Rwanda faces a $7 billion funding gap to implement its climate action plan

The country plans to invest a total of $11.04 billion (FRW14 trillion) to reduce carbon emissions by $4.6 million tones.

This gap was revealed during the Kigali climate Talks, which took place on May 9, where the stakeholders gathered to discuss Rwanda's efforts to update its nationally determined contributions (NDCs), a key element of the Paris Agreement.

The NDCs outline each country's plan to reduce national emissions and adapt to climate change, in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, with efforts to keep it at 1.5 degrees.

The Ministry of Environment calculated the investment gap by excluding the costs of completed projects, ongoing projects launched before 2020 and tentative future projects. The country's climate action plan includes 557 specific projects and technical assistance activities to meet its updated NDCs.

These include 88 planned projects worth $2.3 billion, 190 ongoing projects worth $3.6 billion, 48 indicative projects totaling $1.1 billion, 15 completed projects worth $54 million and 216 projects currently unfunded.

The distribution of ongoing and planned projects reflects Rwanda's strategic focus on various sectors: 43.2% are in energy, 24.5% in transport, 9.8% in water supply, 7, 1% in sanitation, 4.7% in agriculture, 4.4% in urbanization and rural settlements, and2.7% in integrated water resources management.

Mrs. Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Environment, has reiterated Rwanda's strong commitment to the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and the country's long-term vision of becoming a developed, carbon neutral and climate resilient economy by 2050.

The country aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38%, which equates to a reduction of 4.6 million tons of carbon emissions, with a significant portion of the reductions coming from the sectors of agriculture (49%), energy (34%), waste management (14%), and industrial (3%).

Mrs. Mujawamariya acknowledged that achieving these goals would require considerable financial resources, as well as capacity building and technological advancements. The Kigali Climate Talks serve as a platform to share best practices and identify solutions to improve the effectiveness of climate action.

Faustin Munyazikwiye, Deputy Director General of the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA), highlighted that the updated climate action plan will emphasize additional commitments and inclusion, particularly on gender and disability. He noted that the process of updating the CDNs will continue until 2024, with a final submission expected by the end of 2025.

German Ambassador to Rwanda, Heike Dettmann, has stressed the urgency of climate action, highlighting severe floods and landslides that struck Rwanda in 2023 and other weather-related disasters in 2024.

She noted that Rwanda's revised green growth strategy, launched in 2023, demonstrates the country's commitment to climate action, but highlighted the need for innovative financing mechanisms to support its implementation.

To address funding needs, Rwanda and Germany launched Intego, Rwanda's NDC Facility, in 2023 to provide funding for public institutions.

Public entities can submit proposals to receive financial support for their climate action projects. This initiative aims to fill the funding gap and help Rwanda meet its climate goals.