Advancing Adaptation Action: Enhancing NAPs and NDCs alignment

Under the Paris Agreement, countries are expected to submit new or updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in early 2025. This submission allows countries to provide new information on their efforts to ramp up ambitions for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening their resilience to climate change. In their NDCs, countries have the option of including an adaptation component to communicate their priorities, goals, and targets for climate change adaptation, as well as their implementation and support needs.

According to the most recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change NDC synthesis report, 81% of countries have included an adaptation component in their NDC since the latest NDC update. For developing countries that are currently formulating or implementing their national adaptation plans (NAPs), the 2025 NDC update presents a strategic opportunity to communicate their key adaptation priorities and strengthen the alignment between these two complementary processes.

In anticipation of the 2025 NDC update, this briefing note synthesizes a review of countries that have submitted an NDC and a NAP. It assesses the extent of alignment of the adaptation-related information presented in these documents. Targeted at national-level policy-makers—especially NAP teams who are responsible for a country’s national adaptation planning and implementation—this briefing note emphasizes the NDC update in 2025 as an important opportunity to further enhance alignment between the NAP process and NDC. It provides practical steps, guiding questions, and examples of good practices from countries on how to realize these complementary linkages for more effective, inclusive adaptation.

Advancing Adaptation Action: Enhancing alignment between national adaptation plans and nationally determined contributions

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