Driving Climate Action at COP27

Over two weeks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, countries convened at COP27 with the goal of raising our collective ambition and charting a path towards climate-compatible development. On the ground, the NDC Partnership Support Unit met with more than 100 country members, providing an opportunity to hear directly about the incredible climate action members are advancing around the world. Out of these conversations, one thing is clear: members are driving forward progress.

As of today, nearly 170 countries, covering 91% of global emissions, communicated new or updated climate commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 115 of these updated NDCs were supported by the Partnership. You can learn more about how the Partnership is raising the ambition and quality of countries’ NDCs by visiting our interactive site on the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) here. 

Members showcased the Partnership’s successes in advancing NDC implementation at the NDC Partnership's pavilion, through a robust programme of more than 50 events led by more than 300 speakers. Featuring presentations and discussions on private sector investment in adaptation to enhancing NDCs through sub-national engagement, the Partnership’s events were attended by more than 1,000 participants with an initial online reach of more than 4,000 people. Included among this dynamic programming was the Partnership’s flagship high level event in which the office of the United Nations Secretary-General, together with the UNFCCC, ministers from developing and developed countries, climate envoys and ambassadors, multilateral development banks, international organizations and civil society came together to express their commitment to accelerate access to climate finance.

Photo Caption: Diana Acconcia, ​Director International Affairs and Climate Finance, DG CLIMA, European Commission​, at the NDC Partnership High-Level Event 'Delivering on Ambitious Climate Commitments: Finance for Implementation.'

Photo Caption: Filipe Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, speaking in the NDC Partnership Pavilion at the event 'Mozambique in the Driving Seat of Southern Africa Energy Transition.'

Across four regional meetings for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Anglophone and Lusophone Africa, Francophone Africa and the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), and Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe (APEE), developing country representatives convened to share their experiences as members of the Partnership and learn from one another. In LAC, members reflected on their appreciation of the Partnership as a vehicle for supporting NDC implementation, as well as the import of investment and development planning. In Anglophone and Lusophone Africa, conversations ranged from the need for increased peer exchange and private sector engagement to youth inclusion in NDC processes. In Francophone Africa and MENA, members discussed aligning climate ambition with economic development priorities and turning project ideas into bankable projects, while members in APEE reiterated the need to mobilize resources for implementation at scale while also emphasizing that support for coordination work is needed for NDC and LTS related actions.  

We celebrated the success to-date at our 6th Annual Members Forum, where members came together against the historic backdrop of Echo Temple for dinner and music in the desert of Saint Katherine National Park. Reinforcing the role of the Partnership in facilitating discourse and driving action, speakers highlighted the urgency of the Partnership’s Finance Strategy in bridging the finance gap and unlocking the flow of finance for developing countries to increase implementation, mitigation and adaptation efforts.  

Speaking on the role of the Partnership in powering a collective response, NDC Partnership Global Director Pablo Vieira said: “ The Paris Ambition cycle is working, if we keep on increasing ambition and implement our commitments. But we need to make it work faster and at scale and developing countries need support. We know there are partners – our members – lining up to offer support. We need to catalyze greater commitment, at a faster pace and celebrate this collective action.” He closed by thanking everyone for giving us a reason to be optimistic.

Photo Caption: The Rt Hon Baroness Patricia Scotland KC, SecretaryGeneral of the Commonwealth. Photo credit: Moise Niyonzima. 

Looking forward, the Partnership is excited to build on the progress and momentum generated at COP27 through continued meetings with our members in country, and as we come together under the umbrella of the UNFCCC for regional climate weeks and continue to convene virtually. We will welcome new Co-Chairs in 2023, with Jamaica officially handing off the representation for developing countries to Rwanda at the Forum, and the 2023 Steering Committee effective in January. To stay engaged with the Partnership and share your stories from COP, please reach out to us here or email your ideas to info@ndcpartnership.org.