Integrated research and scenario building for LEDS development

South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

The Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios (MAPS) process grew out of the experience of developing the South African Long Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) during 2006-2008. The approach focuses on understanding how change happens in systems while recognizing the soft science of policy shifts and strategy development. Developing high quality technical analysis with local teams is essential, but building relationships between key stakeholders to ensure the credibility of, and buy-in to such analysis is as important (if not more so) for influencing political and policy-making processes such as LEDS.

Experience from transferring the South African LTMS experience to numerous Latin American countries (including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru) through the MAPS process highlights the importance of a strong government mandate and emphasises a participative, stakeholder-driven approach focussing on collaborative research, modelling and scenario building.

Impact of activities
  • High-level political support secured: Application of the MAPS approach in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru is at varying stages of implementation but in all countries, high level, inter-ministerial mandates have been secured.
  • Awareness raised: In South Africa, the LTMS process was credited with significantly raising levels of awareness on climate change and the high-level process and political work started conversations critical in the policy development process (Winkler, 2007). The processes underway with MAPS support in Chile, Colombia, Peru and Brazil are already showing signs of having a similar impact.
  • Key stakeholders engaged and collaborating: Scenario Building Teams and High Level Groups all involve and engage key stakeholders to develop the evidence base and apply it in the development of national LEDS and other relevant strategies.
  • Evidence developed and integrated into planning: For example, in Colombia, specific sectoral mitigation actions have been identified and are being integrated in Sectoral Mitigation Action Plans (SMAPs).
  • Skills, knowledge and capacity built: Through collaborative workshops and technical training activities relevant skills and knowledge capacity in the participating countries has been built together with trusting, collaborative peer-to-peer learning relationships across the region
  • Institutions involved

    The LTMS case provides a good illustrative example of key institutions to be involved: Cabinet of the South African Government; Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism (DEAT) (now Department of Environmental Affairs); University of Cape Town’s Energy Research Centre (ERC); Department of Minerals and Energy; Tokiso (a local mediation company).

    Source details
    Global Good Practice Analysis (GIZ UNDP)