DRC launches National Adaptation Plan project to boost resilience, supported by GCF, UNDP

Submitted by esther.lake@undp.org on 07 February 2019
Key sectors which the NAP will focus on include agriculture, rural development, biodiversity, coastal areas, health, land use planning and energy. The overall GCF-NAP project objective is to mainstream climate change adaptation integration in DRC’s national development priorities and increasing the financial sustainability of adaptation options.

The Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development in the DRC, and the UN Development Programme, have launched a new Green Climate Fund (GCF)-financed project ‘Planning for medium-term investment for adaptation in climate-sensitive sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo: advancing the National Adaptation Plan (NAP)’.

  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will benefit from over US$1.3 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to advance adaptation planning over the next 18 months.

  • More than 80 key stakeholders in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process were brought together for the NAP launch and workshop.

  • As a result of climate change, the country is projected to face an increase in droughts and floods as well as sea level rise – leading to impacts on livelihoods, public health and the economy.

7 February 2019, Kinshasa, DRC: The GCF NAP project will promote resilience in the DRC, through formulating and implementing the NAP – which will address medium- to long-term climate change challenges.

In the DRC, temperatures are expected to rise by 3°C to 5°C within the next century. Changes in rainfall will result in shorter and more variable rainy seasons. The main economic sectors of the country – including agriculture, trade, hydro-power – are highly climate-sensitive. Agriculture represents the main source of income for the vast majority of the population, and continues to be almost exclusively rain-fed. With the changes in rainfall and the increase of droughts, harvests will be unreliable which will threaten food security and social development. Sea level is expected to rise by 60-70 cm by 2080 exacerbating coastal erosion and reducing the availability of drinking water.

Key sectors which the NAP will focus on include agriculture, rural development, biodiversity, coastal areas, health, land use planning and energy. The overall project objective is to mainstream climate change adaptation integration in DRC’s national development priorities and increasing the financial sustainability of adaptation options.

Present at the launch event were Mr. Amy Ambatobe, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Laurent Rudasingwa , UNDP Resident Representative a.i, Mr. Godefroid Ndaukila, Chairman and Director of the Direction for Sustainable Development, Mr. Hans André Djamba, Coordinator of the Mechanism for Sustainable Development and the Green Climate Fund (NDA to the GCF) and the Minister of Cooperation for Development – alongside more than 80 representatives of ministries, civil society, the private and public sector.

Hans Djamba underscored the importance of a sustainable and viable financing mechanism for climate change adaptation in the DRC, highlighting the value of the GCF project to the country’s climate resilience. Laurent Rudasingwa emphasised the necessity of incorporating the reality of change climate change into sustainable development planning.

Mr. Godefroid Ndaukila, Director of Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development presented the efforts of the DRC in adaptation planning. A roadmap for the implementation of the NAP project was presented and adopted.

The NAP project in the DRC will build on existing institutional and policy frameworks, especially the National Policy, Strategy and Action Plan for Climate Change 2016-2020 (PSPA) and National Strategic Plan for Development (PNSD). In preparation for the NAP launch, representatives of key stakeholders reviewed the PSPA-CC (2016-2020) with a view to strengthening the implementation frameworks.

The main beneficiaries of the NAP project are the Sustainable Development Division (DDD) of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministries of Planning and Budgeting, and the sectoral ministries for agriculture, rural development, coastal management, biodiversity, energy, transport, water and sanitation. Five provinces will also be targeted, namely; Kwilu, Tshopo, Haut Katanga, Kongo Central and Kinshasa.

 

 

Three further NAP projects were also recently approved by the GCF, with the support of UNDP.

The 'Preparation of a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for Bhutan, with a focus on the water sector' will see almost US$3 million in financing for Bhutan over four years.

Benin will benefit from over US$1.5 million over one and a half years for the project 'Advancing the National Adaptation Plan Process in Benin'. 
> Read more: Planifier l'adaptation au changement climatique

Cote d'Ivoire will receive almost US$2.4 million for the three-year project 'Strengthening climate change adaptation integration into development planning in Côte d’Ivoire'.

 

MORE INFORMATION: The joint UNDP-UN Environment National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), assists least developed and developing countries to identify technical, institutional and financial needs to integrate climate change adaptation into medium and long-term national planning and financing. The programme supports the process to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In doing so, the NAP-GSP works with development partners to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions and promotes ambitious climate action in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.