Questions about NDCs? The NDC Partnership’s Knowledge Portal has the Answers
It’s almost 2020, and the buzz in the international climate community is all about updating and enhancing NDCs. According to the Paris Agreement, Nationally Determined Contributions (or NDCs), which lay out countries’ plans to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to climate change, are to be updated and communicated every five years, beginning in 2020.
But before we can think about updating NDCs, there are several questions to consider. What do countries’ NDCs already include? What makes an NDC truly effective? Who is out there to answer questions on NDCs?
These four tools on the NDC Partnership’s Knowledge Portal will give you some answers, and throughout the month of May we’ll continue to profile stories and resources about NDCs.
If you want to easily search through the text of every country’s NDC, this tool is for you. Type in any word or phrase and find out every NDC or INDC that mentions it, with the relevant section of text highlighted. If you’re interested in a particular country’s NDC, you can find summarized information on its mitigation, adaptation, and sectoral components, as well as the full, searchable text. Finally, you can compare up to three countries’ NDCs side-by-side across all these key indicators.
As NDCs are updated, they will be added to this tool, so make sure to check back over the next year.
The NDC Cluster Helpdesk is there to answer questions about overcoming barriers to NDC implementation. Requests must come from developing countries and be supported by the entity in charge of NDC coordination. The Helpdesk will reply to every request within two weeks and offers a range of services, including short term expert missions, guidance documents, workshops and trainings, and expert reviews. When sending in your request, make sure it specifically references a challenge or barrier to NDC planning or implementation.
Designing and Preparing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)
This guide from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Resources Institute (WRI) breaks down the preparation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) into five activities, with detailed step-by-step advice. Although it was prepared for INDCs, it is equally helpful for NDC updating. The activities are:
- Identifying the benefits of an INDC,
- Organizing the INDC process,
- Collecting data and analysis to inform the INDC,
- Designing the INDC, and
- Communicating the INDC.
Each section contains technical guidance and process-related considerations.
Are you more interested in specific examples than generalized guidance? If so, you should browse through the case studies on the Good Practice Database. By choosing “Developing Strategies and Plans for Nationally Determined Contributions” under “Planning and Implementation Activities,” you’ll get a range of results from countries including the Dominican Republic, Jordan, and Norway.
The Good Practice Database is a joint effort of the NDC Partnership, LEDS-GP, the Partnership for Transparency in the Paris Agreement, the IKI NDC Support Cluster, and UNDP NDC Support Programme.
This blog was written by Talia Calnek-Sugin, Knowledge and Learning Project Coordinator with the NDC Partnership Support Unit.