No. NDCs are pledges countries make towards achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Specifically, they include the targets, policies, and actions a country will pursue to limit global temperature increase and, as appropriate, adapt to climate change. Information on a country’s mitigation efforts is mandatory, whereas that related to adaptation is voluntary. However, about 75 per cent of all countries who submitted NDCs have chosen to include actions on adaptation.
NAPs and the NAP process, on the other hand, pre-date the Paris agreement and were established for a different purpose. The NAP process is focused on countries identifying, addressing and reviewing their adaptation priorities while working to embed adaptation in their development decision-making apparatuses. The goals and priorities identified through a country’s NAP process can certainly be included in its NDC, and the NAP process itself be a means of operationalizing adaptation commitments that appear in the NDC. Indeed, NAPs and NDCs can be mutually reinforcing (see more below).
Yes. Article 7 of the Paris Agreement is devoted to adaptation. Under paragraph 9, it states that “each party shall, as appropriate, engage in adaptation planning processes and the implementation of actions, including the development or enhancement of relevant plans, policies and/or contributions.” This is the only paragraph under Article 7 that obliges countries to take action, making the NAP process central to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The links between the NAP and NDC processes largely depend on timing and/or sequencing. A country that already has a NAP process underway can draw from it to define the adaptation targets, policies, and actions to be included in an NDC. Equally, the NAP process offers a vehicle for implementing adaptation commitments included in an NDC. As NDCs are updated every five years, countries can potentially use the NDC cycle to regularly revisit the priorities included in the NAP, if appropriate.
A country that does not yet have a NAP process underway may choose to include a commitment to launch one as part of its NDC, along with an overarching vision and framework for adaptation. As NDCs are externally-facing pledges, the adaptation component of NDCs may help to raise the profile and garner further support for the NAP process.
Ideally, the NAP process and the adaptation component of NDCs will be aligned so that they articulate the same objectives, are informed by the same datasets and analyses, and tracked using the same metrics.