The Dominican Republic is highly committed to combatting climate change, as can be seen by the high level of political leadership on climate change, where the President leads the “National Council on Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism” (NCCC-CDM). The Council developed the National Climate Compatible Development Plan (CCDP) in 2011, which outlines the government’s commitment to increase its GDP by 140% while at the same time cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 25% by 2030.

Against this backdrop, the INDC preparation process has been an opportunity for improved analysis of the national context, identification of alternative financing options and the revalidation of national targets. This has strengthened widespread buy-in to national policy goals by the public and private sectors, as well as civil society.

The main characteristics of this process are the high-level political leadership and commitment behind it as well as its basis on the revision of existing planning in line with the overall national vision. A detailed analysis and discussion on the wider national impacts and global context of mitigation strategies, coupled with an effective communication strategy during the process, resulted in high level buy-in at the sectoral level. Stakeholder consultations addressing the co-benefits of the mitigation options fostered the engagement and reinforcement of sectoral ownership of the INDC process.