NDC Partnership Steering Committee Charts Course Toward Climate Action

This March in Skhirat, Morocco, the NDC Partnership Steering Committee held an engaging first meeting with a diversity of countries represented. The focus was on delivering on the mission of the Partnership itself: advancing efforts to connect countries with the financial and technical resources needed to turn their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into action. During the Steering Committee meeting, input from multiple countries and international institutions highlighted early successes, emphasized commitments to increase coordination, and helped the NDC Partnership chart its course forward.

In-country engagement and regional coordination can drive NDC action

The NDC Partnership has already begun in-country engagement with 17 developing countries, and is matching individual needs with donors and institutional partners. Activity is being driven by country demand, and several members highlighted their efforts to date and types of support needed for NDC implementation. For example,

• Vietnam is building the institutional and legal arrangements to implement their NDC, and announced Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc will hold a series of regional forums. The forums will help stakeholders understand how ministries and sub-national governments can coordinate NDC responsibilities and climate finance activity.
• Costa Rica is embedding NDC planning across government ministries by building a financial and investment narrative showing the economic benefits of decarbonization, especially with electrified transport.  The country is planning a workshop, with the NDC Partnership as a neutral partner, to provide support in identifying implementation gaps.
• Morocco has supported its sustainable development strategy and NDC plan by establishing the Center for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Morocco (4C). This center of excellence is coordinating government action with efforts by the private sector, civil society, and research institutions.
• Australia is revisiting its 2030 targets to mainstream climate action across all development programs including linking NDCs, Sustainable Development Goals, and economic development.  It is also working on specific support programs, including the Pacific Risk Resilience Program, to support NDC implementation across the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition, the World Bank is helping integrate NDC support into country-level planning through the Climate Action Peer Exchange and other channels, and the United Nations Development Programme is facilitating exchanges of information, which have so far included 14 regional dialogues and two global workshops involving 120 countries.

A “club of ambition” seeking engagement

While 56 countries and 8 international institutions are already members of the NDC Partnership, this “club of ambition” welcomes engagement with countries and organizations committed to ambitious NDC and related SDC implementation.

The NDC Partnership is developing several knowledge products to help countries achieve their NDCs. The first was the launch of the NDC Funding & Initiatives Navigator last fall, which helps connect countries with financial and technical assistance. At the Bonn climate talks that just concluded we launched the NDC Toolbox Navigator which helps connect governments with resources supporting NDC implementation. The NDC Partnership has also begun publishing an Expert Perspectives series on key issues for NDC implementation.

Watch for further knowledge products leading up to and during the COP 23 negotiations in Bonn, Germany this fall.

There is still much work to be done to ensure countries have the support they need – financial and otherwise - to drive climate action and support sustainable development. Going forward, the NDC Partnership is committed to ramping up its efforts to meet this challenge. To that end, on April 21 members gathered in Washington, DC for the biannual Partnership Forum to engage ministers of finance during the World Bank/IMF 2017 Spring Meetings. Last week the NDC Partnership convened a side event and briefing to engage stakeholders at the UNFCCC climate negotiations in Bonn.

Are you interested in learning more about the NDC Partnership? Explore our website or contact us at supportunit@ndcpartnership.org.

Written by Courtney Durham and Sean Gilbert, NDC Partnership Support Unit