Federal Republic of Somalia launches GCF-financed climate change adaptation planning support programme
UNDP-supported programme accelerates ambition of Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement and advances action on Sustainable Development Goals
22 September 2020, Mogadishu – The Federal Government of Somalia officially launched the US$2.7 million GCF-financed, UNDP-supported programme to ‘Strengthen Climate Change Adaptation Planning’ in August 2020. The new programme will support the Federal Republic of Somalia in advancing the ambition of its Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement and reaching the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 22 September 2020 in Mogadishu, 24 stakeholders from the Federal Republic of Somalia convened for their first National Adaptation Plan (NAP) inception workshop to discuss how the programme will be implemented over the next 36 months (2020-2023).
This will be the Federal Government of Somalia’s first GCF-funded programme and it will guide the country to adapt to the climate change impacts across all sectors. Based on a vulnerability study, Somalia will also establish a funding mechanism for addressing climate change issues (from domestic resources and international partners).
The NAP process will be overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister in the capacity of National Designated Authority, supported by the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Office of the Prime Minister, and implemented by UNDP.
Somalia submitted it’s first National Communication in January 2019 to the UNFCCC. Leading up to the NAP, Somalia has been developing strategic documents and reporting mechanisms that will further inform and feed back into their NAP process. Somalia is participating in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) enhancement process through the UNDP Climate Promise initiative. Somalia continues to be heavily involved in a number of climate action initiatives and processes that align with their NAP process objectives.
The Somalia NAP process will be integrally linked to their NDC, National Communications and the adaptation communication to the UNFCCC. The Global Adaptation Goal established under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of the NAP process and its potential linkages with the NDC. The NDC is a higher-level statement, with NAP elements in it, while the NAP is a much more elaborate instrument that unpacks priorities and looks at scaling-up investments needed.
The Somalia NAP will be much more operational. Making this link between the NAP processes and the NDC is important to achieve an integrated approach. In many cases, countries have included a reference to their adaptation goals in their NDC, and will operationalize their adaptation plans through this process.
Somalia’s NAP aims to help conduct comprehensive medium-and long-term climate adaptation planning through four key outputs. Through the NAP process, Somalia plans to enhance the national institutional coordination and capacity for adaptation that will in parallel establish a legal and institutional framework for climate change adaptation (CCA). Somalia will strengthen state-level technical capacity for climate change adaptation planning that will be harmonized with national frameworks, and establish a state-level capacity building program that is targeted for state government officials.
Furthermore, Somalia’s NAP will formulate a financial plan for climate change adaptation at the national level and establish a climate finance coordination mechanism through a national-level working group that will convene to coordinate future financial planning needs for climate change adaptation. The programme officially entered into its inception phase, which will initiate the next set of activities under the NAP. Looking ahead, Somalia will have its first project board meeting before the end of 2020.
The GCF-funded NAP is not the first time Federal Government of Somalia and UNDP have worked together on large-scale adaptation initiatives. In 2019, UNDP and Somalia launched the US$10 million Global Environment Facility-financed project for pastoralist communities to access scarce water resources and adapt to climate-related droughts and floods. In all some 360,000 farmers and pastoralists are set to benefit from the project.
About the UNDP
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org.
