Peru Launches its National Adaptation Plan (NAP)

On June 9, the Ministry of the Environment of Peru (MINAM) approved the National Adaptation Plan (NAP): the country’s action plan to strengthen the resilience of its people, ecosystems, livelihoods, and economies to the current and predicted impacts of climate change. The NAP will serve as a crucial input to updating the National Strategy on Climate Change. While helping the country reduce damages caused by climate change, the NAP also identifies opportunities to undertake sustainable development.

Peru’s NAP focuses on building the resilience of sectors most affected by climate change with integrated considerations and aligned actions that will help achieve the country’s 2030 objectives as set out in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). All adaptation efforts will be implemented following the principles of gender equality, and intergenerational and intercultural justice.

This document lays out thirteen strategic actions for effective adaptation—from enhancing weather prediction services, to implementing ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) actions, to improving water supply systems for multisectoral use.

Peru ensured an inclusive approach to its NAP process by conducting over 20 virtual or in-person meetings with relevant stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, academia, Indigenous communities, and more. Regional governments also played a role in the making of the NAP to ensure vulnerabilities specific to each region are taken into account.

The NAP Global Network contributed to this process by providing steering and technical support throughout the NAP’s development. Policy Advisor Daniel Morchain is pleased with the launch of Peru’s NAP and notes that it is a model to follow:

“Peruvian officials recognized early on that the development of the National Adaptation Plan required reaching out and creating dialogue spaces with all sectors of the population. Despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic posed, the consultations process continued virtually, with careful considerations of the extra efforts needed to make them inclusive. Not just that, but the development and enshrining into law of the Indigenous Climate Platform is another aspect that has strengthened the NAP process in its creation and in its ongoing and future implementation.”

The Peruvian government received technical assistance throughout the development of the country’s NAP via the NAP Global Network’s U.S. In-Country Support Program for Peru.