Fiji is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its position as a Small Developing State (SIDS), which leaves the country exposed to sea-level rise, cyclones of increasing intensity, and flooding, among other potential consequences. It is therefore imperative to take ambitious and rapid action to address climate change through GHG emission reductions. The Fiji Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS) 2018-2050 is a living document compiled in 201 to define pathways to achieve low emission development in Fiji until 2050.
Through LEDS, Fiji aims to continue its climate leadership which, to-date, has included serving as the President of the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the ambitious near-term targets Fiji committed to under its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Fiji aims to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 across all sectors of its economy through pathways defined in LEDS. To achieve this core objective the LEDS has elaborated four possible low emission scenarios for Fiji. These scenarios include:
- A “Business-as-Usual (BAU) Unconditional scenario,” which reflects the implementation of existing and of financial policies, targets, and technologies that are unconditional in the sense that Fiji would implement and finance them without reliance on external or international financing.
- A “BAU Conditional scenario,” which reflects the implementation of existing and of financial policies, targets, and technologies that are conditional in the sense that Fiji would rely on external or international financing to implement mitigation actions, thus this scenario would have a higher ambition than “BAU Unconditional.”
- A “High Ambition scenario” projects ambitions beyond those already specified in policies, relying on the adoption of new, more ambitious policies and technologies and availability of additional financing to implement mitigation actions, and achieves significant emission reductions by 2050 compared with the business-as-usual scenarios.
- A “Very High Ambition scenario” projects ambitions well beyond that already specified in policies, thus relying on the adoption of new, significantly more ambitious policies and availability of new technologies and additional financing to implement mitigation actions, and in which most sectors achieve net zero or negative emissions, by 2050.