitigation goals. With the entry into force of the Paris Agreement in November 2016, the INDC became Rwanda’s first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). 

Rwanda’s mitigation contribution takes the form of a reduction in GHG emissions relative to a business-as-usual (BAU) emissions baseline over the period 2015-2030. The contribution, detailed in Rwanda’s updated NDC (or Climate Action Plan) includes two components: 

• Unconditional contribution: A reduction of 16 percent relative to BAU in the year 2030; equivalent to an estimated mitigation level of 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2 e) in that year. This is an unconditional target, based on domestically supported and implemented mitigation measures and policies. 
• Conditional contribution: An additional reduction of 22 percent relative to BAU in the year 2030; equivalent to an estimated mitigation level of 2.7 million tCO2 e in that year. This represents an additional targeted contribution, based on the provision of international support and funding.

The adaptation component in Rwanda’s updated NDC involves quantified targets for adaptation and resilience, criteria-based evaluation of priority interventions, and the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework for adaptation actions to strengthen national capacity for resource mobilisation that will be instrumental to supporting climate action over the next decade. 

Learn more about Rwanda’s Climate Action Plan (NDC) here.

Goal

The Paris Agreement goal is to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach the global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.

Key Aspects of Paris Agreement

• Long-term temperature goal (Article 2)
• Global peaking and climate neutrality (Article 4)
• Mitigation (Article 4)
• Sinks and reservoirs (Article 5)
• Voluntary cooperation/Market- and non-market-based approaches (Article 6) 
• Adaptation (Article 7) 
• Loss and damage (Article 8) 
• Finance, technology, and capacity-building support (Article 9, 10, and 11)
• Climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation, and public access to information (Article 12)
• Transparency (Article 13), implementation, and compliance (Article 15) 
• Global Stocktake (Article 14)