How to improve NDC update support in 2025

In 2020/21, parties to the Paris Agreement had their first opportunity to update their NDCs to make them more ambitious. 

In this article, you can learn from support experiences across the globe, as nations get ready for 2025, when the next round of updates is on the agenda.
 
The current pledges put forward by countries worldwide could set the world on track for temperature increases of around 2.5°C, or – at worst – 2.9°C. Currently most countries do not align their NDCs with their net zero pledges, announced for around mid-century. This effectively means that many countries are delaying most of their climate action until past 2030.

While quantitative data has provided this dire global picture on the state of submitted NDCs, the study "On the road to 2025.Lessons for effective NDC update support", commissioned by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), adopts a qualitative approach that explores the experiences, challenges, and successes of a broad range of stakeholders in developing countries in the process of updating their NDCs. It focusses on the nature of the process, the interplay and effects of development partners’ support delivered during the last updating cycle. 

Key informant interviews with a wide range of stakeholders involved in NDC updating in 11 countries, provided the primary data for the study and to determine what can be learned from participating countries experiences. In combination with conversations with key non-state actors and implementing organization, the study provides a comprehensive set of learnings and subsequent recommendations. 

These include 

• the promotion of data availabilities and storage, 
• improved country ownership through enhancing stakeholder capacities and representation as well as 
• the promotion of regional communities of practice. 

Especially in the light of ongoing efforts to align national climate and development agendas with LT LED Strategies, one of the key recommendations becomes particularly relevant:

• supporting an integrative process of NDC updating and implementation by means of existing national frameworks. 

The Ugandan experience 

Under the IKI-funded UNDP Climate Promise Initiative, in 2022 the Government of Uganda revised and increased the ambition of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The country now aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24.7% by 2030 and increase the resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change. 

The implementation of Uganda’s NDC is highly interlinked with the development of Uganda’s National Climate Change Act (NCCA) in 2021. In addition to the NDC update, UNDP has supported the government in developing the NCCA, which gives climate response measures the force of a law and enhances the country’s participation in climate change mechanisms, monitoring, reporting and verification. Furthermore, the NDC implementation process is regulated by an implementation and resource mobilisation plan that will provide an overall framework and resources for planned activities. In addition, five project concept notes, describing specific NDC measures have been prepared for resource mobilisation. These focus on the transport and agriculture sector as well as gender-responsive climate change planning and resilience building. Uganda has also set a target of net zero-emissions by 2050, which will be implemented through a long-term Climate Change Strategy (LTS). 

In conclusion, the study and the Ugandan experience show the need to promote the integration of the NDC process and functions through a national programme of work and the coordination across different implementing agencies, as a central element for making the NDCs more ambitious and creating an integrated vision for development and climate action.

In March, the study "On the Road to 2025" and the experiences from Uganda were presented at an IKI Brown Bag Lunch. Here you can find the presentations of the event:

On the Road to 2025: Lessons for effective NDC Support 

Uganda’s NDC update process 

The study "On the road to 2025" was conducted as part of IKI´s Support Project for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPA) by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the non-profit organisation SouthSouthNorth.