The landmark Paris Agreement represents a fundamental shift in the landscape of international climate policy and diplomacy. The Agreement demonstrates near universal acceptance of a future in which all, or nearly all, countries identify targets and take action to reduce emissions as part of the global effort to combat climate change.
Most Parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are economy-wide targets, and lack the specificity necessary to begin policymaking processes and present to international donors for support. There is therefore a growing consensus that these contributions need to be “converted’ into policies, measures, and finance-ready investment strategies. This conversion process can promote ambition, encourage efficient use of resources, support synergies between mitigation and development goals, enhance coordination between sectoral ministries, spur policy development, make proposals more attractive to funders, attract private sector investment, and support long-term planning.
CCAP submitted a paper to the UNFCCC on Supporting NDC Conversion through UNFCCC Rulemaking. The paper considers how rules and guidelines related to (1) NDC features and information, (2) the new enhanced transparency framework, (3) mid-century low-greenhouse gas development strategies, and (4) internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), can create the right incentives in support of Parties’ domestic efforts to convert their NDCs.
CCAP hopes our views can guide discussion and maintain focus on the implications of international negotiations for Parties’ domestic efforts to convert their NDCs into policies, measures, and strategies, and implement them.
CCAP welcomes reader feedback on the submission and will continue to engage relevant stakeholders to identify solutions that can encourage ambitious, early action by Parties as the global community prepares for COP22 in Marrakech and going forward toward implementation of the Paris Agreement.
For the full discussion paper, please click here.