Assessing the alignment of national-level adaptation plans to the Paris Agreement. Issue 93 (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morgan, Edward A.; Nalau, Johanna; Mackey, Brendan
• Is Part Of: Environmental science & policy. Issue 93(2019)
• Page Start: 208
• Page End: 220
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: Climate change adaptation -- Adaptation planning -- Climate change policy -- Paris agreement -- National adaptation plans; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Politique gouvernementale -- Périodiques; Sciences de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Environmental policy; Environmental sciences; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 363.70561
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2018.10.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-9011

Abstract

Highlights: An assessment of 54 national adaptation plans and strategies using criteria developed from the Paris Agreement. Tracking adaptation planning at an international level can help guide adaptation planning nationally and support global-scale consistency in planning and action. There is significant consistency in current national adaptation planning with a focus on economic development and growth. Adaptation planning aligned to the Paris Agreement can encourage development pathways that promote synergies between environmental, social and economic goals. Abstract: The Paris Agreement commits state parties to a global adaptation goal and the inclusion of adaptation into their National Communications. This requires national level planning, monitoring and reporting and methods for effective global-scale adaptation tracking. However, unlike mitigation, where clear targets and goals have been agreed, adaptation is a process with varied and changing goals and risk context. Assessing adaptation plans and strategies can provide valuable insights into ongoing adaptation policy, because the plans give good indications of priorities and institutional thinking. To assess how adaptation planning aligns to the Paris Agreement, this paper used Article 7 of the agreement to develop criteria and applied these to assess national adaptation plans and strategies available in English from 36 least developed, 8 developing and 10 developed countries. The results suggest that adaptation planning aligned to the Paris Agreement can help bring a different focus to development pathways that promotes synergies rather than trade-offs between environmental, social and economic goals. Importantly, tracking adaptation planning can help ensure the continued mobilisation of the parties, guide adaptation planning nationally and locally, and support global-scale consistency in planning and action.