Climate Change (SL0017)

Status quo or problem/ issue to be addressed
Citizens do not have access to climate change information and are not part of the process in developing climate change policy and data.
Main objective
Providing user-friendly data and information regarding climate-related action.
Brief Description of Commitment (140 character limit)
This commitment is geared towards empowering the citizen with climate change information in an open data format and also track the policy implementation on gas targets, renewable energy, and forest restoration, clean mobility, green buildings, and other policy goals and targets.

Commitment 6. Climate Change

Commitment Text:

This commitment seeks to empower the citizens with climate change information in an open data format and also track the policy implementation on gas targets, renewable energy, and forest restoration, clean mobility, green buildings, and other policy goals and targets.

Milestones:

1. Creating a user-friendly public tool to track policy implementation with critical milestones in specific sectors. Country and national actors could commit to track policies through a central database that showcases progress on commitments, including toward specific greenhouse gas targets, renewable energy, and forest restoration, clean mobility, green buildings, and other policy goals and targets. Making use of MRV (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) systems:

• Public consultation with MDAs, CSOs and local councils on how to develop monitoring tools (4 consultations)
• System Investigation and design to identify measurable indicators and show the information flow. • Desk Review of relevant data from the various sectors.
• Generate report from the monitoring, reporting and verification system on half yearly basis.
• Undertake yearly climate change greenhouse gas inventory

1. Providing adequate and relevant climate information to the public at the policy and project levels (reactively and proactively) with a focus on usability, accessibility and publicity:

• Awareness raising activities on climate change impact through the media and stakeholders (radio monthly and TV quarterly)
• Development of quarterly newsletter and brochures on specific climate-related and thematic-related
• Simplify the format of relevant climate change documents such as the climate change policy and the national climate change strategy and action plan disseminated to the public
• Providing web-based information on climate data working closely with the Department of Meteorology, Ministry of Transportation and Aviation (half yearly)

III. Making use of the early warning project supported by GEF and implemented by UNDP to release information or datasets in open data formats and web-based to meet the requirements of the Doha Plan of Action that would help educate, empower and engage all stakeholders:

• Collaboration with the relevant MDAs, CBOs, CSOs and other NGOs to develop the relevant tools required to raise awareness and promote environmental education
• Desk review of the information provided and system analysis
• Development of web-based platform and making the platform public
• Call for proposal for GEF small grant projects to raise awareness by CSOs for climate change

Responsible institution: Environmental Protection Agency.

Supporting institution(s): Meteorological Department, Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Marine Resources, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, and Ministry of Agriculture.

Start date: July 2016                                                                                  End date: June 2018

Commitment Aim:

The commitment aimed to address Sierra Leone’s vulnerability to climate change through implementing international commitments under the Doha Plan of Action adopted in 2012. Sierra Leone began participating in the regional early warning system of the United Nations Development Programme in 2013. This commitment is a continuation of this effort and publishes climate change information, including early warning data, in an open data format. Published information includes gas targets, renewable energy, forest restoration, sustainable transportation, green buildings, and other policy goals and targets. Specifically, the commitment sets out to:

1. empower citizens with climate change information that enables them to track policy implementation;
2. enhance the knowledge of government agencies and NGOs on climate change monitoring and data collection;
3. provide a framework and platform for government agencies and NGOs to collect and share climate change information;
4. consult with the public, CSOs, and local councils on climate change monitoring; and
5. provide adequate and relevant climate information and education through multiple channels including the web.

Status

Midterm: Limited

There was limited progress on the commitment by the midterm. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted trainings, stakeholder meetings, and environmental protection projects in partnership with international agencies and local organizations to support early warning systems (Milestones 1 and 3). Preliminary actions were taken, including support for the development of a user-friendly database on climate change and trainings for government agencies, NGOs, and private sector institutions (Milestones 1, 2, and 3). Substantial efforts were made to provide climate change information to the public through brochures and monthly television programs (Milestones 1, 2, and 3). However, public consultations were not held. For more information, please see the 2016−2018 midterm report. [44]

End of term: Substantial

Milestone 1: Two civil society organizations active in environmental and climate change issues confirmed some activities that occurred after the midterm regarding the monitoring, reporting, and verifying systems. [45] CSOs participated in consultations, workshops, and seminars, organized by government or UN agencies, which focused on developing systems to track climate change. [46]

Milestone 2: The EPA discontinued production of its quarterly print newsletter by the midterm, and this remained so at the end of term. Since the midterm, the EPA produced no monthly television or radio programs on climate change. According to the Executive Director of Green Scenery, while the EPA had stopped these activities, NGOs continued to raise awareness about the impact of climate through the media, including television, radio, and newsletters. [47] Civil society leaders also confirmed that their organizations continued to disseminate simplified, relevant climate change information to the public. [48] These brochures were produced by the EPA. At the end of the reporting period, the government had not established a web-based platform for publishing climate information.

Milestone 3: Implementation of this milestone was completed. CSO leaders told the researcher that the EPA, in partnership with international agencies and local organizations, was undertaking steps to contribute to climate change early warning systems. [49] These activities included trainings, stakeholder meetings, and environmental protection projects. Some of the projects undertaken by CSOs were under the Global Environment Facility, managed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Did it open government?

Access to information: Marginal

Civic Participation: Did not change

Although Sierra Leone had signed the Doha Plan of Action, the government was not making efforts to tell the public about its implementation. The lack of information meant that citizens were unable to track how the government was implementing responsibilities under the Doha Plan of Action. If fully implemented, this commitment would have improved the public’s access to information and empowered citizens to track the government’s implementation of the Doha Plan of Action for the purposes of accountability. Implementation of the commitment brought marginal change in government practice. The amount of climate change information that the public in Sierra Leone can now access is greater than in the past. According the head of Green Scenery, the public still cannot access key information on gas targets, renewable energy, forest restoration, sustainable transport, green buildings, and other policy goals, and thus track government-led climate efforts. [50]

Carried forward?

The government had not released the third action plan at the time of this report. The commitment should not be carried forward because the EPA and many CSOs are providing climate education.

[44] Charlie Hughes, Sierra Leone Mid-Term Report 2016-2018 (OGP, 9 Jul. 2018), https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/sierra-leone-mid-term-report-2016-2018-year-1/.

[45] Joseph Rahall (Executive Director, Green Scenery), interview with IRM researcher, 14 Sept. 2018; Director of CODHOSAPA, interview with IRM researcher 13 Aug. 2018.

[46] Short cite the desired interview.

[47] Rahall, interview.

[48] Id.; Director of CODHOSAPA, interview.

[49] Short cite the desired interview.

[50] Joseph Rahall (Executive Director, Green Scenery), interview with IRM researcher, 13 May 2019.