Nationally Determined Contributions

The landmark Paris Agreement established the long-term goal of limiting the increase in average global temperature to 1.5-2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This safe threshold would reduce the impact and risks of climate change significantly. Each signatory to the Paris Agreement is required to establish country actions and commitments, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Countries are obligated to submit their NDCs every five years to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. With each round of updates (e.g. 2020, 2025, 2030), subsequent NDCs are meant to be progressively more ambitious.

As part of its support to countries, the CSF helps with the enhancement and implementation of their NDCs. This includes strengthening institutional capacities, policies, coordination, planning, financing and investments.

Long-Term Strategies

A long-term strategy (LTS) outlines a roadmap for a country to achieve decarbonization in alignment with the international goal of capping global temperature rise at 1.5°C. It aims to enhance climate resilience, prevent expensive stranded assets, and ensure a smooth transition across all economic and societal sectors.

An LTS is developed through intensive, country-led stakeholder dialogue, technical modeling and analysis to define specific sectoral transformations and investment plans to transition to a resilient, net zero future. It can act as a crucial benchmark for development planning and policy changes, as well as inform the development and enhancement of nearer-term NDCs.

Infographic of the 5 stages in LTS Development

Infographic: Five stages of LTS Development 

NDC and LTS Support

The World Bank’s overarching blueprint for climate action - the Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025 includes a commitment to support the preparation and implementation of our client countries NDCs and LTSs. It is also consistent with a commitment to support countries with low-carbon, climate-resilient development pathways, aligned with the Paris Agreement. 

The NDC/LTS Program supports countries to develop their long-term strategies and to strengthen their nearer-term NDC targets and measures, effectively mobilize climate action, improve resilience, scale up climate finance and increase or enhance ambitions in each successive, five-year round. To harness global expertise and collaboration for countries developing their LTSs, the NDC/LTS Program is supplemented by the new Multilateral Development Banks Long-Term Strategies Program

Partnerships

The program leverages external partnerships to support countries with capacity-building, and improve cross-sectoral coordination among government stakeholders, donors, and private sector entities. These partnerships include collaborating with the NDC Partnership (NDCP) to support NDC 3.0 requests through its Global Call. As a global coalition of 120 developed and developing countries and nearly 100 institutions, NDCP supports countries to deliver on ambitious climate action to help achieve the Paris Agreement, advancing sustainable development. The program also works with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Building on the NDC Support Facility

The program builds on the success of the NDC Support Facility, a multi-donor trust fund established in 2016 to assist countries in implementing NDCs pledged under the Paris Agreement. Providing agile and timely support to countries and proactive collaboration with the NDC Partnership (NDCP) were at the top of the winning lessons. The NDC Support Facility evolved into the Climate Support Facility’s NDC/LTS Program in 2021.

Impacts and Results

Almost 50 CSF grants support NDC implementation and enhancement and LTS development. Most have economy-wide components, but some are sector specific and aim at systems transitions in agriculture, food, water and land and energy. They have also directly influenced the design of new climate lending operations. In fact, they have demonstrated that small investments can significantly increase the climate consciousness of World Bank lending operations. The examples below demonstrate the range of country-level impact:

  • Paraguay, Colombia and Mexico - helped governments understand the costs and finances needed to implement NDC implementation
  • Mexcio, Mali, Niger and Burkino Faso - strengthened capacities to mobilize investments into NDC actions 
  • South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire - helped develop strategies for their participation in international carbon markets and improve access to financing for climate action
  • Morocco, Tunisia and Nepal - supported climate-risk assessments and local adaptation plans to better understand local climate risks and build resilience capabilities 
  • Dominican Republic, Jordan, Turkiye, Uzbekistan - support to help  evaluate alternative net-zero development pathways - a critical step towards decarbonization of their economies 
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