Watering the NDCs & NAPs

This is the last COP to make a solid case for the importance of water in the next generation of NDCs ahead of their submissions in February 2025. This Thematic Day will allow for the exchange of experiences among Parties to the Paris Agreement and lessons learned by organizations on how to strategically and programmatically ensure that water is well reflected in national climate commitments and plans.

The thematic day also addresses opportunities and challenges facing countries in preparing their NDCs, including issues related to cross-sectoral coordination and the articulation of priorities and needs by national actors and the development community. A review of technical tools and digital platforms will also be shared to help reinforce capacity for integrating water in NDCs and NAPs, and promote coherence across global and national commitments, including the three Rio Conventions and upcoming Water Action Decade conferences.

Water is a connector. COP29 can make the case for including water in the next generation of NDCs to advance national mitigation and adaptation objectives. Water also support coherence across multiple policy instruments and commitment. While Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are due for submission by February 2025, the first round of Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) are due in December 2024 under the Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework, and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) due by the end of 2025. There needs to be coherence in the use of these national policy documents to set measurable, time-bound and quantitative targets accompanied by baseline data.

In tandem, Climate COP29 is held just after the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 and just before the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP 16. We need to connect NDCs to global environmental and sustainable development frameworks, such as the SDGs and the Ramsar Convention Investigate and state how water-related measures and targets might productively interact with ongoing SDG-related activities and exploit any possible co-benefits of these interactions. Establish long-term strategies to direct commitments made in NDCs and coordinate their relation to other national and international frameworks.

The integrated and sustainable management of water resources and delivery of water services for all is a key factor addressed at these three Rio conventions. Parties to these Conventions should thus aim to ensure coherence in their commitments across these three Rio Conventions through integrated strategies and climate-resilient pathways that recognize water as a connector across these conventions and across sectors.

Objective

Water in climate policies and instruments: Creating coherence and synergy in climate action for water

Why we need to water the NDCs and NAPs

Water is a connecting element across the Rio-Trio conventions brining the processes closer together and multiplying benefits and collective efforts to achieve global goals

Elevating water, including access to water and sanitation in climate planning is essential to enhancing cross benefits across, food, biodiversity and ecosystems strengthening national efforts in climate action and enhancing synergies.

Watering the NDCs & NAPs

Objective

Why we need to water the NDCs and NAPs

Events with this Theme

Regional reflections: Watering the NDCs and NAPs

High-level Panel on Watering the NDCs

Interactive Tools for Watering the NDCs and NAPs

All themes

Peace, Security & Health

Urban Water Resilience

Watering the NDCs & NAPs

Achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation

Innovation

Resilient Mitigation

Collective Action Agenda: Locally Led Adaptation and Multilevel Governance / Building transformational resilience: Systems approaches for climate and water management

Water-resilient Food Systems

Nature, Biodiversity, Ecosystems