STATE OF THE NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS: ENHANCING ADAPTATION AMBITION

The report finds that while updated NDCs show increased country ownership, better alignment with national planning processes like National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and a higher number of prioritized actions, most of these actions remain implementation-unready due to a lack of clear indicators, costs, and time frames. It highlights a general lack of understanding and explicit planning for transformative adaptation and a limited operationalization of 'Loss and Damage' concepts within national contexts.

• Updated NDCs demonstrate increased country ownership and political commitment, characterized by more extensive consultations with government agencies and diverse stakeholder groups, and more frequent approval by high-level national political bodies.
• There is improved alignment between updated NDCs and other policy processes, particularly the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, which is more comprehensive than the NDC process in terms of identifying priorities.
• While the total number of prioritized adaptation actions has increased in updated NDCs—with significant focus on water, food and nutrition security, and nature-based solutions—most actions are not yet investment or implementation ready.
• Financial cost estimates for adaptation actions have increased between first and updated NDCs, but the data is limited to only 22 of the 86 assessed countries and lacks clear calculation methodologies.
• Updated NDCs show a considerable increase in the integration of gender equality, as well as a higher frequency of references to indigenous rights and local knowledge, although direct consultation with these groups during NDC development remains insufficient.
• References to 'Loss and Damage' (L&D) have not increased in frequency, and most countries lack a clear definition of the term, though there are more instances of actions to minimize losses, such as early warning systems.
• Transformative adaptation—defined as fundamental shifts in underlying systems—is largely absent from NDCs, with only five updated documents explicitly mentioning the term and a general lack of consensus on the concept.
• Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) information is appearing more frequently in updated NDCs, but the overall number of countries including such frameworks remains low.

APA

Dixit, A., Kim, M., O’Connor, R., Dyck, M., & Ferrarin, G. (2022). STATE OF THE NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS: ENHANCING ADAPTATION AMBITION. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-03/enhancing-adaptation-ambition.pdf?VersionId=bjURD1jiqWpN3TcbudG7m2G2UtD5rDIc

Chicago

Dixit, Aarjan, Marcella Kim, Ryan O’Connor, Melaina Dyck, and Gianna Ferrarin. STATE OF THE NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS: ENHANCING ADAPTATION AMBITION. World Resources Institute, 2022. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-03/enhancing-adaptation-ambition.pdf?VersionId=bjURD1jiqWpN3TcbudG7m2G2UtD5rDIc.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dixit |first1=Aarjan |last2=Kim |first2=Marcella |last3=O’Connor |first3=Ryan |last4=Dyck |first4=Melaina |last5=Ferrarin |first5=Gianna |title=STATE OF THE NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS: ENHANCING ADAPTATION AMBITION |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=February 2022 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-03/enhancing-adaptation-ambition.pdf?VersionId=bjURD1jiqWpN3TcbudG7m2G2UtD5rDIc |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dixit2022state, author = {Dixit, Aarjan and Kim, Marcella and O’Connor, Ryan and Dyck, Melaina and Ferrarin, Gianna}, title = {{STATE OF THE NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS: ENHANCING ADAPTATION AMBITION}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-03/enhancing-adaptation-ambition.pdf?VersionId=bjURD1jiqWpN3TcbudG7m2G2UtD5rDIc}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }