NDC PARTNERSHIP

WORK PROGRAM
2021-2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3

PROLOGUE: CONTEXT FOR THE NEW WORK PROGRAM................................ 4

A GUIDE TO THIS WORK PROGRAM.............................................................................. 8

SECTION 1: HARNESS THE STRENGTHS OF MEMBERS................................... 14

SECTION 2: DEPLOY IN-COUNTRY SUPPORT AT SPEED AND SCALE..... 18

SECTION 3: LEARN, INFORM, AND INSPIRE.......................................................... 34

SECTION 4: SUPPORT UNIT CAPACITY...................................................................... 41

THE WAY FORWARD........................................................................................................... 42

ANNEX 1: MONITORING AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK.......................... 43

ANNEX 2: RISK MATRIX.....................................................................................................50

ANNEX 3: GLOSSARY OF TERMS.................................................................................. 54

3 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

INTRODUCTION

This document presents a Work Program for the NDC Partnership for the period of 2021-2025. The
Work Program is accompanied by a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework
presented in Annex 1 and a Risk Matrix in Annex 2. The M&E function serves to enhance the
learning processes that continually improve our work and to hold the members collectively
accountable for the successful implementation of the Partnership’s work.

THE PARTNERSHIP’S WORK PROGRAM FOR 2021-2025 IS STRUCTURED IN FOUR SECTIONS:

1. Harness the Strengths of Members

2. Deploy In-Country Support at Speed and Scale
3. Learn, Inform, and Inspire
4. Support Unit Capacity

With the approval of this Work Program, the Support Unit will review and further align the Country
Engagement and Knowledge and Learning Strategies. The Support Unit will also coordinate the
development of a Finance Strategy to better support countries as they mobilize financial resources to
implement their climate priorities. Development of the strategy will be led by members and include
inputs from multilateral development banks and finance institutions, as well as with reference to the
Finance Ministers’ Coalition for Climate Action. These will be shared with the Steering Committee by the
2021 Spring Steering Committee Meeting.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 4

PROLOGUE: CONTEXT FOR THE

NEW WORK PROGRAM
The NDC Partnership’s first Work Program has delivered substantial progress (See Box 1). As of August
2020, the Partnership is supporting NDC implementation based on official requests from 73 countries and
supporting NDC revision and enhancement in 63. The Partnership boasts more than 180 committed members,
including more than 100 countries. Our work and insights are systematically collated and shared through a
comprehensive knowledge management system, knowledge portal, and peer exchanges. Our action-based
learning is widely shared with the global community of climate change thought leaders, decision-makers,
and implementers at all levels through varied knowledge products, expanding communication platforms
and consistent presence at high-profile events. The Partnership pioneers urgently-needed models for more
effectively working together, uniting countries and institutions more effectively and taking a whole-of-society
approach. This enables the Partnership to mobilize efforts across governments and across societal actors,
including integrated approaches to gender equality and youth engagement.

Our success is made possible by the impressive commitment of members. In more than 70 developing
countries that are receiving support to implement and enhance their NDCs, more than 100 implementing
partners, both members and non-members, are providing support. More than 10 partners have provided funds
for the Support Unit’s operation to facilitate the Partnership’s comprehensive actions. This is a testament to the
shared conviction that by working together, we can be more than the sum of our parts.

Countries are empowered to lead their own NDC implementation and enhancement strategies.
Development and implementing partners mobilize support in line with their comparative advantages and
in coordination with others. Shared public plans avoid the risk of duplicating efforts. We have a model that
countries increasingly request.

The Partnership’s success is also leading to significant challenges. Despite the impressive rise in support
to countries, it lags behind demand thanks to our rapid growth. Under the current response rate, there is a
risk of leaving engaged countries without the support they need to achieve their climate goals. If members
cannot respond to requests, the task of filling gaps in support generally falls on the Support Unit, which
is running close to the limits of its capacity. The Support Unit is not an implementing partner, but is often
left to take on tasks by default. For us to keep up with country needs, members need to respond even more
quickly and expansively or the Support Unit needs the capacity to fill the gaps.

This new Work Program for the period 2021-2025 aims to build on the Partnership’s early success to drive
still more ambitious action on climate change and sustainable development. It is designed to coincide
with the five-year Paris Agreement cycle. It will support countries through implementation of their newly-
revised NDCs submitted in 2020-2021, through the Global Stocktake of 2023, and into the new cycle of
NDC revision and enhancement that culminates in 2025. It ends just five years before 2030, when the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be met as well as the targets in the first round of NDCs. The
Partnership aims to be a major driver for successful implementation of both the Paris Agreement and the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
5 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

This Work Program will unfold in very challenging circumstances. Even without the disruptions of 2020,
global action on climate change lags well behind what is needed. Global emission trajectories have
us on a course to far exceed the two degree or 1.5-degree Paris Agreement warming goals. The aim to
mobilize $100 billon per year in climate finance for developing countries has not yet been met. Countries
are generally not on course to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Box 1: At a glance: Achievements from the 2018-2020 Work Program

During the less than four years since its founding, the Partnership has made significant progress.
This progress is documented in full in Progress Reports on the 2018-2020 Work Program as well
as the CAEP Progress Reports presented to the Steering Committee. These are based in part on
an independent Mid-Term Review. In summary:

• Thirty Partnership Plans have been developed, harmonizing support from donors and
providing a mechanism for coordination, improving the effectiveness of support. These
Plans also help countries to prioritize and coordinate action.
• Governments across 46 countries have identified and operationalized facilitation
mechanisms ranging from government taking charge of overall coordination, to
facilitation through 30 embedded facilitators, to institutional members nominated
to play the role of facilitator. With support from seven Partnership members, these
mechanisms have proven effective to enhance coordination and provide much needed
capacity to governments.
• Forty-eight countries have established or strengthened NDC or Climate Change Sectoral
Working Groups at the technical or ministerial levels. These are bringing together
different sectoral priorities and perspectives and leading to concrete synergies between
sectors to support discrete climate change mitigation and adaptation policies and
activities.
• Over USD500 million has been mobilized and disbursed through multiple member
managed NDC financing facilities. Members have worked together through consultative
processes to plan, program, and disburse resources for a collective impact.
• Economic Advisory support to the finance and planning ministries of 32 countries is
recognized as one of the earliest movers to integrate climate in economic recovery plans.
• Through the Climate Action Enhance Package (CAEP), a total of 63 countries are receiving
support to enhance the quality of their NDCs, raise their climate ambition, and fast-track
implementation. This financial and technical support is being delivered by 46 partners
with more than USD45.5 million in financial support in less than 12 months, including
USD23.8 million disbursed through the Partnership’s Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) and
more than USD21.7 million leveraged in co-finance from partners.
• The Partnership’s Knowledge Portal contains almost 1,000 curated tools and resources
contributed by members and non-members across the Climate Toolbox (640), Good
Practice Database (252), and Climate Finance Explorer (98), while also providing valuable
data on GHG emissions, NDC-SDG linkages, NDC content, and other data tools.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 6

• The internal knowledge management system (kNook) catalogues a unique data set with
approximately 4,300 individual country requests to the Partnership and the support being
delivered against them. These data inform regular briefings to all members to analyze
trends and fill gaps in support.
• The Partnership has facilitated more than 40 peer exchanges since 2018, engaging
more than 2,000 country and institutional participants to share lessons and insights from
practical experiences in climate action.

These challenges would be daunting enough, but recent events have made them herculean. The world
struggles with a pandemic that will certainly persist through 2021 and likely well beyond. As a result of
recovery measures, most countries face a growing debt burden that will put serious pressure on budgets
for climate spending, both domestically and internationally, throughout 2021-2025. Indebtedness will limit
the scope for investment in many countries. Furthermore, a preoccupation with economic recovery and
health care responses will pull political attention away from climate action unless countries find ways to
pursue these issues together.

Social and economic pressures have played a role in surfacing long-standing questions of equality and
inclusion. It remains unclear how much ongoing limitations on travel and large meetings will hamper
essential activities for countries and for those supporting them.

There are also opportunities, though. The focus on economic recovery has opened an expansive discussion
about how countries can “build back better” using economic recovery measures to invest in more
sustainable infrastructure and models of growth. The push to build more resilient health care systems
and societies, a renewed appreciation for scientific advice, and the demonstrated power of action through
concerted public policy and multilateral efforts all closely overlap with the drivers of climate action. The
focus on social and economic inequalities matches the Partnership’s approach of combining climate and
sustainable development action as well as its strategic engagement on subjects such as gender equality
and youth. A greater focus on ambition and the alignment of NDCs with long-term climate strategies will
help countries avoid later problems of stranded assets or being locked in to higher-emission growth paths.

Nevertheless, with political attention and financial resources focused on the health crisis and economic
recovery, the ship of climate action will start 2021 sailing into strong headwinds. Countries will require
sustained support as they face competing public policy priorities and tighter budgets. Although the
Partnership’s members will be vital to the global response, they are not the whole picture. Important
action will depend on major non-member countries that are not yet engaged with the Partnership. The
Partnership will need to inform and inspire action from these major actors as well as support its own
members. This Work Program includes measures to take a more proactive stance in engaging major
emerging economies.
7 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

Finally, the Work Program is designed to be flexible. In the year since the 2019 Climate Summit, the
world has seen widespread youth protests demanding climate action, a global pandemic, the steepest
economic downturn in a century, and the sparking of massive political action in response to racial,
social, and economic injustice.

We must be ready to adapt to unforeseen future events. A mid-term review will be conducted during
the Work Program’s third year and used as the basis for major adjustments. But the Steering Committee,
meeting every six months, will also be empowered to make course corrections as they are needed.
The Partnership serves the twin goals of accelerating implementation of NDCs and enhancing their
ambition while driving sustainable development (see Figure 1 for what is new in this Work Program and
Figure 2 for the Theory of Change). By 2025, we seek to ensure both that members are well on the way
to implementing their NDC goals for 2030 and that they have submitted revised NDCs setting greater
ambition beyond 2030, empowered by growing and effective support. This Work Program builds on the
successful model of country driven engagement established by the Partnership’s work in 2018-2020 and
informed by the mid-term review of that work carried out in early 2020. It also seeks to:

• Strengthen the links between development and climate action by supporting

coordinated actions across governments and societies.
• Promote greater commitment, coordination, and engagement from members,
including political engagement and commitment to a whole-of-society approach
from countries, and “whole-of-institution” engagement from institutional and
associate members.
• Scale up resource mobilization to support country action, both through the
increased commitment from members and by using NDC Action Plans as the basis for
engaging a wider community of investors.
• Deepen engagement on NDC implementation and enhancement with major
emerging economies within the Partnership.
• Drive action beyond the Partnership by sharing learning and demonstrating political
leadership.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 8

A GUIDE TO THIS WORK PROGRAM

The Partnership’s work covers many areas of climate and development responses. Some are of
particular interest to different members, which is part of what makes the Partnership so valuable,
as members focus their efforts and expertise where they will be most effective. The Partnership’s
members offer a vast range of expertise and support. This Work Program does not attempt to
encompass that range, but to focus on where acting as a Partnership adds to our collective
effectiveness.

Members have identified many topics of urgent interest. These will feature in the Partnership’s work
through our core modalities. First, countries may make any relevant request and the Partnership will
respond through its members. Second, members and the Support Unit will support knowledge and
learning on topics of interest.

This document does not attempt to spell out all the issues that will be covered because the Work
Program aims to maintain the Partnership’s flexible, country-driven approach. This is in line with the
recommendations from the 2018-2020 Work Program Mid-Term Review.

The Partnership responds to requests from any developing country member on an equal basis. Because
of the nature of the support we offer, least developed and most vulnerable countries particularly benefit.
We have had less success so far in engaging with major emerging economies. For this reason, there is
a specific discussion of major emerging economies, but this does not indicate that these are a priority
group for the Partnership.

PRINCIPLES USED IN THIS WORK PROGRAM

CLIMATE ACTION
The Partnership supports climate and development action through the NDCs. Our climate action is
governed by the Paris Agreement. This means that:

• Adaptation and mitigation action are equally important.

• Mitigation action should be consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well
below two degrees centigrade and pursue efforts towards 1.5 degrees centigrade as compared to
pre-industrial levels.

• Adaptation action aims to increase countries’ ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate
change, and to foster resilience and low-carbon development while preserving food security.

• Finance flows should be consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and
climate-resilient development.
9 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

Based on countries’ priorities and requests, all Paris Agreement elements will be supported through
the Partnership to empower countries to achieve the Paris Agreement goals. These include, but are
not limited to, implementation of NDCs, enhancing ambition, alignment of NDCs with long-term
strategies, and implementation of the Enhanced Transparency Framework. As future stages in the Paris
Agreement processes arise, such as participation in the 2023 Global Stocktake, we expect that the
Partnership will respond to related country requests for support.

CLIMATE-DEVELOPMENT LINKS
One of the Partnership’s guiding principles is to align the climate and development agendas. This link
is spelled out in our Theory of Change, which connects the Paris Agreement’s implementation and the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the Addis Agenda on financing for sustainable
development. This supports an integrated approach to climate action with development and associated
topics, such as green job creation, and includes efforts by countries to recover from COVID-19 in a way
that is aligned with their climate goals.

NDC ENHANCEMENT
NDC enhancement in this Work Program encompasses two elements: increasing ambition and
improving quality, which can also be enabled by strengthening NDC development processes. Either or
both may be present in a particular country’s enhancement activities.

• RAISING NDC AMBITION means strengthening mitigation or adaptation targets and actions over
time. Countries may raise ambition by strengthening emissions reduction (including the addition
of sector-specific targets) or by broadening the scope to include wider coverage of sectors or gases.
Countries may also raise ambition by moving from conditional to unconditional targets, shortening
timelines, adding policies and measures, or adding adaptation targets.
• IMPROVING NDC QUALITY means ensuring targets are based on strong underlying data; are detailed,
achievable, and verifiable; and are developed under an inclusive and transparent process. Countries
may develop more detailed action plans, including sector-specific plans, with outcomes, costing,
financing, governance, and the use of robust methodology (scenario-based modelling), which
ensures that targets are strategically aligned with national policy and LTS. This means including or
strengthening mechanisms for monitoring and oversight or including additional information on
vulnerabilities, gaps, and barriers to inform adaptation planning. Countries may engage a wider range
of stakeholders to ensure that NDCs are realistic, implementable, and inclusive, and they may build
the capacity to better develop and implement NDCs.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 10

EQUITY AND INCLUSION/

WHOLE OF SOCIETY
Support for social equity through NDC action is at the heart of
the Partnership’s work. Frequent reference is made to whole-
of-government and whole-of-society approaches. These refer
to supporting countries in engaging as comprehensively
and effectively as possible with all branches of government
and with wider stakeholder groups, respectively. A priority is
the development of lasting capacity in national institutions.
References to capacity in countries, including in the Theory of
Change, assume this priority.

The Partnership values outcomes that promote the interests

A glossary of
of disadvantaged and underserved populations who are most other terms
vulnerable to climate impact and works towards equitable used in the
outcomes that meet their needs. We support these outcomes in
response to country requests. In the context of the Partnership,
Work Program
this includes a commitment to gender-responsive climate action is in Annex 3.
implemented through the Gender Strategy and to meaningful
engagement with young people through the Youth Engagement
Plan. Use of the term “equitable and inclusive” in the Theory
of Change and elsewhere in the document includes all these
elements.

NDC ACTION PLANS

Countries can make requests through the Partnership in a variety
of ways. At the center of the country engagement process is the
Partnership Plan. These have been designed from the start as a
flexible instrument to include whatever NDC actions the country
wishes and to track support for those actions. Partnership Plans
will remain at the heart of our work. However, country requests
can come in a variety of forms, including but not limited to
Partnership Plans (PPs), Request for Support Letters (RSLs),
Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) support, and
support provided through the Economic Advisory initiative (EA).

“NDC Action Plans” in this document is a generic term that refers

to national government-owned plans outlining how a country
will implement or enhance their NDC, with support from the
Partnership. It includes all of the above instruments.
11 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

FIGURE 1: WHAT’S NEW IN THE 2021-2025 WORK PROGRAM

The core of the Partnership’s work will remain the same. We will focus on:
• Responding with speed and flexibility to country requests related to NDC implementation
and enhancement
• Sharing information on country requests among all members to mobilize the widest
possible range of support
• Supporting countries in taking a Whole of Society approach, engaging a wide array of
stakeholders and aligning climate and development agendas
• Sharing knowledge and learning from all the Partnership’s activities

The new Work Program foresees the following enhancements:

FOCUS ON BOTH IMPLEMENTATION AND ON RAISING AMBITION

Build on the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) to provide earlier support in the next
round of NDC updating.

STRONGER FOCUS ON MOBILIZING MEMBERS

Increased member engagement at the political level to mainstream NDC action and share
Partnership messages.

Greater engagement with non-members and with major emitters.

Continuous refinement of the Partnership’s work based on M&E and periodic consultations
with members.

IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES WITH

SPEED AND SCALE

More analytical work to strengthen climate-development linkages as basis for more effective
implementation.

More structured alignment to members’ country planning and budget frameworks and long-term
climate strategies.

Drive greater social equality through the Gender Strategy and Youth Engagement Plan.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 12

MORE ACTION TO MOBILIZE FINANCE

Deeper integration with ministries of finance and planning.

Support development of regulatory frameworks to attract domestic and international investment

(public and private).

Identify and further develop bankable projects promoting private sector investment and
mobilization of finance by members.

Alignment of climate priorities with post-COVID economic recovery plans through economic
advisory support and other activities.
13 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

FIGURE 2: THEORY OF CHANGE

INTERMEDIATE
IMPACT OUTCOMES OUTPUTS ASSUMPTIONS
OUTCOMES

Countries Implementing and High level

By 2025, member Implementing development partners commitment
successfully
countries are on and development have the capacity and from members
reduce
track or ahead partners resources to respond with and other
emissions,
of schedule to accelerate and speed and flexibility to stakeholders
improve climate
implement their coordinate requests from countries in line with
resilience,
NDCs with the support so through the Partnership the Guiding
and advance
support of the that member Principles of the
sustainable
Partnership countries have NDC Partnership
development,
the capacity
with strong
and resources
international
needed to
support Member countries have
implement and Availability
consistent with results-based, equitable,
update their of technical
the achievement and inclusive NDC Action
Member NDCs using a and financial
of the Paris Plans in place, aligned
countries whole-of-society resources
Agreement and with development and
communicate approach and capacity
the 2030 Agenda recovery plans
for Sustainable new NDCs building support
Development reflecting from members
greater quality for NDC
and ambition implementation
by 2025 with Member and updating
the support of Member countries
countries have at the national
the Partnership, have participatory NDC
integrated NDC and subnational
inspiring and coordination mechanisms
mitigation and levels.
informing others and resources for
adaptation
inclusive and transparent
targets into
NDC implementation and
national and
updating
subnational Implementing
development and development
plans, policies, partner members
budgets, and are willing to use
recovery plans Increased country access country requests
to knowledge and presented
capacity development through the
Partnership as a
key element in
Member their resource
countries receive programming
increased Improved enabling
investment flows environment established
towards climate and public and private
action finance providers
mobilized Members
receiving support
have cross-
government
commitment
to the ongoing
Implementing and
implementation
development partners
and
use Partnership data
enhancement of
and insights to program
their NDCs and to
support in alignment
the work of the
with NDC Action Plans
Partnership
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 14

1 HARNESS THE STRENGTHS OF MEMBERS

The Partnership’s success has been made possible by the impressive commitment of members
and dedicated stakeholders. We are a country-driven, member-led initiative and our members work
together to achieve a greater collective impact than would be possible acting individually. This section
describes measures that can deepen cooperation during the period 2021-2025.

1.1 DEEPENING POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

SECTION 1: HARNESS THE STRENGTHS OF MEMBERS

The Partnership has tremendous potential for increased political impact. Collectively, our members
have enormous credibility and capacity to demonstrate and drive political leadership. Members
demonstrate commitment based on their own NDC implementation, through climate diplomacy, and
in their role as support providers.

MEMBERS WILL:

• Speak out on climate action and, where possible, on the Partnership’s behalf, through various
channels: bilaterally with partners and at a range of global fora, including beyond climate.
• Use the platforms they lead and can access to amplify Partnership successes, lessons, and calls to
action.
• Increase awareness of climate change to decision makers at the highest political levels.
• For countries, promote cooperation with the NDC Partnership in governance structures where
there are shareholders or development partners. These include the European Union, the Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs), International Organizations, international coalitions, etc.
• For institutions, make efforts to mainstream climate action across organizations and promote
cooperation through the Partnership by engaging with departments responsible for major
spending and policy action.
• Use diplomatic channels and other foreign policy outreach to promote climate action and highlight
the advantages of collaboration through the Partnership.
• Build on existing networks and relationships to promote engagement of major emerging
economies with the Partnership (see section 2.1.5).
• Leverage the Partnership’s visibility and reputation to strengthen member engagement, work
closely with non-members that can bring value to the Partnership, and attract new members.
15 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

1.2 SCALING UP ACTION

The Partnership is a collective of solution-oriented actors. We work together as a catalyst for action,
responding to and inspiring the membership, and spurring one another to enact local solutions to
global challenges. We succeed when members embody the Partnership’s principles.

MEMBERS WILL:
• Demonstrate leadership on climate ambition and sustainable
development by working towards ambition consistent with the Paris
Agreement goals, as well as speaking to their own NDC implementation
and enhancement experience.
• Provide policy and technical expertise, sharing experiences, tools, and
concrete examples of best practices.
• Accelerate efforts to mainstream climate action and sustainable
development across all internal policies, projects, and investments.
• In the case of developed countries, provide increased funding and/or
technical assistance, where possible, to operationalize the Partnership’s
work.
• Share knowledge based on their comparative advantage, including by
adding knowledge resources to Partnership platforms.

FOR COUNTRIES:
• Demonstrate effective implementation of NDCs and enhancement of
NDCs over time.
• Take a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, including
collaborating with the private sector, youth, and vulnerable populations,
and mainstreaming gender in NDC implementation.
• Align planning frameworks, national policies, and budgets with country
climate priorities as identified in NDCs and long-term climate strategies.
Develop long-term climate strategies where appropriate.
• Demonstrate ownership of the NDC process through vested staff time and
resources.
• Enhance capacity in national institutions.

FOR INSTITUTIONS:

• Provide technical and financial resources in response to stated needs of

member countries.
• Strengthen coordination with other institutions and relevant stakeholders
to improve impact.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 16

THE SUPPORT UNIT WILL:

• Serve as the Secretariat for the Partnership, supporting its governance

and operation, facilitating member engagement, and coordinating
interaction across the membership.
• Expand efforts to foster frequent and meaningful collaboration among
members.
• Identify initiatives and areas of interest of members who can provide
support and identify gaps in support to match with available resources.
• Create visibility to recognize and further incentivize membership
commitments and contributions.

1.3 ENGAGING NON-MEMBERS

The Partnership’s work focuses on the actions of its members. Nevertheless, many non-member
organizations already play an important role in our success. More than 50 non-members have
supported countries and collaborated with the Partnership more broadly during the first Work Program.
These include multilateral funding bodies such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Adaptation Fund;
international sources of expertise such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD); and in-country implementing partners such as the 2050 Pathways Platform. Some such
partners may eventually become Partnership members.

Others have governance arrangements that make this unlikely. Cooperation also extends to other
platforms with complementary work, such as the New Climate Economy, Partnering for Green Growth
and Global Goals (P4G), and the Global Commission on Adaptation. We will seek to grow these kinds
of cooperation, regardless of whether these organizations wish to consider membership. Cooperation
will be managed through our core processes—participation in the country engagement process and
cooperation on knowledge and learning activities.

The Partnership welcomes new members but does not actively seek to grow its membership.
Nevertheless, some non-member countries and institutions will be important to our mission due to
their size, regional influence, or importance in critical sectors. Members will use their own networks to
expand cooperation with non-members where possible.

Many in-country constituencies, including subnational authorities and private sector actors, are also
vital to the Partnership’s success. In line with our country-driven model, the Partnership welcomes
cooperation with these constituencies but will engage them only in accordance with requests from
national governments.

The Partnership’s Steering Committee will also consider inputs from youth stakeholders from within
and beyond its membership in the form of recommendations from the Youth Forum described in the
Youth Engagement Plan.
17 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

How the NDC Partnership Engages Critical Constituencies

The Partnership works with a diverse group of non-member partners to advance our mission. NDC
implementation and raised ambition require a broad base of stakeholders, including multilateral
institutions, international initiatives, subnational governments, and the private sector.

MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS
Multilateral institutions participate in the Partnership as members and non-members, both
directly in country engagement work and indirectly through strategic collaboration. They
may contribute directly to the Partnership’s work or may fund or implement member work in
country. We work to enhance collaboration both in country and at the international level.

INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
The Partnership works in close collaboration with international initiatives and coalitions that
serve the membership. These include platforms with a technical or sectoral focus and those
that represent specific stakeholder groups. We work to develop complimentary strategies, align
messaging, and support delivery of relevant programs.

SUBNATIONAL ACTORS
The Partnership includes members that are networks of sub-national governments as well
as UN agencies focused on regional or local initiatives. We engage with sub-national actors
on the request of national governments, who often see them as critical stakeholders in the
implementation and enhancement of NDCs. Through our knowledge products and events, we
highlight best practices from subnational actors.

PRIVATE SECTOR
Our members include networks of private sector stakeholders and institutions that specialize
in engaging with the private sector. Private sector actors play important roles in planning,
creating enabling environments, and mobilizing financing investment. They are instrumental
in project implementation and play an important role in shaping policy. As major sources of
emissions and potential impacted stakeholders, their active role in mitigation and adaptation
is also vital. We engage with private sector actors in country on the request of national
governments. Private sector investors are also important audiences for Project Idea Notes (see
section 2.1.4) and for peer exchanges on relevant topics.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 18

We also share our information and knowledge resources widely to include all types of
stakeholders. For instance, the Knowledge Portal draws together resources most relevant for
NDC implementation in an easily searchable platform that is freely accessible for all users.
Written products, such as the Partnership in Action report (see section 3.3.1), bring Partnership
insights to wide audiences. Our monthly newsletter is open to all interested parties and shares
up-to-date information about the Partnership.
SECTION 2: DEPLOY IN-COUNTRY SUPPORT AT SPEED AND SCALE

2 DEPLOY IN-COUNTRY SUPPORT AT SPEED AND SCALE

Partnership engagement starts with a

country’s requests for support and leads to the
development and execution of a Partnership
Plan1 or another form of NDC Action Plan2. Our
approach is highly flexible, allowing countries
Led by Members
to express their needs and align support with
their planning, budgeting, and coordination
mechanisms. The Partnership’s agility has allowed
us to provide customized support and to deploy
innovative initiatives such as the Climate Action
The Partnership’s services are
Enhancement Package (CAEP) and assistance on
greening COVID-19 economic recovery planning. centered on maintaining the
Engagement with the Partnership has fostered flexibility and adaptability of its
confidence on the side of its country members approach. All country actions
that timely support is ready for developing and proposed, unless otherwise
implementing increasingly ambitious NDCs.
mentioned, are to be led by
The Partnership’s processes ensure countries can Partnership members, while
communicate their priorities to members for the Support Unit facilitates
support. This prioritization exercise occurs at two coordination and helps match
stages: needs with members’ resources.
19 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

REQUEST FOR SUPPORT LETTER (RSL): a formal letter from country focal points that is shared with
members. The letter identifies priority areas in which the government is requesting support from the
Partnership. The value chain of services (Figure 3) is communicated to the government at the onset of
the Partnership’s country engagement and acts as a framework for setting priorities. Requests focus on
short- and medium-term interventions that can catalyze broader transformational changes. RSLs build
on consultations with line ministries, existing policy frameworks, climate change strategies and action
plans, and the gaps identified in those.

NDC PARTNERSHIP PLAN: Based on a whole-of-society approach involving extensive consultations,

the government prioritizes actions that are reflected in its Partnership Plan as outcomes, outputs, and
KPIs. During the design of the Plan, several rounds of consultations are organized with government,
partners, and civil society stakeholders, leading to the alignment, prioritization, and refinement of initial
proposed measures. The Plan does not intend to address all country needs to achieve the NDC; rather,
it is a tool that the country uses to set priorities and that Partnership members use to mobilize support.
These plans are timebound but flexible and according to country requirements may include short-term
needs as well as longer-term strategic plans.

FIGURE 3: VALUE CHAIN OF SERVICES

Policy, Strategy, Budgeting Monitoring & Evaluation

& Legislation & Investment (M&E)

EXAMPLES: EXAMPLES: EXAMPLES:

• Policy and legal framework • Climate-related Investment • Development and
development or update Plans improvement of MRV
(Monitoring, Reporting
• Mainstreaming climate into • Budgeting and expenditure and Verification) systems
national, subnational, and reviews
sectoral planning processes • Data collection and
• Mainstreaming climate into management
• Climate Plans and Strategies, PFM
including LTS
• Development and
• Analytical tools for evidence- • Development of investment implementation of
based policy on climate and projects information systems
development impacts
• Fiscal and macroeconomic
• SDG alignment policies

• Sectoral strategies and plans • Climate funds

Strengthening of Technical and Institutional Capacities

• Exchanges of experience of learning and knowledge management
• Capacity building
• Knowledge tools and products
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 20

Once needs of countries are communicated, based on RSL or NDC Action Plans, members define how
they will prioritize their support, based on their respective comparative advantages. Analysis of trends
in requests at thematic, sectoral, and regional levels, as well as of gaps in support, are conducted on a
regular basis by the Support Unit, and are readily available for members to support their programming.

The Partnership will build on its successful country-driven engagement model and deploy a two-
pronged approach of (a) facilitating the development, execution, and coordination of NDC Action
Plans; and (b) responding to common needs through special initiatives (such as CAEP or the Economic
Advisory initiative).

The Work Program includes strengthened capacity to mobilize technical assistance and a mechanism
to bring financing opportunities from NDC Action Plans to potential investors. It pursues low carbon,
equitable, and resilient development and engagement with major emerging economies. Finally, it
includes the continuous championing of greater climate ambition.

2.1
SUPPORTING CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT
PRIORITIES

We support members as they translate NDCs into achievable plans with measurable and time-
bound targets. Our aim is to further promote integration of climate action into national, sectoral, and
subnational development plans and budgets, and drive investment opportunities to ‘speed and scale
up’ NDC implementation. As the medium- to long-term economic consequences of the COVID-19
pandemic unfold nationally, regionally, and internationally, the Partnership will continue to remain
agile and responsive to seize opportunities for a better and greener recovery.

2.1.1 STRENGTHEN ANALYTICAL SUPPORT FOR

IMPLEMENTATION

The Partnership will inform its support to member countries by conducting an analysis at the start
of the in-country engagement process to better understand the interaction between national
development objectives, SDGs, and climate priorities (i.e. as reflected in both NDCs and long-term
strategies). This analysis will be conducted by members with Support Unit facilitation. It will be
developed in close coordination with the government requesting support, and will include:

• Identifying updated NDC priorities, their alignment with Sustainable Development Goals and
development plans at the national, sectoral, and sub-national levels, and long-term strategies.
• Conducting analytical work, based on needs of the governments, to better understand the link
between climate and its impact on social and economic goals.
• Mapping of development and implementing partners’ (both members and non members) ongoing,
21 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

pipeline, and new climate-related projects/programs to better understand the availability of support.
• Further analyzing and clarifying governments’ requests for support to the Partnership.
• Mapping relevant stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities, including women and youth.
• Assessing alignment between COVID-19 recovery plan(s) and updated NDCs.
• Assessing the institutional landscape and capacity gaps, including issues related to just transition
and social inclusion.
• Mapping relevant stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities, including women and youth.

The Partnership’s climate-development analysis will draw on existing work by members and non
members. It will draw on trends from its broader global work through the kNook (see section 3.1.1), other
relevant tools, and members’ in-country experience and expertise. It will serve as a reference point for
developing and revising NDC Action Plans.

ALIGN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

2.1.2
AND CLIMATE PRIORITIES
The Partnership’s members continue to put climate at the heart of their programming, disbursement,
and tracking strategies. For the Partnership to remain relevant and effective, development and
institutional members constantly look for more flexibility in their programming to respond to country
needs in a timely manner. In order to enhance alignment and speed of support delivery, members will:

• Continue to provide support to address NDC implementation gaps and priorities, as identified by
countries and communicated to the Partnership.
• Establish or strengthen dedicated flexible technical assistance programs that can respond directly
to requests generated through the Partnership’s country engagement processes.
• Continue to raise awareness and promote the Partnership’s work at the country level.
• Ensure the needs of countries surfaced through the Partnership are integrated in country strategies of
bilateral and multilateral development partners.
• Represent the Partnership as a whole when working on behalf of the Partnership, and seek to
collaborate with other members wherever possible.
• Shorten the timeframe between receipt of country support requests by the Partnership and delivery
of support at the country level.
• Ensure coordination among Partnership members to promote the incorporation of climate into
development plans and recovery packages.
• Proactively engage high-level national actors throughout the Partnership’s country engagement
cycle to ensure that NDC and implementation plan priorities are subsequently communicated in
bilateral negotiations with development partners.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 22

Development The Partnership’s high-level statement (Promoting

cooperation a Low-Carbon, Equitable and Resilient COVID-19
Economic Recovery), signed off on by 80+ members
grounded on
of the Partnership, highlights the urgency for
the principle of governments and development partners to continue
the high-level working together and fast tracking support to address
statement the COVID-19 and climate crises.

To ensure systematic and strengthened match-making between needs of countries and support,
technical assistance, or project financing, the Support Unit will ensure the following step-by-step
approach:

• Step 1: Periodic briefings on gaps in support, readily accessible to development and implementing
partners. This will be prepared at both the country and global levels;
• Step 2: Systematic mapping of development and implementing partners’ priorities; planning at
country levels for a better understanding of partners’ comparative advantages and identifying who
could potentially support what;
• Step 3: Targeted coordination and outreach, tailoring needs of countries with the timeliness and
funding priorities of relevant partners.

ESTABLISH A POOLED FUNDING MECHANISM

2.1.3
TO SUPPORT COORDINATION AND ACCELERATED
IMPLEMENTATION

The Partnership’s success is based on the mobilization of expertise and resources by its members.
During this Work Program, the great majority of resources will continue to be deployed through
members, who have the capacity to provide support at scale. To date, various technical assistance (TA)
instruments have been designed or used to support the Partnership’s work. This ranges from the World
Bank’s NDC Support Facility to GIZ’s NDC Assist, to the UK government’s Partnering for Accelerated
Climate Transition (PACT). In some cases, associate members such as WWF designed specific projects
to deliver the Partnership’s country work, thereby ensuring more convergence among members to
respond to specific country needs. And, in other cases, existing project scopes have been expanded
to accommodate the needs of countries surfaced through the Partnership’s work. The Partnership
will continue to promote and further deepen these member-driven initiatives as development and
implementing partners allocate flexible resources to respond to country requests.
23 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

There is a powerful case to complement this member support with the establishment of a pooled
funding mechanism, based on the proven success of the Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) established to
support the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP). There are three reasons supporting the case:

1. Engaging more members and filling gaps in support: With resources coming exclusively from
partners, CAEP would have resulted in support for 40 percent of the requests made by 59 countries,
delivered through 25 partners. With the leveraging effect of TAF, CAEP was able to support nearly
twice as many requests (75 percent)3 from all 63 countries through 46 partners (40 implementing
partners and 6 TAF funders). With TAF, 15 additional implementing partners provided support to
countries while others amplified their impact by supporting more countries and/or more activities.
As a last resort, and to fill important gaps in support government identified as critical, 5 percent of
requests were directly supported by the Support Unit across 14 countries using TAF resources.
2. Reducing transaction costs for bilateral development partners: The Support Unit currently manages
the budget for technical assistance, which includes in-country facilitation support on behalf of some
bilateral development partners. This reduces overall transaction costs for development partners who
do not have large implementation agencies to manage such funds. It also allows direct engagement
through development partners’ government representatives posted in countries requesting support,
allowing them to achieve their bilateral objectives without having to manage funds.
3. Accounting for staff time: With a rapid increase in demand for technical assistance services on behalf
of development partners, having a permanent pooled funding mechanism will enable the Support
Unit to properly allocate staff time to manage resources on behalf of members. At present, this role
falls on staff that are already at full capacity.

Under this Work Program, therefore, the Partnership will establish a limited pooled funding
mechanism that will have three windows.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 24

WINDOW 1: FACILITATION SUPPORT 

This window is in line with the recommendation from the 2018-2020 Work Program’s Mid-Term
Review that suggests an earmarked fund be developed for facilitators to be quickly deployed
to support country needs. In cases where members are unable to directly provide facilitation
support to countries, this window would fill the gap. Depending on the context, funding could
also be used to bridge support before a member takes over the responsibility, or for the entire
duration of the facilitation support. The former will be the preferred arrangement and members
that are willing and able to provide facilitation support will be given priority over using resources
from the pooled funding mechanism. Contributing bilateral development partners will have the
option to earmark their funding for specific countries, based on their priorities.

WINDOW 2: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SUPPORT

This window provides support to members to respond to urgent country needs. This would be
limited to unsupported time-sensitive activities or unsupported ad hoc requests from gov-
ernments. Where institutional or associate members have the technical expertise to respond
to country needs but lack immediate financial resources, this window would enable them to
respond with speed and flexibility.

Under this window, there is also the potential to fund thematic calls on topics where large
needs have been identified. Any such calls will be determined based on country needs and
with approval of the Steering Committee. Between 2023-2025, this window will also support
NDC updating. As per current practice, all institutional and associate members will be eligible
to access resources to deploy the support needed by countries.

WINDOW 3: SCOPING SUPPORT

On request from a member country, this window will be used to fund an institutional or asso-
ciate member which does not have its own resources to initiate engagement on the Partner-
ship’s behalf. Seed funding could be used for workshops, mission travel, technical analyses, or
stakeholder engagement as part of early stage in-country engagement. This would encourage
a wider range of members to take greater responsibility in the Partnership’s work and build
sustainability. This window would be accessible to institutional and associate members only,
working jointly with the Support Unit.
25 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE POOLED FUNDING

MECHANISM:
a. Grantee of last resort: The Partnership fully supports employing structures,
mechanisms, and modalities that are already in place by different members.
Only when no response is received from members will resources from the pooled
funding mechanism be considered, thereby clearly demonstrating additionality.
b. Funder as the main decision maker: A member who capitalizes the fund can
decide to respond to a country request through its own investment made in the
fund. Resource programming, disbursement, and tracking will be implemented in
consultation with this member.
c. Avoid conflicts of interest: In order to ensure continuation of the Support
Unit’s role as a neutral broker and matchmaker between country needs and
partner resources, under no circumstances will the Support Unit have any role
in implementation, including through deployment of third-party consultants for
technical assistance support.

The Support Unit will commission an independent third party to propose modalities and hosting
arrangements for the pooled funding mechanism. Options will be explored under the guidance of
the co-chairs and a proposal will be presented for approval at the Spring 2021 Steering Committee
meeting. The full methodology and timeline for this process are outlined on the next page.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 26

FIGURE 4: METHODOLOGY AND TIMELINE

Review and Consultation Design Operationalization

(Nov. 2020 - Jan. 2021) (Jan. 2021 - Mar. 2021) (Apr. 2021 onward)

Bilateral consultations Propose hosting

1 decision and staffing 1 Prepare operational
manual
• Developed and developing plan
country members (sample
1 set ensuring geographical
representation)
• Implementing partners (IPs)
• Steering Committee (SC)
members
Determine financing
2 needs and operating 2 Establish hosting
arrangements
budget

Group consultations
2 • Steering Committee
• IPs not receiving TAF
3 Establish decision-
making processes
3 Set up a team

Review hosting options

Develop tracking,
3 • WRI 4 Capitalization
• UNOPS 4 results-based reporting
• Others
procedures, and
risk register.

5 Present proposal to SC
for approval

6 Finalize scope and

operational procedure
27 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

2.1.4 ACCELERATE ACCESS TO CLIMATE FINANCE

Inadequate access to financing remains a chief constraint to achieving the Paris Agreement’s
goals. Reduced climate spending due to the expense of COVID-19 responses—alongside capital
flight, revenue loss, and increased debt—have made investment even more difficult. Ninety percent
of countries submit at least one request for support aimed at mainstreaming NDCs into budgeting,
public investment portfolios, and planning processes, in addition to prioritizing new climate financing
opportunities. These requests generally fall into five categories: 1) Integrating NDCs into planning,
national budgets, and revenue; 2) Climate finance strategies and financial roadmaps; 3) Developing
bankable projects and pipelines; 4) Project and program financing and resource mobilization; and 5)
Private sector engagement in NDC implementation.

The Partnership will deploy a three-tier plan to unlock climate finance:

TIERS

1. NATIONAL LEVEL 2. REGIONAL LEVEL 3. INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Provide technical assistance Link PINs with ongoing

for policy reforms for enabling member efforts (i.e. the UK
environment and mainstream government’s Climate Finance
Develop regional investment
NDCs into national Accelerator program, Climate
plans
budgeting, public investment Finance Access Network,
programming, and medium- NAMA Facility) to leverage
term expenditure framework resources and skill sets

Design Project Information

Targeted consultation with
Notes (PINs)4 with periodic
Partnership members,
opportunities for country focal Organize peer-to-peer
particularly multilateral banks,
points to present these PINs to exchange on access to finance
as potential investors organize
potential investors at national
investment forums
and international platforms

Develop equitable investment

Support regional economic Strengthen engagement with
plans, national climate funds,
recovery plans (for example Coalition of Finance Ministers
and bankable projects at
EU-UK Africa Recovery Action for Climate Action on analytical
national, subnational, and
Plan, Africa-EU Green Recovery issues, particularly on enabling
sectoral levels; design and
Plan) and identify gaps in a market environment for NDC
deploy innovative financial
support investments.
instruments
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 28

TIERS

1. NATIONAL LEVEL 2. REGIONAL LEVEL 3. INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Coordinate partner support on

green recovery plans through Organize peer-to-peer
economic advisors in planning/ exchange on access to finance
finance ministries

Organize private sector

round table dialogues on
specific thematic areas in Update funding navigator
the Partnership’s country
engagement process

A key delivery mechanism for supporting members at the country level would be the rolling out of
embedded finance advisors in finance/sectoral ministries. This would provide capacity support for
policy, legal reforms for enabling the environment to increase access to finance, and the continuation
of Economic Advisory support to identify and further develop climate projects as means of economic
recovery.

Based on the above, the Partnership will develop a comprehensive strategy on how to further
contribute to enhanced access to finance and private sector engagement. The strategy development
will be led by Steering Committee members and presented to the Steering Committee in March 2021.

Expanding PINs
Going forward, the following new elements will be added to PINs:

• Estimated project cost

• Analysis of the most appropriate instruments to finance estimated cost compo-
nents of the project, with indicative potential sources of financing for each compo-
nent
• Identification of the estimated sources of project revenue generation and the
uses of revenues during the life of the project
• Proposal for economic incentives for different participants in the project, with
special emphasis on the private sector
• Project risks, with special emphasis on how the project cost and financial struc-
ture is designed to mitigate these risks
29 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

2.1.5
SUPPORT MAJOR EMERGING ECONOMIES (MEES)
IN NDC IMPLEMENTATION AND RAISING AMBITION

Developing countries, including Major Emerging Economies (MEEs), face the challenge of addressing
growing social and economic needs while reducing emissions and ensuring their economic
development. Together with industrialized countries, MEEs are key to advancing sustainable pathways
and achieving the goals set in the Paris Agreement, especially to keep global warming to 1.5°C/well
below 2°C. So far, however, the Partnership’s engagement with MEE members has been limited.

Seeing the need for a better alignment among those providing support and considering the experience
of MEEs as valuable counterparts for the overall objective of the NDC Partnership, the Steering
Committee created a task force to develop a strategy to engage MEEs. In line with the deepened
political engagement with major emerging economies (described in section 1.1), this strategy proposes
an approach for the Partnership to deepen the collaboration with MEE members and, ideally, bring
additional MEEs on board by addressing their needs.

The strategy builds on the Partnership’s core principle of supporting country-driven processes, including
responding to country members’ explicit requests. It highlights how established Partnership processes
and lessons learned can be adapted and/or reinforced to add value for the Partnership’s MEEs.

The inclusive approach of the Partnership provides opportunities for MEEs to mainstream NDC-related
support across sectors and leverage international support. In particular, based on existing formats for
exchange, the Partnership aims to facilitate high level interactions and overall alignment, increasing
knowledge sharing and providing enhanced country-driven support.

In close coordination with the interested Partnership members, the Support Unit could lead or co-lead
concerted efforts to highlight the added value of engaging through the Partnership. Upon expression of
interest from MEEs, a range of activities aimed at strengthening their engagement could be proposed,
sequenced as most relevant based on the country’s specific needs and members’ ongoing work.

These activities may include:

• Rapid assessment, analysis, and review of divison of labor amongst members in supporting
climate agenda, including mapping of ongoing support, preparation of country-specific narratives,
assignment of member high-level contacts, and preparation of a joint analysis.
• Outreach, definition of priorities, and planning activities, including responses to time-sensitive
requests, outreach at the country-level to ensure alignment and complementarity with key partners,
development of MEE Country Engagement Plans, and solicitation and coordination of support
through Partnership instruments.
• Facilitation and alignment of activities, including organization of joint high-level meetings between
MEE governments and members, exploration of targeted financing opportunities, and elaboration of
in- country coordination processes.
• Engagement broadening and knowledge sharing activities, including peer exchanges and
knowledge sharing convenings, thematic business cases, trade opportunities, and business fora.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 30

Acknowledging the complexity of MEEs requires specific and tailored approaches. Closely building
upon the significant in-country support already delivered by Partnership members, the Support Unit
will ensure that the presented MEE Engagement Strategy is operationalized and incorporated into the
existing Country Engagement processes. The Support Unit will build on members’ existing work and
climate diplomacy, and will facilitate a common approach to design Country Engagement plans with
three member MEEs (South Africa, Mexico, and Indonesia). It will also potentially plan for initiating
further engagement in other member MEEs.

COORDINATION MECHANISMS FOR INCLUSION

2.2
AND IMPACT

The NDC Partnership allows increased transparency and coordination of activities between
governments and partners. We will support member countries as they establish government-owned
coordination processes and mechanisms for climate and development action. We will spur stronger
stakeholder ownership and institutional coordination through enhanced consultation, strengthened
facilitation, increased support of in-country NDC coordination mechanisms, and improved
management of NDC Action Plans.

ENGAGE KEY GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL

2.2.1
LEADERS AND WHOLE-OF-SOCIETY

We will continue to be led by government focal points throughout our country engagement cycle. Guided
by them, we promote a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to climate action. This
will include active and continuous engagement of national and subnational governments. Inter-agency
collaboration will be supported through the deployment of embedded facilitators from the onset.

Members are expected to include key stakeholders in any NDC Partnership-related process, including
women, youth, indigenous communities, academia, civil society, the private sector, and subnational
actors, amongst others. These efforts will be led by government focal points and supported by
members, and could include:

• Inclusive and extensive consultative processes (in the form of sectoral/ministerial/development

partners/non-state actor working groups) during the updating of NDCs and the development and
enaction of NDC Action Plans.
• Engagement of Parliamentarians, particularly through Parliamentarian sub-committees for national
budget approval.
• Engagement of Central Bank representatives to identify fiscal incentive mechanisms for climate-
smart investment, as well as the design and deployment of innovative green financial instruments.
• Implementation of the NDC Partnership Gender Strategy and Youth Engagement Plan.
• Integration of subnational government needs and private sector opportunities in NDC Action Plans.
31 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

Consultative processes, where possible, will be based on existing country systems/processes, rather than
creating new ones.

STRENGTHEN NDC COORDINATION AND

2.2.2
GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS

Members value the Partnership’s consultative, participatory process and highlight the need for further
support on governance arrangements for coordinated NDC implementation. Multi-stakeholder
engagement and coordination between member countries and development partners has improved,
and the Partnership has provided opportunities and mechanisms for harmonizing existing and
initiating new donor coordination processes. We will continue to support existing governance and
coordination mechanisms at the national and global levels—and will support the creation of new
ones where needed—to jointly plan, share information, track, and implement NDCs. This will be
accomplished by:

At the country level with support from members:

• Supporting countries in updating legislation and guiding documents for the establishment or
strengthening of NDC governance mechanisms.
• Supporting multi-stakeholder convenings for NDC coordination mechanisms, including capacity
enhancement for inter-ministerial coordination.

At the global level, facilitated through the Support Unit:

• Organizing global quarterly calls for members to provide updates on NDC Partnership country
engagement.
• Hosting periodic global coordination calls on NDC implementation challenges and opportunities
and developing country-specific NDC Partnership quarterly progress reports.
• Providing access to the Online Partnership Plan Tool and the Knowledge Management System -
Knook for improved transparency and coordination on country level support and gaps.

Members have highlighted the critical role of in-country facilitators. These support coordination across
government and provide added capacity for tracking, planning, and mobilizing NDC support. The
Partnership (through its members), with a clear exit strategy, will extend embedded facilitation support
from one to three years, giving countries the ability to build the necessary systems and the capacity
needed to take over this role.

The Partnership, through the Support Unit, will also increase its efforts on the standardized and periodic
training of facilitators, as well as clearer government capacity building and transition plans.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 32

2.2.3 UPDATE AND MAINTAIN PARTNERSHIP PLANS

Partnership Plans or other NDC Action Plans help align support from implementing and development
partners and improve aid effectiveness. We will enhance their effectiveness through the following
member-led actions:

• Support countries as they develop, update, and/or refine Partnership Plans or NDC Action Plans in
line with the updated NDCs, taking into account progress in implementation and gender and youth
considerations.
• Provide technical assistance to mainstream key Partnership Plan deliverables into the medium-term
development plans.
• Based on a request from members to enhance transparency, roll out the interactive web-based
Online Partnership Plan tool that enables real-time updating, progress tracking, and country-level
reporting.
• Link the new Online Partnership Plan tool to the kNook to enable the rapid and current analysis of
trends across countries; this will inform members about trends in requests, identify and fill gaps in
support, and share lessons learned (see section 3.1.1).
• Organize periodic feedback exercises for Partnership Plans to ensure they are up to date and that
lessons and best practices are captured through knowledge and communication products. This
process will be informed by insights from requests and support across the Partnership’s work (see
section 3.1.1).

2.3 ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITY AND AMBITION OF

NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS
Increased climate action ambition is a key NDC Partnership goal. The Partnership will focus on ambition
by expanding its efforts on supporting rapid implementation and providing technical assistance for the
next round of NDC revisions.

2.3.1
PROMOTE AMBITION THROUGH RAPID
IMPLEMENTATION
Partnership Plan development and mobilization of resources for NDC implementation allows countries
to accelerate their actions and create a basis for greater ambition. Based on Country Engagement and
CAEP, the NDC Partnership, through its members, will:

• Support countries as they continually drive their NDC implementation.

• Provide support to update Partnership Plans based on enhanced NDCs after 2020.
33 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

• Fast track NDC implementation through objective two of CAEP support (this support will end in
October 2021).
• Provide support to develop or revise long-term strategies, when requested by countries, and ensure
their finalization so they can serve as the basis for next round of NDCs.
• In close collaboration with UNFCCC, provide capacity development support from 2021 onwards to
fulfill the requirement for countries to the Enhanced Transparency Framework in general, and the
submission of the first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) in 2024 in particular.
• Assist countries in preparing the first Global Stocktake in 2023 and ensure the outcomes are
integrated into the national planning, budgeting, and investment processes.
• Identify and share enhancement lessons and opportunities from across members to promote wider,
more ambitious climate action for the next revision cycle.

2.3.2 SUPPORT THE NEXT ROUND OF NDC UPDATING

Based on lessons learned from CAEP (e.g., key opportunities to raise ambition, consultation processes,
sequencing of activities, and co-benefits), a support package for the next round of NDC updates will
be developed to bring technical and financial support from members to meet needs identified by
countries.

The new support mechanism will be informed by an internal evaluation of CAEP, to be completed in
2021. Several refinements will be made:

• Provide more time: Support will be launched at least 36 months ahead of countries’ anticipated
submission dates.
• Focus on enhancement: CAEP offered support for both NDC enhancement (Objective 1) and
accelerating implementation (Objective 2). Future support will focus on the NDC enhancement.
• Clarify country requests: Improvements will be made to ensure requests are clearly articulated in
terms of support needs and how they fit within country plans for the NDC revision. Consultations
and workshops with countries and partners will clarify requests and finalize Terms of Reference, or
offer deliverables-based support categories. Coordinators will be put in place to ensure there is no
duplication of efforts and smooth coordination between development and implementing partners
and government counterparts.
• Match support to requests: The Support Unit will coordinate with partners earlier in the process
to ensure that NDC revision support is integrated with ongoing country engagement processes to
harmonize with existing mechanisms in place and reduce transaction costs.

The Steering Committee will consider in early 2023 what additional resources or actions may be needed
to support a strong round of NDC enhancements and increased ambition in 2025.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 34

3 LEARN, INFORM, AND INSPIRE

The NDC Partnership generates a vast and unique body of learning through its more than 180
members and extensive in-country engagement. Our expansive learning mission transcends our
immediate membership. We are always looking for trends and gaps so that members can focus
their actions in areas where country demand is high. Our systems enable us to respond flexibly as
new areas of country demand emerge. Our mission is to harness this unique repository of insights to
build a learning coalition as well as inform and inspire effective climate action. We are committed
to capturing, synthesizing, and sharing this repository of lessons within and beyond the Partnership.
This Work Program brings the analytical work of the Partnership into tighter alignment with country
engagement to generate greater impact.

3.1 LEARN: BUILD A LEARNING COALITION

The Partnership aims to be an expansive and adaptable learning coalition with faster, more effective,
and ambitious implementation. We generate and nurture learning among our members through
SECTION 3: LEARN, INFORM, AND INSPIRE

country requests, direct peer exchange, and monitoring and evaluation.

3.1.1
UNDERSTAND PRIORITIES FROM COUNTRY
REQUESTS AND GAPS IN MEMBER RESPONSES
The Partnership’s work yields many unique insights thanks to our close work with countries and
engagement of a wide array of implementing partners. We work to identify the most useful of these
insights to better understand country priorities and to allow members to respond to these priorities
through their support. We derive our insights through several channels.

• Examples derived directly from the Partnership’s work in countries. These are identified by the
Support Unit or suggested by members. Stories or products based on these examples are reviewed by
involved members and approved by the relevant country.
• Analysis of trends in requests and support based on the kNook, the Partnership’s knowledge
management system (see Box) conducted by the Support Unit or members.
• Deepening of the insights gained from the Partnership’s work through knowledge products from
members with deep expertise on the relevant thematic areas.
35 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

About the kNook

The kNook, the Partnership’s knowledge management system, is at the core of its
learning process and member engagement. As of September 2020, the kNook contains
well over 4,000 data points not captured in any other platform. It has been used by
23 members as well as the Support Unit and has generated around 50 analyses with
unique insights from the Partnership’s work. These analyses have been used to identify
trends and to address gaps in support.

The kNook will be strengthened to achieve more robust learning. The improved kNook
will be integrated with the Online Partnership Plan tool (see Section 2.2.3) to ensure
real-time updating and to increase the speed and efficient delivery of insights on
receipt of country requests. All requests as well as pledged and confirmed support will
be included. The kNook will be made more effective and accessible. All members can
access the kNook and training resources are available to help them use it effectively.
Planned improvements include:

• Refining the interface to improve usability as content expands and evolves.

• Refining the content and tagging structure to ensure Partnership knowledge is
being appropriately captured and relevant searches can be easily carried out.
• Developing training materials, including video tutorials and sample searches to
help new users.
• Improving access to analysis and reports generated from kNook by adding a library
feature.

The unique insights gained will be widely used by members and the Support Unit to inform the
programming of support so as to reinforce positive trends and fill gaps in country needed. They will also
inform the knowledge products and activities outlined in Section 3.2.
We prioritize lessons and stories that show:

• Significant action in NDC implementation or raised ambition.

• Activities that drive both climate action and development priorities.
• Clear added value from the Partnership’s work.
• Challenges faced by countries that provide useful lessons.
• Possibility for replication and scaling up.
• Activities and lessons that relate to the Focus Areas (see Box).
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 36

3.1.2 FOSTER PEER LEARNING

Members going through NDC implementation and enhancement processes face many similar
challenges and often benefit from sharing experiences and lessons learned. This approach allows
learning from both developed and developing countries. The Partnership supports this peer learning
among members through:

• Welcoming requests from countries for peer learning activities. These will be shared through the
normal country engagement process (see Section 2) and supported by members.
• Support for eight peer-to-peer meetings among developed and/or developing countries per year.
These regular peer learning opportunities are co-created by members and the Support Unit and
carried out in person where possible but virtually during periods of restricted travel.
• Conducting peer- and lesson-learning exchanges led by governments of major emerging
economies and encouraging them to use the Partnership as a platform to make major
announcements related to their climate commitments.
• Outcomes of peer-to-peer meetings will be assessed in part based on participating countries
presenting subsequent related requests for support to the Partnership via Request for Support
Letters or Partnership Plans (see Section 2).
• The Youth Forum described in the Youth Engagement Plan will provide a space for peer learning
among Partnership members and youth organizations and experts.

3.1.3
CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT THROUGH
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Comprehensive and regular monitoring and evaluation is central to the Partnership’s success. By
continuously tracking progress and learning how the Partnership can improve its consequent work,
we can maximize our global impact. As noted in the introduction, this Work Program is accompanied
by an M&E framework by which the Partnership will hold itself accountable for delivering its ambitious
goals. The 2021-2025 Work Program implementation will be strengthened to reach the goals and targets
established, particularly on the basis of the third-party mid-term review. This will include periodic
“Stop and Reflect” meetings with membership to gain feedback on what is working and what needs
improvement in the Partnership’s work.

3.2 INFORM: SHARE SOLUTIONS FOR ACTION

The Partnership informs climate action by making our resources, information, and insights widely
available and accessible. We empower members and other actors to more effectively pursue NDC
implementation and enhance ambition by making it easy to access information and resources,
including expertise from members and lessons learned directly through our work.
37 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

What are Focus Areas?

Focus Areas are topics of central importance to the Partnership’s mission and thus
priorities for shared learning. In 2020 they are:
• A whole-of-society approach, featuring major lessons from the Partnership’s
in-country work on climate and development, including how climate policy impacts
economic and social development, by engaging across government and wider so-
cial groups. This will include engagement with young people in line with the Youth
Engagement Plan.
• Gender equality in NDC design and implementation, based on Partnership experi-
ence in implementing the Gender Strategy.
• Finance mobilization from domestic and international sources. Central to this is
learning from Partnership work on aligning NDC action with post-COVID economic
recovery and green job creation.
• Raising ambition and NDC enhancement.
These focus areas will receive primary attention at Partnership events, peer exchanges,
and the Support Unit’s analysis and briefings for members to identify and fill gaps.
The Support Unit will also annually review focus areas with input from the Steering
Committee, basing this analysis on country demand. Other topics will also be the
subject of analysis based on member requests. The Support Unit will conduct
preliminary analysis of demand and support, and will highlight major questions to
members with relevant expertise for their further insight and response.

3.2.1 ENHANCE THE KNOWLEDGE PORTAL

The Knowledge Portal is the Partnership’s primary tool for bringing its vast and diverse range of
knowledge resources, including those of its members, to potential users. It includes:

• The Climate Toolbox, which helps users build capacity more efficiently by making it easier to find
relevant technical resources such as tools, guidance documents, help desks, and data sources.
• The Climate Finance Explorer, which facilitates access to multilateral climate funds and calls for
proposals to inform members of funding opportunities that can increase financial readiness and
enhance access to climate finance.
• The Good Practice Database, which brings together good practice case studies from multiple
members to make it easier to find examples of effective NDC action.
• Data modules, which make it easier to quickly access key information on NDC content, linkages with
SDGs, and historical emissions.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 38

While the Knowledge Portal is widely used across the climate community, it is more frequently visited by
development and implementing partners rather than by country governments directly—a trend observed
with other online platforms. Future development will be based on this observation. For instance, the
Climate Finance Explorer will share information on multilateral funds but will not aim to be the source
of country information on funding opportunities. This function will be taken over by a bulletin issued
by the Support Unit highlighting funding opportunities from members. The Support Unit will continue
to enhance the Knowledge Portal by soliciting and incorporating member resources. Members will
proactively share new knowledge products for inclusion in the Knowledge Portal and will be consistently
encouraged to promote its use. The Knowledge Portal will be enhanced with resources both about youth
engagement and aimed at equipping young people to engage in climate action. The Support Unit will
improve the user experience by creating an intuitive interface and routine updates. The Support Unit
will promote the Knowledge Portal through social media, spotlights on resources in its newsletter, and a
regular public podcast highlighting the Knowledge Portal’s array of resources.

SHARE COMPELLING LESSONS AND TRENDS

3.2.2
ACROSS THE PARTNERSHIP
Concrete and compelling stories demonstrating how countries have accelerated implementation and
raised ambition are vital for encouraging and informing further action. We will draw compelling stories
from our in-country work around the world and from the cross-cutting lessons learned through the
kNook and country work (see section 3.1.1). Members and the Support Unit will share lessons learned
with members and others who are driving or supporting climate and development action. We will share
compelling stories in a targeted fashion through:

• Partnership Briefings hosted by the Support Unit to share gaps and trends specifically for members.
• Webinars hosted by members or the Support Unit and aimed at broader audiences.
• Insight Briefs written and published by the Support Unit.
• Deeper analyses by expert members on selected topics (see section 3.1.1).
• A Thematic blog series.
• Expanding access to peer exchanges and trainings held by members.
• Linking to external processes (e.g. OECD Forums, China-led South-South learning); member-led
initiatives such as the Thematic Working Group on Agriculture, Food Security and Land Use; and
UNFCCC processes such as the Paris Committee on Capacity Building.
• Links through members to academic and research partners.

3.3 INSPIRE

Ambitious climate action globally depends on a sense of political momentum and of all countries pulling
together. Demonstrating clear action from countries and support from partners advocates for action by
showing that no country is being asked to move alone. At its best, this kind of visible leadership can create
a virtuous circle of raised ambition and more effective action in a “race to the top” as different actors come
39 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

to see a more sustainable future as desirable, achievable, and inevitable. The Partnership’s commitment
to inform within and beyond its rapidly expanding membership also serves to inspire greater action. Our
actions are guided by a multi-modal communications and visibility strategy crafted and implemented
by the Support Unit in collaboration with members. We use concrete examples, tailored messages,
and regional and thematic champions across new and traditional media to demonstrate possibilities
at the political level. The Support Unit and member communication teams work together, where
feasible and appropriate, to coordinate messaging, events, and visibility opportunities; leverage each
other’s platforms; and construct joint campaigns around key issues. Our coherent and active approach
encourages a supportive political environment for raised ambition and accelerated implementation.

3.3.1
EXPAND THE PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION REPORT’S
REACH
The Partnership in Action (PiA) report, our flagship annual publication, will support learning and
inspire enhanced ambition. The re-imagined immersive and multimedia PiA will:

• Profile the Partnership’s impact and progress across major climate and development topics.
• Feature compelling examples of champion countries in their efforts to drive NDC implementation
and raise ambition.
• Profile actions of implementing and development partners.
• Spotlight clear links between improved processes, coordination, and outcomes.
• Highlight progress and pathways to address challenges against the Monitoring and Evaluation
Framework.
• Share the voices and experiences of all categories of members through stories, data, and other
relevant means to demonstrate the Partnership’s impact.
• Showcase learning among members.

The PiA will be an online publication incorporating a range of multimedia resources and will link to
compelling stories and information from across the Partnership’s work.

3.3.2
SHOWCASE THE PARTNERSHIP THROUGH
OUR WEBSITE
The Partnership’s website will be upgraded in 2021 and its functionality will be enhanced based on
findings from a survey of users. In addition to housing the Knowledge Portal, the website will include:

• Country pages bringing together the latest information on Partnership action in each country and
other relevant data and resources.
• Thematic pages covering the Partnership’s insights on specific topics, particularly the focus areas
(see section 3.1).
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 40

• The Country Engagement Online Tool—a learning resource on the Partnership website that helps
users understand the country engagement process.
• Blogs, news items, and the Partnership’s newsletter.
• Enhanced visual and multimedia material.

3.3.3 GROW THE PARTNERSHIP’S AUDIENCE

Key audiences for the Partnership’s work include:

• Institutional members.
• Member governments (political and technical levels).
• Regional organizations (political and technical levels).
• In-country and relevant regional partners, namely sub-national bodies, the private sector, civil
society, and others.
• Prospective investors in NDC implementation, including private sector organizations.
• We also reach targeted segments of our global audience through regional and thematic
champions—respected individuals in particular fields or communities who can be powerful voices for
Partnership messages to inspire action among external partners.

We will expand the reach of the Partnership’s communications through active use of social media using a
dedicated hashtag: #PartnershipInAction. We will also raise the Partnership’s profile through active media
engagement including op-ed placement.

3.3.4 SUPPORT WORLD-CLASS EVENTS

We amplify our messages and the Partnership’s profile by hosting and supporting major events. These
will include:

• A major presence at UNFCCC COP meetings and regional climate meetings, including a Partnership
COP pavilion hosting member events.
• Events at development and climate meetings, including the United Nations General Assembly, the
High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the World Bank Group Spring and Annual
meetings, OECD Forums, and others, including events outside the climate arena.
• Political-level Partnership representation by members participating at the ministerial/head of
organization level in processes such as the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.
• Speaking roles at major events through the Co-Chairs, members, and Support Unit representatives.

Members will seek opportunities to engage the Partnership and highlight its work in events they lead. The
Support Unit will engage effectively with members in collaborating on events and will seek opportunities
to profile the members’ work. The Partnership will also engage across many smaller events on different
themes and regions. The Support Unit will assist in the promotion of member events and messages that
involve or support Partnership action.
 41 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

4 SUPPORT UNIT CAPACITY

According to the 2018-2020 Work Program Mid Term Review: “At present the Support Unit is overly
stretched and the quality of support may drop unless additional staff are brought in.” Two factors
are driving a rapid growth in demand on Support Unit capacity: growth in country requests and new
responsibilities.

GROWTH IN COUNTRY DEMAND

The existing Support Unit structure is staffed to provide coordination and matchmaking between,
on an average, 60 developing country members and 30 developed, institutional, and associate
members per year. Current demand, as of September 2020, already outstrips this level and continues
to grow. Although members carry out the vast majority of actions, key roles in facilitation, scoping,
and other functions continue to fall to the Support Unit. We expect to see participation grow to 80
engaged developing countries and 50 developed, institutional, and associate members per year.
Estimated capacity need for every new member country requesting for support is .50 FTE. With active
institutional, associate, and developed country members, requiring coordination support, FTE need
per member varies from 0.10 to 0.25.

NEW RESPONSIBILITIES
SECTION 4: SUPPORT UNIT CAPACITY

In addition to the rapid growth in core responsibilities, the Support Unit continues to be allocated
new roles. Major initiatives, such as CAEP and support for Economic Advisors, bring substantial
demand for Support Unit capacity. The Gender Strategy and Youth Engagement Plan both allocate
significant new responsibilities to the Support Unit. Administration of technical assistance on behalf
of countries adds significant management responsibilities. More new initiatives, such as the Major
Emerging Economies Plan, will increase pressure on the Support Unit for considerable organizational,
technical, and administrative inputs.

New initiatives will need to be evaluated on a case by case basis and will require modifications to
the Support Unit’s operational budget. Staffing will be managed where possible through short-term
consultants, but longer-term roles will require full-time staff.

Once the Work Program is approved by the Steering Committee, the Support Unit will prepare a
budget based on the tasks and targets included in the Work Programs and its M&E Framework.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 42

THE WAY FORWARD

Following three years of successful growth and establishing its core processes, this Work Program will
set a long-term path for the Partnership in support of the Paris Agreement’s five-year NDC enhancement
cycle. It will combine a committed membership, more effective mechanisms for cooperation, enhanced
technical assistance capacity, a deep learning capacity, far-reaching communications, and enhanced links to
finance and investment. It is the basis for the Partnership to play a growing role in supporting its members
as they raise ambition in the global fight against climate change.
43 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

ANNEX 1: MONITORING AND

EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
The Monitoring & Evaluation Framework (MEF) for the 2021-2025 NDC Partnership Work Program
outlines a set of key result statements, indicators, and targets to track progress on implementation.
The MEF is structured around the Partnership’s Theory of Change which maps out necessary
preconditions and building blocks for how change is proposed to take place. Through the MEF, the
Partnership is able to monitor and assess the extent to which the Partnership is delivering on results;
track progress on the Partnership’s efforts and those of its Members at both the country and the global
level; and make evidence-based course adjustments as needed to achieve Work Program targets. A key
MEF goal is to support continuous learning to improve the programmatic and operational design of
Partnership initiatives and support to members.

KEY MONITORING AND EVALUATION POINTS

Monitoring: The Partnership’s Support Unit will monitor activities and progress towards output level
results on a regular basis using the key performance indicators (KPIs) outlined in the matrix below. It
will also seek periodic feedback and input from Government Focal Points, NDC Partnership In-Country
Facilitators, and Implementing and Development Partners (IP/DPs) through, for example, annual
member surveys. KPI data and information will be aggregated at the global level to enable the review of
collective NDC Partnership progress. The Support Unit will report on progress against indicators at the
Spring Steering Committee meeting and will provide an overview on progress at the Annual Members
Forum during COP.

Review and Evaluation: The Partnership will commission an independent mid-term review (MTR)
during the second quarter of 2023 and a final evaluation for the 2021-2025 period during the second
quarter of 2026. The MTR’s purpose is to identify areas of significant progress to build on, as well as
implementation gaps and areas for improvement to inform possible Work Program and MEF revision
for the remaining half of the Work Program. The final evaluation’s goal is to analyze and draw lessons
on 2021-2025 Work Program implementation to support more strategic directions for the Partnership
beyond 2026. The final evaluation will assess the Work Program using the lens of five key standard
evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 44

Final Evaluation of Steering Committee Steering Committee Independent

2018-2020 Work Program Progress Report Progress Report Terminal Evaluation

MAY-
JUNE SPRING SPRING Q2

2021 2023 2024 2026

SPRING SPRING Q2 SPRING

2021 2022 2023 2025

Steering Committee Steering Committee Independent Steering Committee

Progress Report Progress Report Mid-Term Review Progress Report

RESULTS MATRIX AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Throughout the Work Program implementation, the Support Unit will track two overarching
membership indicators that can provide a snapshot of a well-functioning, collaborative partnership.
The first is the total number of Partnership members, disaggregated by countries, international
institutions, and associate members. The second is the aggregate number of members and non-
members who are engaged in Partnership activities, which can include providing financial or technical
support, receiving technical assistance through the country engagement process, or contributing to
knowledge sharing and learning activities among members, in addition to other types of contributions
to the Partnership. These indicators will be tracked in parallel to the data outlined below.

Once the Work Program is adopted in December 2020, additional aspects of the monitoring and
evaluation (M&E) framework will be finalized during the first quarter of 2021. This includes baseline data
and targets. Selected indicators currently list these as to be developed or confirmed (TBD/TBC). For
some outcome and output level indicators, data reported at the close of the 2018-2020 Work Program
in December will form the basis for baseline data and targets in the 2021-2025 Work Program. For the
three impact level indicators, the Partnership will rely on UNFCCC and other internationally-recognized
data sources to report on these. It is important to note that reported data at the impact level will be
subject to a time lag for data on emissions, adaptation and climate financing, and investments. Finally, a
dashboard focused on impact and outcome level indicators will also be presented in Q1 2021 to provide
a snapshot of overall progress.
45 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

BASELINE TARGET
INDICATOR (JAN. 2021) (DEC. 2025)

Countries successfully reduce emissions, improve climate resilience, and advance sustainable
IMPACT: development, with strong international support, consistent with the achievement of the Paris
1.1 Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

# of member countries with reduced GHG emissions reported between

1.1.1 2021 and 2025 (compared to baselines defined in their respective NDCs)
TBD 70

# of member countries with enhanced adaptive capacity, strengthened

1.1.2 resilience, or reduced vulnerability by 2025 (compared to 2020 levels)
TBD 70

# of implementing and development partner members who have

1.1.3 increased climate-related financing and investments from 2020 levels
TBD 45

OUTCOME: By 2025, member countries are on track or ahead of schedule to implement their NDCs with
2.1 Partnership support

% of member countries receiving Partnership support who are on track

or ahead of schedule in meeting their NDC mitigation and adaptation
targets
2.1.1 a. Is the country’s emission trajectory in line with achievement of its TBD 60%
target by 2030? (yes/no)
b. Is the country on track to meet its adaptation targets by 2030? (yes/no)

# of Partnership interventions leading to sectoral transformational

2.1.2 change (transformational change defined in terms of scalability, TBD TBD
sustainability, critical mass, GHG Emission reduction potential)

OUTCOME: Member countries communicate new NDCs, reflecting greater quality and ambition, in line with Paris
2.2 Agreement goals, by 2025 with Partnership support, inspiring and informing others

100%
(NB: 100%
of member
% of member countries receiving Partnership support that submit an countries receiving
2.2.1 updated NDC with improved quality5 by 2025
0% Partnership support
that submitted
a 2020 NDC did
so with improved
quality)

70%
(NB: TBD%
of member
% of member countries receiving Partnership support that submit an countries receiving
2.2.2 updated NDC with increased ambition6 by 2025
0% Partnership support
that submitted a
2020 NDC did so
with increased
ambition)
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 46

BASELINE TARGET
INDICATOR (JAN. 2021) (DEC. 2025)

INTER-
Implementing and Development Partners accelerate and coordinate support so that member countries
MEDIARY have the capacity and resources needed to implement and update their NDCs using a whole-of-society
OUTCOME: approach
3.1

% of KPIs supported by members and non-members per NDC Action

3.1.1 Plan
50% 70%

Total USD value of assistance provided to member countries by a. USD 0.7 a. USD 1.5
implementing and development partners within the Partnership’s billion billion
3.1.2 framework (tracked annually)
b. TBD b. USD 10
a. Technical assistance
b. Project financing (grants only) billion

# of member major emerging economies (MEE) being supported

through engagement facilitated by the Partnership. MEE engagement
a. 5 a. 10
3.1.3 is defined as:
b. 7 b. 15
a. Partnership members responding to ad-hoc requests for support
b. Systematic country engagement under the MEE Strategy

% of member countries receiving Partnership support reporting:

a. Increased capacity and resources for NDC implementation
3.1.4 b. Improved whole of society approaches due to Partnership 60% 80%
facilitation

# of knowledge products developed or activities conducted from

3.1.5 members based on requests from member countries or on gaps TBD 75
identified by Partnership analysis

INTER-
MEDIARY Member countries have integrated NDC mitigation and adaptation targets into national and subnational
OUTCOME: development policies, plans, budgets, and recovery plans
3.2

% of member countries receiving Partnership support that have

3.2.1 integrated NDC targets into the next cycle of national/subnational/ 30% 60%
sectoral development plans and/or budgets

# of member countries supported by the Partnership in which low

carbon and climate resilient investment projects are mainstreamed in
3.2.2 the national plan/budget (at both the national and
TBD TBD
subnational level)
47 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

BASELINE TARGET
INDICATOR (JAN. 2021) (DEC. 2025)

# of member countries receiving Partnership support that have

3.2.3 integrated NDC priorities into economic recovery plans
33 TBD

INTER-
MEDIARY Member countries receive increased investment flows towards climate action
OUTCOME:
3.3

# of investment projects financed through the members of the

Partnership (disaggregated by adaptation and mitigation), categorized by:
3.3.1 a. National public sector and blended finance (national and TBD 150
international public and private sector)
b. Private sector

% of member countries receiving Partnership support who have

3.3.2 improved their domestic enabling environments
TBD TBD

OUTPUT Implementing and Development Partner members have the capacity and resources to respond with
4.1 speed and flexibility to requests from countries through the Partnership

# of partners that have aligned country programming frameworks with 30 (further 50

disaggregation
country needs identified through NDC Action Plans7:
4.1.1 a. Development partners will be
provided by
b. Implementing partners (disaggregated by members/non-members) Q1 of 2021)

OUTPUT Member countries have results-based, equitable, and inclusive NDC Action Plans and investment plans
4.2 in place, aligned with development and recovery plans

# of Partnership supported NDC implementation and/or investments

plans endorsed by government a. 40 a. 60
a. New action plans b. 0 b. 30
4.2.1 b. Revised action plans c. 6 c. 25
c. New Investment Plans
d. 0 d. 10
d. Revised Investment Plans

% of Partnership supported NDC Action Plans and investment plans

aligned with: a. 80% a. 100%
4.2.2 a. Development plans b. NA b. 100%
b. Recovery plans c. TBD c. 100%
c. Addis Ababa Financing Framework
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 48

BASELINE TARGET
INDICATOR (JAN. 2021) (DEC. 2025)

% of member countries receiving Partnership support that have 83% 100%

4.2.3 developed NDC Action Plans which are gender sensitive, gender aware, (estimated
or gender responsive8 TBC)

OUTPUT Member countries have participatory NDC coordination mechanisms and resources for inclusive and
4.3 transparent NDC implementation and updating

% of member countries receiving Partnership support that have

70% 100%
engaged key stakeholder groups in NDC planning and implementation
4.3.1 consultation (disaggregated by representatives from sub-national
(estimated
TBC)
entities, the national gender agency, private sector, and youth groups)

50% 90%
% of member countries receiving Partnership support with facilitators
4.3.2 supported by members for a minimum 3-year period
(estimated
TBC)

OUTPUT Increased country access to knowledge and capacity development

4.4

# of cases in which Partnership support inspired or influenced

4.4.1 improved NDC implementation, raised ambition, or led to a follow up TBD 40
action

# of development and implementing partners that provided member

4.4.2 countries with new or additional knowledge or knowledge-based TBD 30
capacity development through Partnership engagement

186 per 223 per

4.4.3 # of media hits and instances of coverage
year year
49 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

BASELINE TARGET
INDICATOR (JAN. 2021) (DEC. 2025)

OUTPUT Improved enabling environment established, and public and private finance providers mobilized
4.5

4.5.1 % of PINs attracting financing in any given year TBD 70%

# of embedded advisors supported by members in (i) ministries of a. 1 a. 10

planning/finance, and (ii) sectoral ministries, disaggregated by: b. 20
b. 3
4.5.2 a. # of major emerging economies
c. 50:50
b. # of other countries c. 100%
c. % of advisors disaggregated by gender men

OUTPUT Implementing and Development Partners’ use of Partnership data and insights to program support in
4.6 alignment with NDC Action Plans

# of implementing and development partners that use Partnership

4.6.1 data and insights (from kNook, peer exchanges, knowledge products, or TBD 20
the Knowledge Portal) to program support for NDC Action Plans
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 50

ANNEX 2: RISK MATRIX

This risk register aims to identify potential risks associated with the three key sections of the Work
Program. The identified risks and their probabilities will be tracked and adjusted over time.

DESCRIPTION PROBABILITY IMPACT

TYPE OF RISK RISK MITIGATION PLAN
OF RISK (H/M/L) (H/M/L)

For climate-related projects,

programs, and investments,
partners will accelerate the
planning and preparation
phase.

Partners will also respond to

requests for support primarily
with new or realigned support.
Partners will specify the scope
The support committed
of their support in Partnership
by partners is delivered
Plans and other Partnership
Delivery and with significant delays
H M mechanisms, allowing
Delay Risk and does not fully meet
for quick identification of
the needs of the country
remaining gaps. New Pool
requests.
Funding Mechanism of the
Partnership will allow to fulfill
additional gaps in support.

Support Unit tracks progress

and reports challenges to
the Steering Committee.
Members keep the Support
Unit informed of progress with
implementation.

NDC Action Plans are

developed, validated,
and launched, but do
not attract adequate
support and pose
Implementation
challenges in regular L M 70
Risk and coordinated
tracking, and countries
question their
usefulness for resource
mobilization.

The Support Unit keeps

partners regularly informed
about in-country engagement
progress and other relevant
developments, through a
Partners and countries
monthly update email and
are insufficiently
Coordination bi-monthly partner update
coordinated to deliver M H
Risk calls and quarterly reports
effectively on NDC
and knowledge exchanges.
implementation.
Partners improve coordination
between country offices,
regional offices and NDC
Partnership Focal Points at the
HQ level.
51 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

DESCRIPTION PROBABILITY IMPACT

TYPE OF RISK RISK MITIGATION PLAN
OF RISK (H/M/L) (H/M/L)

The Partnership supports

developing country
members in establishing and
strengthening in-country
Partners and countries
coordination mechanisms,
are insufficiently
Coordination including through sustained
coordinated to deliver M H
Risk (cont’d) funding for at least several
effectively on NDC
years of operation if the
implementation.
need exists. In-country
facilitators further support the
government on partner and
inter-ministerial coordination.

The Partnership doubles efforts

in converting NDC Action Plans
into Investment Plans and
aligning NDC implementation
with core development
Global economic planning and budgeting
turmoil may negatively processes. Members fast track
impact ability to their support to implement
attract investment green recovery plans.
Investment for transformational
shifts in key sectors (i.e. M H Members further step up
Risk and make faster and larger
energy, agriculture)
and reduce resources investments on projects that
for ODA and climate directly support delivering
finance. on NDC targets, including
blended finance mechanisms
to crowd-in private finance. The
Partnership further strengthens
engagement of the private
sector in the Partnership’s
country engagement process.

Partners increase efforts to

engage key players within their
organization/government beyond
the climate or sustainable
Countries and partners
development department and
consider climate change
build further understanding of
as a standalone issue
linkages between climate change
that can be dealt with
impacts and opportunities and
separately from sectoral
economic development and
and economic priorities,
sectoral priorities, including as
and thus this can
Climate as a part of support for green recovery
become of lesser priority
strategies.
Non-Priority especially in challenging M M
Risk times. Countries and
Countries ensure active Focal
partners fail to bring
Point contacts from the Ministry
together NDCs and
of Finance, Economy, Planning
SDGs in a common
or Investment, and ensure that
framework, resulting in
both Focal Point Ministries
potential coordination
engage relatively equally with
challenges and resource
the Partnership. In-country
inefficiency.
engagement now includes
additional focus on engaging
Central Bank representatives and
parliamentarians, among others.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 52

DESCRIPTION PROBABILITY IMPACT

TYPE OF RISK RISK MITIGATION PLAN
OF RISK (H/M/L) (H/M/L)

Countries and partners From the early stage of

consider climate change engagement with the
as a standalone issue Partnership, countries are
that can be dealt with encouraged to bring NDCs,
separately from sectoral SDGs, NAPs, the Financing for
and economic priorities, Development Agenda, and
and thus this can other key strategic climate-
Climate as a become of lesser priority related documents together
Non-Priority especially in challenging M M in a common framework,
Risk (cont’d) times. Countries and linked directly to national
partners fail to bring development plans, medium/
together NDCs and long-term strategies, and
SDGs in a common budgeting frameworks. The
framework, resulting in Partnership supports countries
potential coordination on the integration of NDCs into
challenges and resource development and sectoral plans,
inefficiency. and COVID-19 recovery.

The Support Unit maintains a

well-functioning CRM system,
suggests that every member
has day-to-day contact persons
Changes in Focal in addition to Focal Points that
Points of countries and receive regular Partnership
institutions can result in information, and follows up
delays and interruptions with those members that are
of members’ plans generally not responsive or have
for collaboration only a single contact point.
Operational with the Partnership.
Moreover, frequent Focal Points do not generally
and Political changes in countries’
M M
hold political positions; however,
Risk political leadership shifts may occur. Support Unit
impacts continuity of staff and engaged members
engagement with the maintain close relationships
Partnership and may with working level staff in Focal
shift country priorities Point ministries.
related to climate
change. Members and Support Unit
will work together to ensure
continued involvement with
new governments in the
Partnership’s processes.

The Partnership focuses on

facilitating access to finance
as part of its 2021-2025 Work
The support needs of
Program, including through a
countries greatly exceed
Expectation dedicated Finance Strategy.
the amount of support M H
Risk Countries will continue to
partners can finance and
be encouraged to focus and
deliver.
prioritize requests so support
can be directed to priorities and
gaps.
53 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

DESCRIPTION PROBABILITY IMPACT

TYPE OF RISK RISK MITIGATION PLAN
OF RISK (H/M/L) (H/M/L)

Partners commit to flexibility

and speed in providing support,
and further increasing funds
to address country requests,
including through technical
The support needs of
assistance, project financing,
countries greatly exceed
Expectation and investment. Members
the amount of support M H
Risk (cont’d) will work together to crowd
partners can finance and
in private sector investments
deliver.
and further optimize the use of
resources.

Members and Support Unit

manage expectations.

The kNook will link to the

online Partnership Plan tool to
ensure continuous updating.
Partners are encouraged and
offered regular trainings to use
The data and analysis kNook directly. Members will
kNook and other engage with the Support Unit to
Quality Risk Partnership insights are ensure that their expert insights
M M
insufficient to inform shape Partnership knowledge
accelerated member products.
action in practice.
Members step up to produce
relevant high-quality analysis,
including in response to
knowledge needs identified
through the Partnership.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 54

ANNEX 3: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

INTERNAL NDC PARTNERSHIP TERMS

Terms Abbr. Definition

Support Unit The NDC Partnership’s Secretariat

Country Engagement The Partnership’s work stream that coordinates support requests and in-
CE
(team) country NDC implementation

The Partnership’s workstream that captures and distills lessons learned

Knowledge and
K&L from in-country work, the Partnership’s knowledge management
Learning (team)
system, and its broad network of institutions.

The Partnership’s governing body, which is made up of representatives

Steering Committee SC of member developing and developed country governments and
institutions. SC members are periodically rotated.

The two rotating chairs of the SC, represented by one developing and
Co-Chairs
one developed country that serve for two years.

Country Members Countries that are NDC Partnership members

International institutions, including multilateral banks, that are NDC

Institutional Members
Partnership members.

Non-state actors that do not engage in profit-seeking enterprises and are

Associate Members
NDC Partnership members.

Work Program WP This document is the 2nd version of the Partnership’s WP.

Climate Action An NDC Partnership offering designed to deliver targeted, fast-track

Enhancement CAEP support to countries to enhance the quality of, increase the ambition of,
Package and implement nationally determined contributions.

Technical Assistance
TAF Fund established under CAEP to support country requests.
Fund

Tool to organize a country’s NDC priority activities and match them with
Partnership Plans
Partnership member support and in-country stakeholders.
55 WORK PROGRAM | 2021-2025

Knowledge Nook kNook The Partnership Knowledge Management System.

The Partnership’s flagship publication. This annual publication features

Partnership in Action PiA
some of the Partnership’s most impactful work.

Entities or individuals identified and approved by the country

In-Country
government, serving as liaisons between the country and the NDC
Facilitation
Partnership and coordinating the implementation of the NDC Action Plan.

CLIMATE ACTION TERMS

Terms Abbr. Definition

Major Emerging
High GHG emitters with advanced or large emerging economies.
Economies

Policy approaches that effectively leverage a government’s full capacity,

Whole-of-
i.e. ministries, departments, or similar bodies directly or indirectly
Government
involved in climate change responses.

Policy approaches that include representatives from civil-society,

Whole-of-Society academia, the private sector, various identity groups, or other groups at
various stages of consultation or other processes.

Nature Based Actions for societal challenges that are inspired by processes and
NBS
Solutions functioning of nature (nature-basedsolutions.com).

Nationally Determined Each country’s post-2020 climate actions, as established under the Paris
NDC
Contribution Agreement (UNFCCC).

A country providing official financing administered with the promotion

Development
DP of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as an
Partner
objective.

Any partner, member or non-member, that provides support to country

Implementing Partner IP
requests through the Partnership.

Non-sovereign actors within a country. Includes state- and local-

Subnational Actors level governments and other organizations (public and private) not
representing the national level.
 NDCPARTNERSHIP.ORG 56

ENDNOTES
1. A plan that outlines prioritized objectives and outputs, set by the government to achieve country NDC goals. The Plan can be
used to ease planning, coordination, and the tracking of NDC implementation progress, as well as for resource mobilization.
In some member countries, the Partnership Plan may have another name (e.g. NDC Implementation Plan or NDC Action
Plan).
2. See the introductory section “A Guide to this Work Program” for a definition of NDC Action Plans.
3. Support for a total of 1,063 activities was requested by countries. 796 of these have confirmed support through CAEP. Some
activities, due to their large scope, are receiving support from multiple partners with funding from partners and from TAF. In
these instances, TAF was used to supplement support where gaps remained unfilled within activities.
4. PINs are designed to give more exposure and provide additional information on projects included in Request for Support
Letters, Partnership Plans, and other planning instruments for NDC implementation. PINs capture specific gap areas as iden-
tified by countries, where no specific support has been mobilized. These will serve as a step towards access to finance and
can be considered as blueprints for countries to replicate from. Members are expected to take the lead role in the design and
implementation of PINs, with the Support Unit surfacing needs and matchmaking.
5. Improving NDC quality means ensuring targets are based on strong underlying data; are detailed, achievable, and verifiable;
and are developed under an inclusive and transparent process. Countries may develop more detailed action plans, including
sector-specific plans, with outcomes, costing, financing, governance, and the use of robust methodology (scenario-based
modelling); ensuring that targets are strategically aligned with national policy and LTS; including or strengthening mech-
anisms for monitoring and oversight; or including additional information on vulnerabilities, gaps, and barriers to inform
adaptation planning. Countries may engage a wider range of stakeholders to ensure that NDCs are realistic, implementable,
and inclusive and they may build the capacity to better develop and implement NDCs.
6. Raising NDC ambition means strengthening mitigation or adaptation targets and actions over time. Countries may raise
ambition by strengthening emissions reduction (including addition of sector-specific targets), or by broadening the scope to
include wider coverage of sectors or gases. Countries may also raise ambition by moving from conditional to unconditional
targets, shortening timelines, adding policies and measures, or adding adaptation targets.
7. NDC Action Plans in this document refers to national government-owned plans outlining how a country will implement or
enhance their NDC, supported by the Partnership. In this matrix, these instruments include, but are not limited to, Partner-
ship Plans (PPs), Request for Support Letters (RSLs), Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) support, and economic
advisory support (EA).
8. An NDC implementation plan (or Partnership Plan) is considered gender sensitive when it considers gender norms but can
better address gender gaps and inequalities in their actions; gender aware when it considers gender norms and relations
and addresses at least one gender inequality by establishing a specific target to benefit women and men; and gender
responsive when it considers gender norms and relations, and propose a series of actions to redress inequalities between
women and men.
NDC PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT UNIT
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