Opportunities to accelerate adaptation

Written by Rafael Moser, Programme Management Specialist, UNCDF, Lou Perpes, National Adaptation Planning Officer, UNEP, Remington Ruyle, Country Engagement Specialist, NDC Partnership and Saran Selenge, Knowledge Management Officer, UNDP

If you attended the NAP Expo in Dhaka, Bangladesh in April, you would have witnessed the longest running heatwave since records began 76 years ago. It was not the only record-breaking extreme weather to strike globally that month: Kenya experienced unprecedented floods.

These major climatic events took lives, forced school closures, disrupted agriculture, and negatively affected health, wellbeing, and livelihoods.

Scientists have warned us that climate change increases the risk of such extreme weather events with increasingly severe impacts on humans, infrastructure and ecosystems.

To prepare for and address these impacts, countries have been developing their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and many climate-vulnerable countries have included their adaptation priorities in their climate pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

At this year’s UNFCCC NAP Expo in Dhaka, countries took stock of the progress and exchanged experiences on adaptation planning and implementation.

Here are some of the key opportunities in accelerating adaptation action based on experiences from country representatives and practitioners at the NAP Expo 2024.

NDC 3.0 is an opportunity for alignment

Countries are gearing up to enhance their NDCs by 2025 and more than 142 countries are undertaking measures to formulate and implement their NAPs, all aiming to advance implementation by 2030.

The upcoming NDC revision process provides opportunities to enhance adaptation ambition while aligning with NAPs. For countries such as Bangladesh with recently developed NAPs, it can help enhance ambition and provide a roadmap for implementation of adaptation components of the NDCs.

As one speaker put it, “NDCs provide us with the vision and the NAPs are our action plan”.  Countries that are in the process of NAP formulation, such as São Tomé and Principe, also have the opportunity to align their upcoming NAPs with the NDC revision.    

"Developing robust implementation plans that strengthens coordination mechanisms, finance, and monitoring, evaluation and learning systems are crucial," said Darnel Baia, the Director of Nature Conservation, Biodiversity and Environment Education in the General Directorate of Environment, Ministry of Environment, São Tomé and Principe.

To support countries in enhancing ambition and accelerating implementation of NDCs, the NDC Partnership has developed the NDC 3.0 Navigator, an interactive tool that also aims to improve interlinkages between NDC and NAP processes.

“NAP and NDC alignment increases mainstreaming of adaptation in national policies,” noted Sara Alhaleeq, the Head of Adaptation Section at the Directorate of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment in Jordan.

Finance is key for implementing national climate plans

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report (2023) estimates financing needs for developing countries is approximately US$ 215 to US$ 387 billion annually based on submitted NAPs and NDCs to the UNFCCC. This presents an annual adaptation finance gap of US$ 194 to US$ 366 billion globally.

Vulnerable developing countries are adopting various approaches to address this funding gap. For instance, Bangladesh estimated its NAP implementation cost at around US$ 230 billion until 2050 or US$ 8.5 billion annually.

Despite being a Least Developed Country, Bangladesh has allocated US$ 3.4 billion from its national budget for adaptation in the last fiscal year, an investment made from a sheer necessity, not because of lack of other development priorities.

Bangladesh also launched the Climate Development Partnership with international partners, aiming for synergies in various climate and development interventions.

In the Maldives, a tourism green tax helps generate revenue for the national climate change fund.

As for the private sector, investing in adaptation goods and services as well as in managing climate risks across the supply chain promises significant returns and helps save costs in the long term.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries are eager to benefit from the latest research and developments, accessing relevant data and flexible financing, as they see the growing needs, from agriculture and food security to water and health.

The UN Secretary-General has called for support to vulnerable developing countries in developing adaptation investment plans and a global surge in finance to transform these plans into action at scale. This requires unprecedented and innovative coordination among governments, public and private financiers, development partners and civil society.

The Adaptation Pipeline Accelerator (APA) initiative contributes to these efforts under which UNDP and the NDC Partnership have supported 14 countries in identifying adaptation priorities, developing investment plans and projects, together with partners[1].

Climate change is global, adaptation action is local

Local communities are central to the effective implementation of adaptation measures, based on their knowledge of local contexts and needs. Enabling locally led adaptation means adapting governance and fiscal arrangements, including localizing the NAP process and making finance available at the local level. 

The LoCAL facility, managed by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), uses existing systems in countries to deliver performance-based climate resilience grants that enables subnational actors to contribute to NAP and NDC implementation.

“Mozambique is using the LoCAL model to mainstream climate change into local development plans and developing local adaptation plans of action (LAPA) which are aligned with the NAP priorities”, explains Ms. Carla Marina Domingos Pereira Mussengue, Chief of Department, Ministry of Land and Environment of Mozambique.

In São Tomé and Principe, district-level adaptation plans also aim to anchor country’s adaptation vision at the local level.

Bangladesh is exploring local revenue generation for its adaptation efforts, in addition to introducing a climate vulnerability index for its budget transfer to local governments. However, sustained, predictable and flexible finance is needed, particularly in the most climate vulnerable countries.

“Local adaptation plans help generate revenue and develop public private partnerships for adaptation action at the local level” – Dr. Md. Sarwar Bari, Additional Secretary and Director General, Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government Rural Development and Cooperatives, Bangladesh

Climate change impacts transcend geographic and political boundaries. Investing in adaptation and supporting NAPs and NDCs is good for climate resilience and good for sustainable development that benefits everyone.

This article was based on discussions at the 2024 NAP Expo session “Accelerating finance for NAP and NDC implementation” co-organized by UNDP, UNEP, UNCDF and NDC Partnership.