For governments to implement increasingly ambitious climate actions, as laid out in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they must mainstream climate as a crosscutting policy issue across all sectors and levels. This requires sustained and effective coordination mechanisms across government, with partners, and with civil society, to help deliver the transformative change needed. Governments use many types of coordination mechanisms, varying in their purpose, composition, functions, and governance structures, each adapted to national circumstances and the institutional context.
Coordination mechanisms can help governments to plan and implement climate targets by: › Promoting climate policy integration throughout government and society;
- Consulting key stakeholders regarding how to more efficiently identify, plan, and implement policies that serve their constituencies;
- Creating accountability for climate commitments assumed by each stakeholder;
- Mapping financing efforts for climate action across government and partners;
- Facilitating opportunities to minimize conflicts in decision-making processes;
- Reducing duplication and misaligned policies.
This brief presents three areas of coordination that often play crucial roles in NDC processes, drawing on best practices from across the NDC Partnership: 1) inter-ministerial coordination, 2) implementing and development partner coordination, and 3) whole-of-society coordination. While each of the areas is presented separately, they often overlap and or are approached together. The guidance presented here is non-prescriptive and should be tailored to individual countries’ unique experiences, circumstances, and capacities.