Background

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the main vehicle through which Parties communicate their climate ambition and actions under the Paris Agreement, while aligning them with national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2025, Parties are expected to submit a new round of NDCs with a 2035 time horizon, informed by the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake. The Global Stocktake also called on the UN Climate Change secretariat, including through its Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs), and other organizations in a position to do so, to strengthen support for the preparation and communication of these NDCs.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, a significant number of countries have already submitted their updated NDCs, while others are still finalizing them. At the same time, countries that have submitted are beginning to move from political commitments towards implementation, including investment planning and access to finance. This creates an important opportunity for development partners to better coordinate their support across both tracks: finalizing pending submissions and advancing implementation readiness.

Against this backdrop, RCC EASA and RCC WACA, together with partners including the NDC Partnership, UNEP and UNDP Africa region, are convening this virtual coordination meeting to take stock of ongoing support, identify gaps and strengthen collaboration in support of African countries’ NDC 3.0 processes.

Objectives

The meeting aims to assess progress made by support partners in their engagement with countries across NDC 3.0 preparation, submission and implementation. Specifically, it will:

• identify remaining gaps and coordinate assistance for countries still finalizing their NDCs;
• discuss strategies to support countries that have already submitted their NDCs, with a focus on implementation, investment planning and finance;
• encourage support providers to share which countries they are assisting and clarify whether that support is focused on finalization and submission or on implementation readiness.

Expected outcomes

The meeting is expected to:

• provide a clearer overview of partner support for NDC 3.0 across Sub-Saharan Africa;
• identify coordination gaps and opportunities for more targeted technical assistance;
• strengthen alignment among partners supporting countries still preparing their NDCs;
• promote more coordinated support for countries moving into implementation, including around financing and investment planning;
• clarify how RCC EASA and RCC WACA can continue facilitating regional coordination and technical support.

Audience

The meeting is intended for development partners and organizations supporting African countries on NDC preparation and implementation, including multilateral and bilateral agencies, regional institutions and technical partners. Potential participants include organizations such as UNEP, UNDP, UNICEF, the NDC Partnership, the World Bank, AfDB, GIZ, FAO, COMESA, UNECA, GGGI and other relevant partners active in the region.