Credit: UN Climate Change

Organizers

UNFCCC secretariat in collaboration with the 2050 Pathways Platform, the NDC Partnership, and Global Green Growth Institute.

Background

Over the past decade, countries have developed an increasingly rich architecture of climate planning under the Paris Agreement through successive Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) cycles and, for a growing number of countries, Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS). Recent evidence, including assessments of submitted LT-LEDS and NDC enhancement processes, provides valuable insights into how these instruments are being developed and used in practice. These evidence points to a consistent pattern: LT-LEDS can add greater value when  NDCs are aligned with them, translating long-term objectives into near-term priorities, and treating them as living processes – supporting both ambition and strategic prioritization of measures as circumstances evolve.

These recent assessments also highlight practical lessons on what enables LT-LEDS and NDCs to work effectively together. When developed and updated coherently, and aligned with broader national development priorities, these instruments can help countries sequence actions, navigate trade-offs and opportunities, and strengthen cross-sectoral and institutional coordination. Their effectiveness and longevity also depend on robust governance and in-country capacity, institutional anchoring and meaningful stakeholder engagement, as well as clear pathways for translating long-term ambition into near-term decisions.

However, bridging the gap between planning and implementation remains a challenge, particularly in addressing risks and uncertainties, strengthening linkages between national and subnational planning, and integrating adaptation and long-term resilience considerations. These are areas where countries continue to develop and refine their approaches, offering opportunities for further learning and peer exchanges.

Country experiences also highlight the role of institutional continuity, particularly as long-term economic and sectoral transformation extends beyond individual planning and political cycles. Embedding long-term objectives across planning processes, institutions and, where appropriate, policy and legal frameworks can help preserve strategic direction while allowing flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances. Stronger alignment between climate and development planning can also help countries identify synergies, including opportunities for economic diversification, energy security, employment, innovation and resilience, while anticipating potential trade-offs and distributional impacts.

Greater coherence across LT-LEDS, NDCs, sectoral plans, investment frameworks and national development policies may also strengthen the enabling conditions for implementation. Clearer and more predictable policy signals can help businesses and investors identify opportunities, anticipate investment needs, and support the development of sectors aligned with national climate and development priorities. In turn, this can strengthen the economic case for climate action and encourage broader participation in implementation.

Connecting climate objectives with tangible economic and social benefits and making these connections more visible can also help strengthen broader stakeholder engagement, public support and national ownership of whole-of-economy and whole-of-society transitions. This, in turn, may contribute to the credibility and continuity of climate policies.

Objectives

This event examines how stronger alignment between NDCs and LT-LEDS can help countries prioritise and sequence implementation, sustain climate and development objectives across political cycles, and treat long-term strategies as living, iterative frameworks rather than one-off vision-setting exercises.

More specifically, the event aims to:

• Explore findings from recent assessments on the coherence and alignment of LT-LEDS and successive NDCs, including their role as mutually reinforcing frameworks for implementation.
• Exchange practical country experiences on how aligned and regularly updated strategies can connect long-term climate objectives with national development priorities, inform near-term implementation and support continuity across political and institutional cycles.
• Examine institutional, governance and coordination arrangements that can support stronger alignment between long-term and near-term climate planning.
• Identify common implementation challenges and emerging approaches to addressing them, fostering opportunities for continued peer learning, collaboration and support.

Approach

The side event will bring together government representatives, international organizations, development partners, and technical experts to explore how greater coherence between LT-LEDS, NDCs and national development planning can support effective and sustained implementation, while contributing to mutually reinforcing climate and development outcomes.

Through a combination of expert insights, country experiences and moderated discussion, participants will explore practical approaches to strengthening the linkages between long-term strategies and near-term planning and implementation. Particular attention will be given to the challenges and opportunities associated with maintaining policy continuity, strengthening institutional coordination and adapting planning processes to evolving national circumstances.

Development partners will also share key findings from recent assessments, connecting analytical insights with country experiences and perspectives to foster peer learning and exchange on emerging approaches, implementation challenges and opportunities for further collaboration.

Agenda