* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The NDC Partnership has deployed economic advisors to 33 developing countries to help them prepare green recovery plans and packages
Sigrid Kaag is Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Andrea Meza Murillo is Minister of Environment and Energy of the Republic of Costa Rica; Pearnel Charles Jr. is Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, Jamaica; and Alok Sharma is Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, United Kingdom
In the middle of a storm, even the loudest warnings are easily muffled. To date, more than 50 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19. More than 1.2 million have lost their lives. In addition to health impacts, countries are grappling with economic damage as the pandemic plunges nations into the worst recession in a century.
While controlling the pandemic and driving economic recoveries are at the forefront of domestic agendas, the climate emergency has not taken time off. This year is vying for the hottest on record. Wildfires raged in both hemispheres. At the same time, tropical cyclones, hurricanes and flood events have been record breaking and devastating. All of these require swift, decisive action.
Five years ago, countries came together in Paris, agreeing to the goal of keeping the increase in global average temperatures to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the core of the Paris Agreement are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - actions each country is taking to reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. As we celebrate the Paris Agreement’s fifth anniversary at the Climate Ambition Summit 2020, countries will present more ambitious climate plans.
The pandemic has made climate action more urgent, not less. Ambitious and meaningful climate action does not conflict with addressing the pandemic and post-COVID economic recovery. They are intricately linked and should be addressed simultaneously. Only by acting with speed and decisiveness - and through robust coordination - can all three goals be achieved.
Investing in greener growth through clean energy, sustainable transport, and smarter land use has been shown time and again to generate high returns and job creation. Climate plans developed over the past several years - and which are now being updated with enhanced ambition - offer a basis for identifying and supporting more sustainable growth.
To seize these opportunities, however, countries need technical support and sustained access to finance. Fortunately, a mechanism exists to coordinate financial and technical assistance and help countries achieve their national climate commitments.
The NDC Partnership is a coalition of more than 180 countries and international institutions that coordinates the delivery of critical support to boost climate action and sustainable development. As Costa Rica and the Netherlands pass the leadership of this vital coalition to the governments of Jamaica and the United Kingdom, we draw on the strength of the Partnership and its members turn our collective focus to green economic recovery and mobilizing finance for NDC implementation.
SMART SUPPORT
The Partnership made progress toward these goals since its founding nearly four years ago. We link our members who need support with our members who are able to give funding and have mobilized and disbursed nearly a billion dollars this way.
Through our work, 48 countries have embedded their NDCs into the work of the government through improved governance. Thirty NDC implementation plans have been developed, helping to co-ordinate activities across ministries and harmonizing support from donors and providing a mechanism for coordination. And 63 countries are receiving support through the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP), an initiative developed to deliver targeted, fast-tracked support to enhance the quality, increase the ambition, and implement NDCs as part of the 2020 updating process. These are just a few of our successes, but they demonstrate that when resources are made available, countries will take meaningful action.
One way the NDC Partnership is championing climate and development priorities as part of the pandemic response is by deploying economic advisors to 33 countries who have requested support to prepare green recovery plans and packages. Costa Rica, for example, leveraged the Partnership to develop a National Decarbonization Plan, with detailed investment plans in transport and agriculture. This is the basis for a sustainable, job-rich recovery.
Jamaica is drawing upon the Partnership to expand its Disaster Risk Financing Strategy, which considers climate risks, to recovery from the pandemic. Most of the advisors are supported by the UK, drawing on its multi-billion-dollar International Climate Finance (ICF) funding, which is set to double to £11.6 billion over the next five years; the Netherlands through its leadership in international institutions; and the World Bank.
The NDC Partnership’s commitment to coordinated action during this unprecedented pandemic has kept climate ambition alive. The eyes of the world will be on COP26 in Glasgow next year. If we strengthen our resolve and make bold decisions, we can emerge on a more sustainable course. When societies mobilize, big changes can happen fast. As we continue coordinating resources, we implore all countries to confront the climate crisis with the same determination, speed, and decisiveness as they are responding to the pandemic.
