The Global Goal for Adaptation under the Paris Agreement: Putting ideas into action

The paper examines the alignment between the African Group of Negotiators' (AGN) vision for a Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA) and the provisions of the Paris Agreement. It argues that while the Agreement establishes a GGA and recognizes the link between mitigation and adaptation, significant technical and political work is required to operationalise it. Key recommendations include establishing minimum information requirements for adaptation components of Nationally Determined Contributions (a-NDCs) to enable the aggregation of data for the global stocktake, and developing sector-specific risk metrics to track progress. The authors emphasize the need for 'material parity' between mitigation and adaptation, ensuring that adaptation support is adequate, transparent, and based on scientific temperature scenarios.

• The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) proposed a Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA) to ensure an adequate adaptation response in the face of insufficient mitigation ambition, seeking 'material parity between mitigation and adaptation'.
• The AGN's GGA proposal consists of four primary elements: adaptation planning, the communication of adaptation costs and needs, the recognition of adaptation efforts by developing countries, and the tracking of progress.
• Developing countries often fund adaptation from domestic budgets, which the AGN argues should be recognized as contributions to global climate action. For example, between 2008 and 2011, Ethiopia spent USD 440 million of its domestic expenditure on climate action, with 87% (USD 382.8 million) dedicated to adaptation.
• A critical gap in the operationalisation of the GGA is the lack of agreed minimum information requirements for the adaptation component of Nationally Determined Contributions (a-NDCs), which hindered the UNFCCC secretariat's ability to aggregate data in its 2015 synthesis report.
• The authors propose a hybrid approach to assess the adequacy of adaptation support: a bottom-up approach based on aggregated costs from a-NDCs and a top-down approach based on IPCC special reports on temperature scenarios.
• To track the GGA, the paper suggests using sector-specific risk-based metrics (covering populations, infrastructure, and economy) and measuring the comprehensiveness of national planning regimes.
• The paper argues that the Ad hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) must provide political guidance and a standing agenda item to ensure the coherence of adaptation provisions and define minimum reporting requirements by COP 22.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2016). The Global Goal for Adaptation under the Paris Agreement: Putting ideas into action. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-adaptation-goals-paper.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. The Global Goal for Adaptation under the Paris Agreement: Putting ideas into action. 2016. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-adaptation-goals-paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=The Global Goal for Adaptation under the Paris Agreement: Putting ideas into action |date=November 2016 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-adaptation-goals-paper.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2016global, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{The Global Goal for Adaptation under the Paris Agreement: Putting ideas into action}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-adaptation-goals-paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }