Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement: Iraq

The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Paris in November and December 2015. 195 participating countries negotiated and adopted the Paris Agreement, which includes objectives to peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, to limit the global average temperature increase above pre-industrial levels to well below 2 C, and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 C.

 

The Paris Agreement, which entered into force on 4 November 2016, requires Parties to put forward their best efforts through "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs). These NDCs represent targets and actions for the post-2020 period. 

 

Iraq officially ratified the Paris Agreement in 2021, and it entered into force on 1 December 2021. In its first NDC, Iraq identifies the following mitigation measures for the energy sector: 

• reducing flaring at oil and gas facilities, 
• improving monitoring to reduce methane venting, 
• conducting leak detection and repair campaigns at oil and gas facilities, 
• fuel switching from liquid fuels to natural gas, 
• improving energy efficiency, 
• expanding renewable energy technology, and 
• deploying sustainable public transportation technologies.

Iraq's first NDC superseded the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution submitted in 2015 that included a target of  1% of economy-wide emissions within 2035 taking into consideration of economic prospects within the contexts of the ongoing efforts to achieve security, peace and economic resources, and up to 13% conditionally to international support. 

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