Low emissions development advisory and assurance services
DNV's consultancy, support and risk management help ensure successful design and implementation of LEDS, NAMAs and sub-national low-emissions activities.
Low-carbon development is essential for stimulating economic growth while continuing to address climate change. Approaches such as low-emissions development strategies (LEDS) and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) are the bulding blocks to align strategic planning and real action into development planning and implementation, enabling truly sustainable development.
DNV supports stakeholders in low-carbon development activities at regional, national and sub-national levels. With our unique combination of consultancy, policy knowledge and hands-on technical expertise, we help ensure your strategy is right for your region and is translated into meaningful actions that can actually be implmented. In this way, your development activities move smoothly beyond the planning and feasibility study phase into real, measurable results.
Low-emissions development strategies (LEDS)
A LEDS is the overarching framework for developing specific mitigation activities such as mitigation policies, programmes, projects and eventually NAMAs. To maximise the return on investment in low-carbon development, your LEDS should provide clear alignment across all your various activites – and that alignment must be built in right from the start of developing your strategy.
To ensure that is the case, we work with you to standardise policy design and implementation, and push it down to all the different levels of government. In particular, we focus on standardising processes and building capacity through workshops and training. With over 3000 energy experts in-house, we bring game-changing technical expertise from across the energy value chain, including energy policy, renewables and energy efficiency. And all our consultants have real-worl experience, so they know what works in the field, and can ensure your LEDS can be realised without wasting resources.
Nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs)
NAMAs are more than mitigation actions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They provide an opportunity for developing nations to secure investment for development programmes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Designing a NAMA that will make it off of the drawing board and deliver real economic, social and environmental benefits is a major challange.
However, our blend of consultancy and real-world experience can help here too, particularly for NAMAs in the energy sector. We have huge experience of designing and implementing energy policies and regulations, renewable energy projects and energy efficiency programmes. Combining all that know-how, we have created a unique NAMA development framework that helps ensure your NAMAs move beyond feasibility studies and into the real world.
Monitoring is essential. As a leading authority on measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) methodologies, we have at the forefront in defining standards for the MRV of NAMA core benefits. And we can help you design MRV methods into your NAMA from the earliest stages to increase your chances of success.
Sub-national activities
While national and international actions are being developed, progress is still quite slow. Hence many cities and other sub-national authorities are undertaking their own low-carbon development activities. These authorities are closer to the people and have a better understanding of what they need, making it easier for them to get programmes off the ground.
However, access to funding can be difficult at this level and we need ways of networking individual actions to let them benefit from the economies of scale. DNV is working with multi-lateral organisations to explore answers for these challenges. For example, as part of a World Bank task force, we helped develop the Low Carbon City Development Program concept and are currently testing it in various places around the world.
