In the run-up to UNFCCC COP26, Parties to the Paris Agreement continue embarking on the race to zero emissions, submitting their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) one after the other. Once again, the ocean has a part to play in this. This first revision cycle of NDCs offers an opportunity for Parties to make greater use of coastal and marine Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in their national strategies. The Ocean & Platform and key partners (1) have looked at Parties’ submissions to assess how and to what extent they integrated coastal and marine NbS as part of their climate mitigation and adaptation measures in their new or updated NDCs (2). Key findings were gathered and analyzed in a policy brief.
The Nationally Determined Contribution revision cycle under the Paris Agreement
As part of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Parties must submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years, with a review process that is intended to continually increase ambition. NDCs are at the core of the Paris Agreement and enable governments to have the flexibility needed to detail and submit country-level plans to address climate change based on the country’s context, capacity and flexibility.
Communicated every five years, NDCs periodically demonstrate Parties’ mitigation and adaptation intentions, while also describing how the NDCs will be achieved. Following the submissions of initial NDCs (i.e., prior and during UNFCCC COP21 in 2015), the first NDC revision was nine months ahead of the relevant COP (March 2020). Given the global COVID-19 pandemic, Parties to the Paris Agreement were given additional flexibility to submit their new or updated NDCs ahead of COP26 (November 2021).
The growing inclusion of coastal and marine Nature-based Solutions in climate strategies
The first revision cycle of NDCs offers an opportunity for Parties to make greater use of coastal and marine Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in their national strategies and actions. Multi-purpose and cost-effective solutions (3), coastal and marine NbS provide significant opportunities in terms of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience for people and nature. Through conservation, restoration and sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems, they have the potential to contribute to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, while generating multiple socioeconomic and environmental benefits.
For instance, intact “blue carbon” ecosystems (i.e., mangroves, saltmarshes, seagrasses) are particularly efficient in mitigating climate change, as they have a high CO2 sequestration and storage capacity (4). As a result, the protection, restoration and conservation of blue carbon ecosystems represent an effective coastal and marine NbS to contribute to achieving emission reduction plans of the Paris Agreement, while providing a range of benefits in helping people to adapt and become more resilient to a changing climate.
An analysis of coastal and marine NbS in new or updated NDCs
In a context of growing attention given to ocean-related measures in climate strategies and actions over the last 6 years, the present brief analyses the extent to which Parties to the Paris Agreement have increased, remained unchanged or decreased through the inclusion of NbS in coastal and marine ecosystems in their mitigation and/or adaptation measures as part of their new or updated NDCs. It also provides details on how countries have included adaptation and mitigation co-benefits of coastal and marine NbS, along with other enabling conditions to effectively implement coastal and marine NbS (e.g., capacity-building, indigenous and local knowledge, finance, monitoring).
As of June 2021 (5), 63 countries have already submitted their new or updated NDC, as part of the first revision cycle. Preliminary results show that, among these, 33 have included coastal and marine NbS in their new or updated. The Ocean & Climate Platform and its partners share in their provisional draft key examples of actions carried out by these 33 countries, therefore encouraging governments to further integrate coastal and marine NbS in their NDCs ahead of UNFCCC COP26.
Discover the analysis by clicking on the image below
(1) This analysis was co-authored by the Ocean & Climate Platform, IUCN and Conservation International. The writing team was supported and the analysis reviewed by Rare, WWF, GIZ, and The Nature Conservancy.
(2) The analysis in this brief includes new (i.e., first country submission) and updated (i.e., second country submission) NDCs.
(3) IUCN (2020). Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. A user-friendly framework for the verification, design and scaling up of NbS.
(4) The Blue Carbon Initiative (2021). Guidelines for Blue Carbon and Nationally Determined Contributions, available at: https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/policy-guidance
(5) This brief follows a two-step publication process: 1) the present and provisional draft being published after the UNFCCC inter-sessions (June 2021) which reviews new or updated NDCs submitted until 8 June 2021; and 2) the final report which will be published ahead of UNFCCC COP26 (November 2021) containing a review of all new or updated NDCs submitted as part of the first NDC revision cycle.