Introduction to Adaptation in the Global Stocktake

The Global Stocktake (GST) is a five-year iterative cycle under the Paris Agreement designed to assess collective global progress in mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The process consists of three phases: Information Collection and Preparation, Technical Assessment, and Consideration of Outputs. For adaptation, the GST aims to establish a collective monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system to define adequate responses and recognize the efforts of developing countries. The document highlights that National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Adaptation Communications (AdComs) are primary data sources, but encourages the use of Voluntary Submissions to ensure sub-national actions and specific priorities are not lost during the Secretariat's synthesis process.

• The Global Stocktake (GST) is a collective assessment mechanism established under Article 14 of the Paris Agreement that occurs every five years to evaluate progress toward long-term goals and inform the updating of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• The GST process follows a three-stage iterative cycle: Information Collection and Preparation (ICP) for gathering data, Technical Assessment (TA) for expert review via Technical Dialogues, and Consideration of Outputs (CO) to discuss findings and update NDCs.
• Assessing adaptation progress is complicated by the qualitative nature of the Paris Agreement's goals and the absence of a global evidence-based monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system.
• The GST provides an opportunity to develop a global adaptation MEL system, define what constitutes an "adequate adaptation response," and recognize the specific adaptation efforts of developing countries.
• Information for the adaptation component of the GST is categorized as backward-looking (ex-post reviews of actions already taken) and forward-looking (ex-ante considerations to identify gaps and signal future ambition).
• Key sources of adaptation data include NAPs, AdComs, NDCs, National Communications, Biennial Transparency Reports, IPCC reports (specifically WG-II), and reports from constituted bodies like the Adaptation Committee (AC) and the Least-Developed Country Expert Group (LEG).
• Because the Secretariat's synthesis process may cause the loss of detailed national and sub-national context, parties and stakeholders are encouraged to use Voluntary Submissions to highlight political priorities and sub-national actions.
• National MEL frameworks are essential for providing reliable data to the GST and for absorbing the international best practices and lessons learned generated by the GST to improve local adaptation actions.

APA

Qi, J. (2022). Introduction to Adaptation in the Global Stocktake. NAP Global Network. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/napgn-en-2022-brief-introduction-adaptation-global-stocktake.pdf

Chicago

Qi, Jeffrey. Introduction to Adaptation in the Global Stocktake. NAP Global Network, 2022. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/napgn-en-2022-brief-introduction-adaptation-global-stocktake.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Qi |first1=Jeffrey |title=Introduction to Adaptation in the Global Stocktake |publisher=NAP Global Network |date=April 2022 |url=https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/napgn-en-2022-brief-introduction-adaptation-global-stocktake.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{qi2022introduction, author = {Qi, Jeffrey}, title = {{Introduction to Adaptation in the Global Stocktake}}, institution = {NAP Global Network}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/napgn-en-2022-brief-introduction-adaptation-global-stocktake.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }