This toolkit is designed to support country efforts to develop strategies to systematically engage private sector actors in their National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, as appropriate. This includes engaging them in all phases of the NAP process, as outlined in the Technical Guidelines for the NAP Process, developed in 2012 by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2012).

As climate change science has made clear, human activities are already causing significant levels of global warming. In their 2018 special report, Global warming of 1.5°C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052 if current trends continue (IPCC, 2018). The impacts of this level of warming would be widespread and often severe across countries and ecosystems, underscoring the critical and pressing need for increased action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, and with many impacts already being felt and now locked in for the foreseeable future, there is a similar urgency for households, communities, and countries to adapt to increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, and more frequent and intense weather events.

Established under the Cancun Adaptation Framework, the NAP process provides a means for governments to identify their medium- and long-term adaptation needs and to develop subsequent strategies and programs to address them (UNFCCC, 2019a). Included in this are processes whereby countries assess their climate vulnerabilities and mainstream climate risks and adaptation actions into their broader development plans and processes. Though the NAP process remains a government-led and country-owned process, an effective NAP process is inclusive, participatory, and should involve a variety of stakeholder groups, including the private sector.

This toolkit aims to help governments develop strategies for the effective engagement of private sector actors in the NAP process. It is intended as a guiding document and is not prescriptive; what works in one context may not work in another, and, as such, users should adopt those methods and approaches most relevant to their national or local realities. Users should also exercise discretion on which aspects of their NAP process would benefit from private sector engagement (such as consultations on prioritizing and financing adaptation actions) and those areas where private sector engagement is not necessary (such as discussions around integrating adaptation into ministerial budgets).

It is hoped that by engaging the private sector in adaptation planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, governments will strengthen their response to the impacts of climate change and further build the resilience of their population.