Guidance for NAMA Design – building on country experiences

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) represent a valuable opportunity for developing countries to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while remaining true to their sustainable development priorities and needs. Many countries are already taking steps to use NAMAs as instruments for participating in the global mitigation agenda and as a means of leveraging national and international support for more effective and transformational climate actions. National governments, multilateral organisations, development partners and others are joining forces to ensure that NAMAs not only contribute to urgent efforts to limit the increase of GHG emissions, but that they yield tangible results in terms of development at national and local levels, i.e., poverty reduction, job creation and energy access. It is in this context that UNDP, the UNEP-Risø Centre and the UNFCCC Secretariat have joined forces to produce this guidebook, which will assist developing countries in formulating more effective NAMAs. Initially conceived as part of UNDP’s Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme and funded by the European Commission and the governments of Germany and Australia, the guidebook has been expanded in scope, thanks to this later strategic partnership. It should benefit any government or institution that wishes to participate in NAMA development.
This NAMA Guide is designed to build on countries’ relevant work in developing mitigation actions, for instance through their National Communications, as well as on the early experiences of some developing countries in NAMA formulation. It also builds on UNDP’s work supporting countries in the design of low-emission, climate-resilient development strategies and on related experiences of the UNEP-Risø Centre and the UNFCCC Secretariat.
This guidebook does not attempt to prescribe a linear path for NAMA development. Rather, it emphasises the iterative nature of this development, a process that encompasses learning from past experience, involves a wide range of stakeholders at the national level, capitalises on lessons learned, adapts or establishes policy frameworks, and includes the necessary means for establishing the institutional, financial and monitoring components that go into solid NAMAs. Because NAMA is an emerging concept – the definition of which will most likely remain broad due to its very nature as a “nationally appropriate” tool – the aim of this guide is to take stock of what has been decided thus far and to provide insights on what will continue to be perceived as “good practices.” It is important to note that NAMAs are already being developed and NAMA frontrunners are establishing an experience base, which has informed this guidebook.

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