Capacity-building project to address climate change concludes in Cuba
The project “Global capacity-building towards enhanced transparency in the AFOLU sector” (CBIT-AFOLU), has concluded in Cuba after four years of implementation. This initiative, led by the Ministry of Agriculture with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has been essential in preparing the country’s agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector to better respond to environmental challenges and the demands of the Paris Agreement.
Implemented since 2021, CBIT has strengthened national technical capacities to measure, assess and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in the AFOLU sector.
As a result, for the first time the country now has the Information System on Climate Change in Agriculture (SICCA, Sistema de Información sobre Cambio Climático de la Agricultura), which serves as a platform where various stakeholders collaborate to systematize climate change information, monitor progress on climate goals and support data-driven decision-making in line with the transparency requirements of the Paris Agreement.
This system will serve as a registry and reporting tool to systematize mitigation and adaptation actions in agriculture. It is also essential for sectoral and national reporting within the framework of national plans, policies and commitments on these issues.
Through the SICCA platform, users can also access the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management System for the AFOLU sector (Sistema de Gestión del Inventario Nacional de Gases de Efecto Invernadero del sector AFOLU); the Measurement, reporting and verification system for climate finance and mitigation actions (Sistema de medición, reporte y verificación para el financiamiento climático y las acciones de mitigación); and the Monitoring and evaluation system for adaptation actions (Sistema de monitoreo y Evaluación de las acciones de adaptación).
At the close of the project, the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector also has the Climate Action Agrarian Plan (Plan Agrario de Acción Climática) – a strategic framework that integrates adaptation and mitigation measures into the development programmes of the agricultural and forestry sectors within the context of Cuba’s state plan for addressing climate change, known as Tarea Vida.
Speaking at the closing workshop, Yamilé Lamothe, Deputy Director of Science, Technology, Innovation and Environment at the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG), expressed gratitude for FAO’s support during the project’s implementation, as well as for the contributions of participating institutions, including the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), Cubaenergía, and the Institute of Meteorology.
Orlando Rey Santos, CITMA advisor on climate change issues, highlighted the impact of CBIT-AFOLU in Cuba, particularly because it represents a shift in how reporting and information on climate actions in agriculture, forestry and livestock are approached.
As part of the project, FAO, with GEF funding, also provided equipment and technologies for more accurate measurement of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, thereby strengthening national capacities for GHG inventory development.
With CBIT-AFOLU, Cuba is now in a position to produce more timely reports that transparently monitor the implementation of its mitigation measures to be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and meet the requirements set out in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement.