Accelerating Action for a Climate-resilient Future Through National Adaptation Plans

Through National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, countries are striving to put climate adaptation at the heart of decision making. These processes are gaining momentum: the United Nations has reported that 129 developing countries have launched NAPs since the process was established in 2010 under the Cancun Adaptation Framework. This event showcased concrete experiences in, and best practices from, countries when devising, implementing, and monitoring their NAPs.

In an opening presentation, Zac Goldsmith, Minister for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment, United Kingdom (UK), said the effects of climate change are already here, with the hardest hit communities being those that do not contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the NAP Global Network, he continued, countries have begun implementing their adaptation plans. He cited, among others, Ghana’s work in conducting district-level vulnerability assessments and said the UK will triple its adaptation finance by 2025.

Anne Hammill, International Institute for Sustainable Development, the organization that acts as host for the NAP Global Network, presented the NAP process. She noted that 38 countries have submitted NAPs to the UNFCCC, mostly from the African, Latin America, and Caribbean regions. She highlighted that the publication of a NAP is “just a piece of bigger and more consequential stories unfolding in countries,” noting that countries’ adaptation efforts should not be judged on whether or not they have a NAP and/or how advanced it is.

The audience then heard from country representatives whose NAP processes are at different stages, ranging from formulation to implementation and monitoring. Khetsiwe Khumalo, Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Eswatini, said that, in the process of preparing its NAP, the country conducted an outreach programme with local communities that had a two-fold goal: to capture their perspectives on risk and adaptation; and to raise awareness of the NAP process. Traditional adaptation knowledge and practices were found to be abundant and useful, she continued. Among other examples, she noted early warning systems devised by local communities, which can be upscaled at the country level. She concluded by suggesting this could be a springboard to implementing the country’s NAP. 

Emily Matingo, Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Zimbabwe, said that the “backbone” of NAP implementation is finance. She highlighted the efforts her country has made in creating one, noting that both private and state resources were considered. She also highlighted the importance of education and capacity building to ensure NAP implementation is sustainable and spoke of strategies to communicate to stakeholders through appropriate means: youth, for example, is reached through social media, whereas policymakers are contacted through different means.

Arthur Becker, Environmental Protection Agency, Liberia, spoke of his country’s experience as a least developed country continually impacted by the adverse effects of climate change. He reported the usage of an inclusive monitoring and evaluation framework to measure progress of the country’s NAP and the implementation of workshops across nine ministries and several stakeholder consultations. He also announced that a national climate policy response strategy was launched, which includes a graduate programme at the University of Liberia to train young Liberians in mitigation and adaptation measures.

Jermaine Descartes, Saint Lucia, presented highlights from Saint Lucia’s first NAP Progress Report that covers the years 2018-2021. She said progress was found in sectoral adaptation planning, and that, during this period, collaboration between different stakeholders increased in the areas of climate financing strategies, private-public partnerships, and communications. She also noted improvement in institutional and regulatory frameworks.

Organizers: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Adaptation, Nature & Resilience Department, UK, and the NAP Global Network

Contact: Catherine Burge I cburge@iisd.ca

For further information: https://napglobalnetwork.org/