Global NDC Conference 2025
Powering the global climate dialogue
From 11-13 June 2025, over 300 practitioners and policymakers from more than 50 countries came together in Berlin at the Global NDC Conference. The goal was simple: to continue and deepen the global dialogue on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in a year in which the next round of NDC submissions is due.
Financed by the IKI, supported by the German Federal Government, and co-organized since 2017 by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, NDC Partnership and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the conference plays a crucial role in connecting the dots between national ambition, implementation capacity, and financing mechanisms – all critical components of the global NDC cycle. It serves as a forum for exchanging on policy innovations, highlighting real-world case studies, and building multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Funding priority
NDC Partnership
The German Government has provided financial and political support to the NDC Partnership since its formation. To date, it has provided €700 million, making it the NDC Partnerships' largest sponsor. Around EUR 550 million of this total sum was provided via the IKI.
Day 1: From ambition to implementation
The first day of the conference focused on ramping up ambition, accelerating NDC implementation, and turning policy into action. It offered participants a wide range of learning and knowledge exchange opportunities. Sessions explored participatory ways to successfully translate mitigation and adaptation goals into high-impact national and sectoral implementation plans, long-term strategies, and measurable outcomes, while ensuring alignment, inclusion, and transparency.
We all need to do more, on the way of transforming our economies and societies towards climate neutrality.
Day 2: Finance and other challenges
The second day addressed the role of finance as a crucial enabler for NDC implementation. With the launch of the joint OECD-UNDP report “Investing in climate for growth and development: The case for enhanced NDCs”, it became clear that climate ambition can strengthen economic development, while results depend on NDCs that are implementable and investable. In two rounds of interactive sessions, international finance experts from public and private institutions, NDC implementation experts, and scientific advisors gave valuable insights and sparked collective discussions and knowledge exchange among the participants.
Mitigation Action Facility
The Mitigation Action Facility – a multi-donor climate finance programme – provides technical assistance and funding to help implement ambitious mitigation actions. One of its core donors is the German Federal Government, which channels support via the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
Day 3: Breakthrough solutions and concrete next steps
The final day of the conference turned to the practical side of NDC implementation. Thanks to interactive ‘solutions labs’ and ‘case clinic’ formats, participants left the conference carrying a toolkit of proven approaches and new ideas for engagement, clarity on next steps in the NDC process, and an expanded network of motivated peers.
The biggest success story for me was seeing so many people from different countries coming together and working together.
Empowering communities to act
For the first time, the conference also hosted a roundtable on NDCs and parliamentary engagement, in collaboration with GLOBE Legislators. Parliamentarians from several countries and climate policy experts exchanged examples on the crucial role of parliaments in raising ambition, securing finance, accelerating action, ensuring oversight of implementation, as well as securing a public mandate for ambitious climate action.
For a decade now, the world has been preparing NDCs. These are our commitments to turn away from carbon-intensive activities towards low emission production.
Another highlight this year were the nine young changemakers from around the world and eight Indigenous Peoples from three socio-cultural regions who attended the conference, sharing their views on NDC review and implementation processes. Particularly these two groups are indispensable partners in achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. On the one hand, youth are already shaping solutions in their communities, leading innovations, and driving accountability on climate commitments. On the other hand, Indigenous Peoples possess practical solutions grounded in centuries of ecological stewardship and spiritual connection to nature.
For youth and Indigenous Peoples, climate action is not a political choice, it is a necessity for survival.
The IKI community at the Global NDC Conference 2025
Among the diversity of participants, several IKI projects and IKI-financed initiatives contributed to the different sessions and formats. To mention a few, the 14 IKI interface projects attended the conference, bringing the perspectives of IKI-project implementation in priority countries. As part of parallel sessions, the Transformative Climate Finance project led a session on catalytic finance and unlocking climate investments; and the SCALA project participated in a parallel session on alignment between National Adaptation Plans and NDCs.
Within the solutions labs, the BioClime project led a session focused on the synergies between nature and climate, while the Urban-Act project contributed to one on multi-level climate action, and the SPAR6C project to one on Article 6. The Mitigation Action Facility joined a session on developing bankable projects and hosted strategic meetings simultaneously to the conference. The Climate Club's Global Matchmaking Platform convened a funders dialogue on industry decarbonisation.
Ahead of the Bonn Climate Change Conference (Subsidiary Bodies), and with some months to go before COP30, the Global NDC Conference 2025 amplified calls for ambition, equity, and finance-driven implementation. It demonstrated that cohesive climate action and collaboration can drive real-world climate progress.
Impressions from the Global NDC Conference 2025
We want to make COP30 very ambitious and at the same time very pragmatic. (...) I would say this meeting [the Global NDC Conference 2025] is part of the COP as well, we really need the involvement of everyone in the process.
IKI projects on site
- Transformative Climate Finance: Shifting Financial Flows and Private Sector Mobilisation
- Support Programme on Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture through NDCs and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA)
- Support project for implementation instruments of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement (BioClime)
- Urban-Act: Integrated Urban Climate Action for low-carbon & resilient cities
- Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation (SPAR6C)
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