Local solutions for Nationally Determined Contributions

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are the specific climate commitments and action plans that countries submit to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These are self-determined pledges that each country makes to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, requires all parties to submit revised NDCs every five years.

In 2020 and 2021, TBI partners helped national governments to improve their NDCs by paying more attention to forest- and tree-based strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. In 2022, the emphasis shifted to helping local governments to develop and implement such strategies, in order to contribute to each country’s overall NDC ambitions. Tropenbos Ghana, for example, collaborated with the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to organize regional workshops to disseminate information on programmes of action and targets related to the agricultural and forestry sectors in Ghana’s NDC, and to develop monitoring, verification and reporting frameworks with local stakeholders. Following the workshops, five municipal and district assemblies (MDAs) integrated NDC targets in their medium-term development plans. This will contribute to climate-smart management of over 100,000 ha, benefiting around 50,000 people.

Other examples include the work of Tropenbos Indonesia with the Ketapang Regency government to support peatland restoration as an effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from peat fires. Similarly, IBIF, TBI’s partner in Bolivia, helped to achieve ambitions set out in the country’s NDC by working with municipal governments and other stakeholders to set up a system to decrease the occurrence and impacts of wildfires and to maintain the area under forest management in the Guarayos landscape. Tropenbos Colombia supported locally led restoration of degraded lands, and explored options to link local restoration efforts to carbon initiatives, in close collaboration with a municipal government. And Tropenbos Viet Nam helped the Dak Lak provincial government to design their climate action plan by identifying areas suitable for restoration and by developing tools to calculate the amount of sequestered carbon.

These efforts help local governments to develop and implement strategies and approaches that contribute to the ambitions set out in the NDCs, while providing promising models for mitigation and adaptation that can be adopted in other landscapes. TBI will also be able to use these experiences to better inform decisions on climate-related legal and policy frameworks.